Shakespeare My TN Buddy

Short Story: Shakespeare by Author Brian Whitaker

Picture

Early 2007 the infamous headaches I experienced at Fort Carson, Colorado returned with a vengeance. My painful childhood earaches returned as well. The frequent pain behind my left eye became all to frequent. The pains conspired against me and exploded into full blown Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia, Type 2 TN. My relationship with Shakespeare changed; he became my TN buddy.

One night I went to bed early, the pain was so bad I covered my aching eyes. Minutes later I heard the sound of furry paws scampering up the pet stairs and felt the vibrations of something walking across the bed. I uncovered my eyes and saw Shakespeare lying at my feet. I smiled and covered my eyes. I awoke next morning with him still at my feet.

It didn’t matter where I choose to ride out an excruciating trigeminal attack; Shakespeare would use his feline empathic powers to find me. I could awake with pain at an ungodly hour, walk out to the living room, and lie down on the sofa; my TN buddy would find me and ball up at my feet.




My TN buddy would at times go above and beyond the call of duty, though I wish he hadn’t. I was having a nasty attack, Shakespeare found me within minutes. He scurried up the stairs; I petted him as he walked up next to me. I thought he was going to lie at my head…wrong. Shakespeare decided to head bump me, repeatedly.

I winced and moved my head, but that didn’t stop my furry feline companion. Shakespeare repeatedly rubbed my shoulder with his head as he purred away. I sighed and relented, putting my head back. He then licked away on my aching cheek with his course tongue, and may I add that it’s the most course tongue of any cat I’ve ever owned.

There were times where my furry buddy amazed me. Excruciating pain, from time to time, would awake me from a deep sleep. I would place my arm out to ready myself to get out of bed and take a couple of migraine pills. I quickly discovered my faithful friend was already there, sleeping peacefully at my side. I let him sleep and quietly got out bed. I took the pills and came back with him waiting on me. He’d ball up at my head after I lied down.

He was true teal till the end. Laura and I placed him on a baseball beach towel I would roll up and rest my neck on during a Trigeminal Neuralgia attack. We made sure the teal patch belonging to the Marlins was showing before Shakespeare crossed the Rainbow Bridge.
Other Short Stories by Brian Whitaker
​
Cherokee Hat Trick 
​The Pharmacy 
​Gabepentin
​Shakespeare My TN Buddy
​Having a Good Time-TN Version
​1126 Tomcat Way Full GM Edit
​Going Down ​