It's 9.30 on Sunday morning. All the children are still asleep.

The rain is beating against the windows, and I am waiting for the nurse from the NHS helpline to call me back.

I'm worried about Bobby. He spent most of last night coughing and shivering under mounds of duvets, his temperature is sky-high, and he's been vomiting.

I googled "tooth abscess", and it seems to me that it's got to be the tooth that's causing all this. The amoxyllin which he started on Thursday isn't doing a thing to help, and the painkillers aren't touching his temperature. He's scheduled to see the dentist again tomorrow; I am really hoping that the nurse will be able to tell me whether it's worth dragging him out in the rain to see someone at the hospital today, or if we should just stick it out till tomorrow.

This is miserable.