Chapter 24: Hyperthermia

Even for August, the heat wave caught Gabe by surprise. Worse, he was on a project with constant exposure to the elements. So intense, the sunlight felt like actual pressure against his shoulders and back. His t-shirt turned into a sodden rag by 11 o’clock. The project still lacked a roof or walls, so the only shade was a couple of trees in the back of the property.

Temporarily, Gabe shifted the schedule to have everyone start and end the day 2-1/2 hours early. At his own expense, he arranged for daily deliveries of ice and cold drinks, but these steps were only modestly helpful.

In the heat wave’s third week, Lucia and her daughter were discussing the situation over a (cold) breakfast: juice, yogurt, and cereal.

“I’m worried about him, Mama. I’ve never seen him so beat down and tired. And please don’t ever repeat this; he couldn’t get an erection for me two nights ago. That has never happened to us before. Never! I did everything I could to reassure him, but you can imagine how badly he felt about it. It’s tearing me up to see him so gray-faced, fatigued, and depressed. What can we do?”

“I don’t have any great ideas, really. My doctor’s advice with Hector was to take a break. Viagra hadn’t yet come out. My doctor, however, said the sure-fire cure for softness was a period of abstinence.

“I realized your father was making things worse for himself by fretting about it. I made a deal with him—a wager. I told him that he couldn’t touch me for twelve days, and that I would sleep on the couch. At the end of those dozen days, he would have ten full hours of every kind of kinky sex with me that he could possibly imagine. But if I couldn’t last the full twelve days, he still got the sex, plus I had to be naked for him all day and all night for a month (inside the house, of course).”

“The thing is, Mia, I believe what I just described would be a mistake. Gabe isn’t having anything except a natural reaction to the awful weather, I think. Three nice days and he will be Iron Man again.

“Here’s what we’re going to do. You and I will get in your air-conditioned car and drive to my cousin Dora’s house for five days. I have owed her a visit for a long time now. While we are away, we will catch up with Gabe on Zoom, ensuring he doesn’t encounter any situations that could potentially cause him anxiety. When we come back, he’s going to have missed you, and he’ll be horny, I guarantee. And that will be Sunday, so he won’t be in that after-work funk.”

“Mama, you’re a genius! That’s perfect.”

Long story short, Lucia’s prescription solved Gabe’s issue, and the heat wave finally broke when they returned home from Dora’s. A week after that, when the temperatures began climbing again, there was a management change in Gabe’s organization.

Gabe learned that two electricians who had been working nearby during the heat wave (also without relief from the conditions) collapsed from heat stroke. One electrician suffered permanent disability, while the other passed away. Naturally, the families of the electricians were gearing up for a massive lawsuit.

When upper management learned that Gabe’s concerns for the safety of his crew had been ignored by his immediate superiors, those fools were fired on the spot. Gabe and his crew received two weeks of paid vacation and a written apology. For his initiative in providing extra hydration, Gabe received a $2,500 bonus. Deferring work on the project until conditions were safer, Gabe and his crew were temporarily reassigned to indoor jobs.