In Ernest Hemingway's story "A Day's Wait," nine-year-old Schatz comes down with the flu. His father (the narrator) calls the doctor, who takes the boy's temperature and notes that it is 102. Schatz overhears what he says.

His father offers to read to Schatz, and the boy responds, "All right. If you want to," but he is detached and still. Even though his father reads from The Book of Pirates, Schatz is not following the story or paying attention. He is clearly bothered by something. Schatz does not want to go to sleep either, and he tells his father that he doesn't have to stay "if it bothers" him. His father doesn't understand what he means.

A while later, the narrator goes out for a while, and when he returns, Schatz doesn't want to let him come into his room. He doesn't want his father to get what he has. He father goes in anyway and takes his temperature again. It hasn't gone up. Again, the narrator tries to read to his son, but Schatz does not pay attention.

Then Schatz drops the bomb, so to speak. He asks his father, "About how long will it be before I die?" Finally, his worry comes out. A boy at school once told him that no one can live with a temperature of forty-four degrees or more. Schatz knows he's at a hundred and two.

His father quickly explains the difference between Fahrenheit and Celsius, and Schatz finally relaxes.