Chapter 13
Thirteen
MARISSA
Grace startles me, causing my heart to leap into my throat. I stumble trying to get away from Alex. I’m not sure why I’m acting like I’ve done something wrong. It was just a hug. But why did it feel like so much more?
“Morning, sweetheart. How did you sleep?”
“Did I interrupt something? Do I need to leave?” She looks disgusted, her mouth twisted and a glare in her eyes. “No, not at all; we were just talking. Do you want some coffee?” Alex asks, and I give him a death glare.
“I don’t think so. She is not going to be a caffeine addict at twelve.”
“Oh, come on, I’ve spent most of my life drinking nothing but coffee and energy drinks; I turned out fine.” He waves me off.
“Yeah, that doesn’t exactly help your case.” I roll my eyes thinking back to the dark circles that used to be permanently etched under his eyes and his constant jumpiness.
“Hey, what are you trying to say? You don’t think I’m perfect?” He winks.
“Aunt Amanda lets me have coffee all the time. It’s not like I’m a kid anymore.” Grace juts out her bottom lip in a pout as she sits at the table.
“You are a kid, but fine. I will deal with her when we get back. For now, you can have one cup but very little coffee with a lot of milk.” I nod to Alex, and he pours her a cup. I can’t help but smile when I notice the repulsed face he makes as he fills it with milk.
“So, I was thinking we could go to the park later and take the twins with us. What do you think?” He slides the coffee across the table to her.
“Okay. Sounds fun.” Grace takes a sip of her coffee and makes the same face he did. Yup, the apple definitely did not fall far.
“Annie is going to be there.” He cocks an eyebrow at me. “Is that okay?”
“I’m not the one with the problem. Maybe you should ask her if it’s okay if I come.” It takes every bit of self-restraint I have not to insult her, but Grace is here, and I don’t want to taint her opinion.
“She’ll just have to get over it.” He claps his hands together. “Okay, breakfast?—”
“Do you have anything for a headache? My head is starting to feel weird.” Grace rubs her temples, scrunching up her eyes.
“You okay, baby?” I put the back of my hand on her forehead to check for a fever. “You feel weird how?”
“I’m not sure my head just feels weird.” She shrugs.
Alex gets a blister package of pills out of a drawer by the fridge and pours a glass of water. “Here.” He hands both to her. “Take an ibuprofen and drink this whole glass of water, and no more coffee for you.” He takes her cup away. “All right, let’s make breakfast. How about eggs, bacon, and French toast?”
“Sounds good to me,” Grace drums her fingers on the table.
“How about I make pancakes and destroy your house like you did mine?” I tease him.
The ride to the park is filled with many failed attempts at small talk. After everything that happened last night and this morning, things between Alex and I are a bit awkward. I flirted with Dom just to get a reaction out of him, but I did not expect the one I got.
“It looks like Annie and the kids are already here,” Alex says as we pull into the park.
As soon as we get out of the car, both girls come running up to us. “Gracie, Gracie,” Mayci runs up, grabs her, and pulls her toward the playground. “Come build a sand castle with me!”
Alex and I find Annie sitting at a picnic table. We sit down, and there’s a moment of silence before she says anything. “Look, Isa, I don’t like you.”
“Obviously,” I mumble.
“But I took things too far yesterday, and I want to apologize for that. I meant everything I said, but I never should have put my hands on you.”
“I get it; what I did was shitty. You have every right to hate me. I deserve that, but if you ever do that again, I will fight back—and I don’t slap.”
“All right, let’s change the subject.” Alex slaps the table, getting our attention. “Anything fun going on while we’re in town?”
“They are having music and food vendors in the square tomorrow. James and I were thinking about going.”
“That does sound like fun. I’m sure Grace would enjoy that, too. What do you think?” He elbows me in the side.
“Yeah, that sounds fun.” I’m only half paying attention because I notice Grace isn’t swinging like the other girls are. She’s slumped in the swing with her head hanging down. “Something’s wrong.” Before I can stand to go to her, she falls forward out of the swing. Time slows down as we both rush to her.
“Grace!” I kneel beside her and gently tap on her cheek. “Please, wake up!”
Alex places his two fingers on her neck. “She has a pulse, and she’s breathing. What happened?”
“How the hell should I know? I was over there with you!” I snap at him out of frustration.
“Has this happened before?”
Before I can say anything, her eyes flutter open, and she tries to say something, but it’s all gibberish. “Grace, I can’t understand you.” She starts speaking nonsense again and then starts crying.
“I called for help.” Annie runs over to us. “They should be here soon. Anything I can do to help in the meantime?”
Grace tries to sit up but falls over. I sit beside her and pull her partially into my lap. “It’s okay, Gracie baby, Mama’s got you.” I try not to panic. I have to be strong for her because if she sees me fall apart, she will panic. I look over at Alex and search his face for any sign he’s feeling the same way I am. I can see the panic in his eyes but he’s keeping it together
Minutes feel like hours as I try to keep both Grace and me calm. There are flashing in the distance as a smaller car pulls in, followed by an ambulance. An older man gets out of the car and begins speaking to Alex in German. “He’s the doctor. He’s asking about her medical history. Has she ever had anything like this happen before? Is she on any medication?”
“No, this has never happened before. The only thing she takes is a daily vitamin.” He continues to speak with the doctor in German. Everyone is talking at the same time. I can’t understand anything, and I feel completely lost. I hate not knowing what is being said. It adds to my sense of helplessness. “What is going on?” I grab Alex’s arm.
“They are calling for a helicopter. Since we’re in a remote area, the hospital here can’t treat whatever this is. They need to get her to a hospital in a larger city. It would take too long by ambulance,” he explains.
“Can’t treat her? What do you mean? What do they think is happening?” I look at Gracie and give her a smile that I hope provides enough comfort to keep her calm. Her panicking is not going to help anything. “It’s okay, baby. You get to ride in a helicopter. that’s going to speed up the process for you to feel better.” I lean down and kiss her forehead.
The doctor and EMTs get her only a gurney and hook her up to oxygen as well as a blood pressure and heart monitor. The voices all fade out and blend into the background until Alex gets my attention to tell me her blood pressure is too low, and they need to give her something to bring it up. I watch helplessly as they hook an IV into her arm and give her meds.
The helicopter lands, and we walk with Gracie as they wheel her towards it but before we can get there one of the medics stops us and pushes us away once again saying something I can’t understand.
“Come on, you can’t go with her. We have to get going. It’s going to take almost an hour to get there.” Alex pulls me to the car, opens the door, and practically has to shove me inside because I am in too much shock to be able to do anything.
“I can’t do this. I can’t lose my baby.” I scrub my hands up and down my face.
“Hey, she’s going to be all right. She’s going to the best hospital in the region. They will take good care of her.” Alex starts the car and reaches over to squeeze my hand. “Our girl is going to be fine.” Honestly, I’m not sure who he’s trying to convince me or himself, but I am not buying it.
“Stop. Don’t give me that shit, Alex. You have no clue if she’s going to be okay. That’s my baby. My whole world. I don’t know what I would do without her.”
He just nods and doesn’t try to comfort me anymore. After that, the entire trip to the hospital is silent except for my sobs. We finally arrive and immediately run to the front desk and tell them who we are there for. A kind, middle-aged woman behind the desk tells us to have a seat and wait for the doctor.
Minutes tick by slowly as we wait for the doctor. After half an hour an older man wearing scrubs walks into the waiting room and up to us. “Are you Freedom Summers’ parents?” He looks down at the chart in his hand then back to us.
“We are.” We stand up to greet him.
“How is our Gracie? What happened? Where is she? Can we see her?” I ask frantically.
“She is responsive, though she is showing signs of a stroke,” he says stoically.
“A stroke? She’s only twelve. How can that be possible? You had to have made a mistake!” I lean against Alex for support. Without hesitation he wraps his arm around my waist.
“Although it is extremely rare, it’s not completely unheard of for someone her age to have a stroke. We’ve had to sedate her to keep her calm. She’s been taken for a CT scan. We will come get you when she’s done, and you can see her.” Without another word he walks off.
I lean up against the wall for support but end up sliding down it into the floor and sobbing. Alex sits beside me, pulls me close, and tucks my head under his chin.
“Our baby had a stroke, Alex. Do you know how serious that can be?” I mumble into his chest.
“Listen, we don’t know anything for sure yet. There could be some other explanation, so let’s not go jumping to the worst case until we get test results. Look at me.” He grabs my chin and tilts my face up to his. “Whatever happens, Gracie is going to get through this. We are going to get through it together. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to be right here doing this with you both, no matter what.”
“Thank you,” I whisper. I drop my head back to his chest. He’s the only thing keeping me sane right now.
Another half hour and the nurse finally comes out and tells us to follow her. She takes us to a small room on the other side of the hospital, and I brace myself before walking in. Little Gracie is laying there hooked up to monitors with needles and tubes coming out of her arms. It’s heart-wrenching to see. I would give anything to be able to trade places with her. It’s awful to see anyone you care about like this, but when it’s your kid, it hits you way harder. Alex walks to one side of the bed, and I walk to the other.
“It’s okay, baby girl. Mom and Dad are here.” I grab her hand to let her know I’m right here with her even though she’s sedated.
The same doctor as before walks in with Grace’s chart in his hands. “Well, the CT didn’t show any brain bleeds or signs of stroke.” I breathe a sigh of relief both from the results and from the fact that the doctor is speaking English. “We need to do an MRI, so we have a better idea of what is going on in her brain. Someone will also be by in a few minutes for more blood work. If the MRI is clear, we will do a spinal tap to check for meningitis.”
“Why did she have to be sedated?” I ask him.
“When she got here, her speech was impaired, and she was experiencing weakness on her right side. She started to panic when she realized she couldn’t speak properly, so we had to sedate her to keep her calm. All of those tests can be done while she is sedated, so there’s no need to worry. She will be out for several hours, and it will take some time for the tests. I want to make sure you know what to expect.” He finishes speaking and leaves us alone once again.
Once Grace is taken for the MRI, I begin to pace like I always do when I’m nervous. I hate hospitals. I hate playing the waiting game. And I hate the way Alex is looking at me right now.