Chapter 28
Apple woke, knowing it was the middle of the night. What woke him? He keyed in on his surroundings, listening for the disturbance. It wasn't outside, and the sound wasn't downstairs. He sat up, hearing someone walking upstairs.
Lainey!
He slipped out of bed, trying to figure out what he heard upstairs as he reached for his gun safe. Then he heard her coughing. He didn’t need a gun. He needed to get his ass up there and see what was wrong.
Silently, he slipped from the room and headed up, taking two steps at a time.
Her coughing sounded awful. What kind of illness could she have?
Was it allergies or a virus? She could have pneumonia or maybe strep.
Was she vaccinated? He thought so, but he wasn’t sure since they hadn’t really talked about that.
By the time he opened her door, worry blasted through him. She wasn't in her bed. Instead, she was on the floor, curled up on her side.
He moved to her as another round of coughs racked her tiny body.
He touched her to pick her up and was shocked by how hot she was.
Something was horribly wrong. He hadn't been sick in a long time and hadn't been around anyone who'd been sick.
Though he was capable, he felt totally incompetent at this moment.
Lainey moaned as he picked her up. She was way too hot.
He had to get her temperature down. He’d grabbed his phone when he’d left the bedroom, so he looked up how to get a child’s temperature down.
He read through the suggestions, thinking he didn’t want to do a bath right then, but a cool compress might help.
She needed some water, but she wasn’t awake enough to drink.
He didn’t know which medicines to give her, but the article he read said not to give aspirin. He wasn’t sure why, but he would stay away from aspirin.
He grabbed a wash rag and shoved it under the cool running tap. He sat in a chair and pressed the cool cloth against Lainey’s forehead. She felt so warm, it frightened him. If this didn’t help, he would wake Amelia up.
After a moment of using the cool compress, Lainey drifted into a deeper sleep.
He put her on the couch and went in search of medicine for her.
He found a bottle of liquid Motrin in the cabinet upstairs.
He checked the dosage information twice on the internet, then checked again to make sure he had the correct type of medicine and that he wasn't overdosing her.
Her skin felt clammy, and he wondered if her fever was breaking.
How could he take her temperature? He really needed to wake Amelia.
He searched ways to take Lainey’s temperature, seeing a device like one he’d seen upstairs in the bathroom.
He took the stairs two at a time, grabbing the device and running downstairs.
The thing beeped when he turned it on and he waved it over her head like the directions he’d found on the internet said to do. She was running a one hundred degree temperature, but she wasn’t coughing any more. What did that mean?
He sat in the recliner, not wanting to be far away from Lainey, and closed his eyes. Not really drifting off, but not fully awake.
He must have drifted off into deeper sleep because when he opened his eyes, Lainey had moved to his lap. Her skin felt better, but still hot. He took her temperature again, seeing it was half a degree lower. That had to be good.
About twenty minutes later, Lainey woke up enough for him to give her the Motrin. After the dose, she slept better and no more coughing. He woke when Amelia came out of the bedroom. Her gaze was on Lainey first then the medicine on the coffee table and finally him.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
He sat up and rubbed at his face, then reached over and touched Lainey’s forehead, sighing with relief as he realized her fever wasn’t high. He stood and moved closer to Amelia.
“She was coughing around midnight. I went up and found her on the floor, burning up.
I did a cool compress to get the initial fever down.
I finally did enough searching on the internet to feel comfortable giving her Motrin.
She hasn't really coughed for a few hours. I gave her the medicine at four. Her temperature was one hundred.” He grabbed the thermometer and took it again. “Says ninety-eight now.”
Amelia nodded. “Wow. That’s a lot. Let me get the coffee going.”
He nodded then headed into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Worry for Lainey still rode him. When he came out of the bathroom, he headed to the coffee pot.
“How do you get through this?”
“What?”
“Her being sick. She’s so small and helpless.”
Her lips tipped up in a small smile. “It sucks. The first time, I was so worried.”
“I don’t know how you did it alone. I don’t know that I could.”
“You learn to deal with it. Most of the time, they’ll get over whatever they have. I should probably get a strep test done on her, maybe a flu test. I’ll call and make an appointment at a clinic.”
“I have to be at the base at seven this morning. Do you have money for the doctor?”
She shrugged. “I have a little. Not much.”
“Let me leave you some cash. And call me when you find out.”
She nodded. “One day, I'm going to be able to afford to pay for stuff.”
“Please don’t worry about it. I’m glad to help you and Lainey.”
“I just don’t want to be dependent on you forever.”
“You won’t be. I trust that something will come along for you soon.”
“I'm doing good in the real estate class.”
“That’s good.”
“I should be able to take the test soon. I'm going to look at offices close by and see if they need assistants. If I can get a job at an office, then when I get my license, I can move up.”
“It sounds like you have a plan. I’m happy for you.”
Her smile warmed him. They were doing okay right now, but it would help if they had extra income. Hopefully, whatever medical bill they had wouldn't be too much money.
He checked the time, seeing he needed to head out soon. “I have to shower and get dressed. Please keep me updated on Lainey.”
“I will.”
Amelia watched Avery as he walked into the bedroom. She turned to Lainey, seeing she was still sleeping. Avery needed food, so she heated a breakfast sandwich for him and poured up a travel mug of coffee. When he came out, his eyes grew wide.
“You fixed this for me?”
“Yes. Thank you for taking care of Lainey last night. I’m worried about your lack of sleep.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m used to it.”
She hugged him before he grabbed his coffee and sandwich as he headed out. Lainey slept for another three hours. Amelia found a clinic and had an appointment for them at noon.
Lainey wasn't happy to be missing school, but she was too sick to go.
Avery texted at ten and she told him she would know more after noon.
Of course, by the time she made it to the doctor's office, Lainey was acting like she was the picture of health.
The doctor looked skeptical at her until he looked at Lainey's throat.
“Oh my, that looks painful. Does that hurt?”
Lainey looked at the doctor and shrugged. “A little. Not as bad as yesterday.”
“Did you tell your mommy?”
Again, Lainey shrugged. “I'm fine. We've been through worse.”
The doctor frowned. “If your throat hurts, you need to tell someone.”
“Apple took care of me last night. He was really worried. But I stopped coughing so he wouldn’t be too upset.”
Avery hated that her daughter had to grow up so fast. She wanted Lainey to be a kid, but they’d gone through a lot before they’d moved in with Dena. She’d thought Lainey wouldn’t remember, but she had.
The doctor’s eyebrows shot up. “Apple, who is this Apple person?”
“He’s Lainey’s father. His friends call him Apple. His name is Avery.”
“Ah, that happens around here. So, Lainey, you don't have to worry about how the adults will feel.
If you're sick, you need to let them know.
I'll have the nurse do a strep test. If it doesn't show positive in the office, we'll send it off.
I'm sure it's strep. I'll start her on an antibiotic, and I have some other medicine that will help with the cough. The best thing is rest and liquid. Eat well over the next few days, so no candy, more nutrition like from fruits and vegetables.”
Lainey nodded. “I like pancakes, but Apple makes really good eggs. Are eggs good?”
“Yes, eating a few eggs a week is good.”
“Okay. I’ll make Apple fix me some eggs.”
The doctor chuckled as he wrote something down in a chart. “I’m sure he will be happy to make you eggs.” He glanced up from the paperwork and smiled. “The nurse will be in to do the test and give you the prescription. Don’t hesitate to call if you see any reaction to the antibiotic.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled and opened the door. “Have a good afternoon.”
The nurse stepped in a few minutes later. “Looks like we get to do a strep test, and I have the prescription for you here, Mom. It's twice a day and make sure to finish the prescription, so seven days. She will probably feel much better after a few days, but don't stop the antibiotics.”
“I’ll make sure she takes all of it.”
Amelia winced as the nurse got the test ready. Lainey hated this kind of test. Her daughter frowned at the nurse.
“I don’t like that.”
The nurse nodded. “I know. Few people like taking these tests. Your throat already feels raw, and now we're doing stuff to make it feel even worse. But I have a lemon lollipop for after you finish. The citrusy flavor will make your throat feel better.”
Lainey’s lips thinned. “Okay. You can do it.”
“You’re very brave.”
Amelia liked this practice. Because she didn’t have much money and insurance was way too expensive, she often went to places that weren’t the best. Though this was a clinic for low-income people, it was amazing.
Lainey was brave for the test and it was over in seconds.
Then she had the lollipop, and all was better.
The nurse walked her out to the reception area where she paid.
The people here were wonderful, and she wondered if everything in this area was this way.
There was no way other places were this good.
She’d found a wonderful place with wonderful people which was just what they needed.