23. Riley
Chapter 23
Riley
T he entire ride in the rescue unit, I kept whispering to Nicholas to just stay with me while at the same time I kept praying to River to please protect my son. Kane bounced around the rescue unit while starting an IV, putting Nicholas on a heart monitor, giving him some drugs to stop the seizures, and putting oxygen on him.
His ability to balance standing up while doing all of these things is impressive – but what I was most grateful for was that he kept telling me what he was doing to Nicholas and why. That gave me something to focus on instead of all the ‘whatifs’ floating around in my head.
“We’re here,” Kane says to me as he starts collecting all the machinery that my son is attached to. “When Hudson opens the door, we’ll pull the stretcher out and then you can follow us into the ER. The nurses will ask you to stand aside, but they’ll let you stay in the room as they start working on him. Okay? Any questions?”
I look at Nicholas, covered in someone else’s blood as he lies motionless on the stretcher, “Is he going to be okay?”
Kane waits until I look up at him. “He’s going to be fine, Riley. Just fine.”
Hudson opens the door. “Ready?”
“Yep.” Kane answers as he climbs out of the truck, and they pull my little boy out of the rescue unit and into the emergency room.
I run behind the stretcher to keep up as the medics burst through multiple doors. A few nurses meet the stretcher along the way, but I’m relieved when I see Sunni, our kickball captain and emergency room nurse, enter the room where they placed Nicholas. Another reason I miss living in a small town… familiar faces are everywhere and that’s what I need right now.
“Riley, I need you to stand over here so we can work on him. Okay?” Sunni says as she maneuvers me to the corner of the room.
I nod as I watch all the nurses hook Nicholas up to more machines.
“Is he on any routine medications?” Sunni asks as she stands behind a rolling cart with a computer on it.
“No, but I did give him some medication the other day because he had a small fever.”
“Does he have any allergies?”
“No, no allergies.”
“Has Nicholas had seizures before?”
Just as Sunni asks me that question, both Declan and Dr. Reid Larson come running into the room together talking. Declan searches the room for me and when he finds me, the relief on his face is immediate.
“How’s he doing?” he asks me.
I just shrug my shoulders as he pulls me into his arms.
“Riley, I need to know if he’s had seizures before,” Sunni asks in a firm tone.
“Oh, sorry. Yes, he was diagnosed with febrile seizures a few years ago. The doctor told me that he would grow out of them, but he hasn’t yet.”
“But he’s not on any medications for them, right?” she confirms.
“Right. Only when he gets a fever.” I look up at Declan, “He didn’t have one this morning when I took him to school.”
“I know, baby.” Declan kisses the top of my head as we watch Dr. Larson call out orders in all kinds of medical jargon that I don’t understand.
“Riley, Declan. Can you come with me?” Dr. Larson waves us out from behind the curtain, but he doesn’t close it behind us so that we can still see Nicholas. He understands I need to see my son.
“Is he going to be okay Reid?” Declan asks.
“I’m going to be honest here and say that I’m hopeful. His fever is quite high, but we’ve already been able to bring it down a bit. I’m giving him high doses of medication and a lot of fluids.”
“Why is he not waking up? Is he in a coma?” I ask.
“Sort of. His little body is fighting and is focusing on keeping him alive. We actually want him resting so if he wants to stay out, I’m okay with it for now.” Reid says as another familiar face approaches us.
“Hey, I heard there may be injuries. There was blood?” Dr. Trevor Jacobs asks as he gives me a side hug. “Hey, Riley.”
I nod at him as Declan answers his question. “It wasn’t Nicholas’ blood.”
“Ah. Okay. It’s a good thing when you don’t need my services as a trauma surgeon.”
“Dr. Jacobs? They need you back in the OR,” a nurse calls over to Trevor.
He waves at her in acknowledgment. “Riley, duty calls, but if you need anything, have one of the nurses page me. I’ll be here all night. Okay? Anything.” Trevor hugs me sideways again as I nod.
“Thanks. I will.”
He shakes Declan’s hand as he walks away when another nurse approaches us. “Dr. Larson, here are the STAT labs for the Ashford boy.” She hands him a tablet as both Declan and I watch him read the report as we try to decipher whether or not what he’s reading is good or bad. I can’t tell. He must play a good hand of poker.
“Well, it looks like little Nicholas is fighting an infection of some sort. Probably something that’s been brewing for the last couple of days and probably something he caught at daycare. Those places can be a petri dish of a million things.”
The relief is instant and overwhelming as the tears of relief start to flow. “Thank god,” I whisper.
“I’m going to move him to the children’s ward in a couple of hours. I want to keep an eye on him here for now. Once he’s up there, I’ll transfer him to Dr. Parker Travino. You should know him. He went to school with us, too.”
Both Declan and I nod. “I remember him.” I say.
“Good. Well, he’s one of the best pediatric doctors in the state now, so you’ll be in good hands. I’m going to go finish my reports, but if you need something, I’ll be just inside that door,” he points behind the nurses’ station, “so just come get me. Okay?”
I nod as Declan answers, “Thanks Reid. For everything.”
“You bet.” He puts his arm on my shoulder, “He’s going to be okay, Riley. I promise.”
I look up at him and give him a small smile because it’s all I have left in me. Today has been so traumatic and exhausting. “Thank you, Reid.”
I’ve been sitting in this chair for over an hour, holding my son’s little hand as the beeping of the heart machine lets me know my boy is still okay. The constant beeping should irritate me, and on any other day, it probably would. But today, it’s very comforting.
Declan’s been by my side since the minute he arrived and I’m so grateful for him that my heart could explode. I love him so much for saving Nicholas today. I don’t know if I ever could express that to him. How do you tell someone how grateful you are for them saving your only child’s life? For being there for you when you didn’t know what to do. For everything. I don’t know if I ever will be able to.
My phone has been blowing up, but I’ve just let it go to voicemail. I don’t have the strength to talk to anyone right now. I feel like I’ve been awake for a week in the last twelve hours, but when Declan hands me my ringing phone, I know I need to take this call.
“Hi Mom,” I answer.
“Hi Sweetie. How’s it going?” she asks joyfully and I don’t want to crush her trip of a lifetime, but she needs to know what’s been happening… what is still happening. And… I want my mom.
I burst into tears as I tell her the whole story from the moment they left on Saturday until right now as I sit next to my unconscious son in the emergency room. I tell her about Declan, Bella, what’s happened to their home… everything. She has every right to yell at me for not calling sooner or lying to her the last time I talked to her, but instead she says only four words. “We’re on our way.”
The hospital has moved Nicholas to the children’s floor and it’s a lot more cheerful up here with the bright colors and happy graphics on the walls. The rooms are more comfortable, too. Nicholas’ room is a private one and there’s a pullout couch and a much more comfortable recliner to lie back in than the hard plastic chairs that are in the emergency room.
Declan’s been on and off the phone for hours. I have no idea who he’s talking to, but my phone has stopped ringing, so I’m supposing he’s handling everything for us.
My parents are in Scotland and fortunately were not on the cruise ship when they called. They are now making arrangements to get their stuff off the ship and get flights home. I suspect they won’t be back for another day or so.
Declan comes back into the room and sits down in the recliner next to me and Nicholas. I’ve climbed into bed with him so I can hold him.
“Your parents should be here in…” he looks at his watch, “about twelve hours.”
“What? How’d they manage that?”
“I called in a favor from a friend,” Declan says as he puts one hand on Nicholas’ foot and the other on my knee.
“Who?”
“Ian Gallo called in a favor to a business associate who lives in Scotland and has a private jet. They’re getting on the plane now.”
“What?! Oh, my god, that’s…” I’m at a loss for words.
“Amazing? Yeah, it is. Ian offered and I took him up on it. Hope you’re okay with that.”
“Yeah, I am. Thank you.” It’s finally just the three of us and the beeping heart monitor. It’s soothing. “Who else have you been talking to? You’ve been out there a while.”
“I had to give a statement to Detective Kowalski, make arrangements at Hooplas, and get Bella all squared away. Jax is taking her to his house since ours is still being used as a command center.”
“Still? I figured all those techs would go back to the police station by now.”
“They’re packing it up by now, I’m sure, but they were still trying to make sure there was no other evidence at the house before leaving. Oh, and I made arrangements to have your parents stay with us.”
“You did?” God, how the hell did I get so lucky with Declan?
“Yeah, well, after what we did to your parents’ house, I thought it was the least I could do and I figured once Nicholas gets to go home, he might want to be around his family.” Declan looks a bit shy when he says that.
I sit up and take this hand that is on my knee. “He’s with his family right now.”