Chapter 6
Ash
We sat in the pediatric waiting room, waiting for Dr. Cameron Brandt to come in and relieve my daughter’s sinuses. What a damn mess this all was. The nurse finished taking Kaley’s vitals and getting our story for Cameron’s charts, and God only knew what that man would say when he walked in here.
“I’m hungry,” Kaley said, bringing my attention to where she sat, playing with her favorite doll that John had managed to snag before we rushed out of the house.
I smiled at my daughter, amused by how things with kids always went sideways so fast and thankful that things weren’t worse.
“Why don’t you pull the jellybeans out of your nose and eat them, then?” John smarted off.
“John, focus on your homework,” I said, nodding at the iPad he brought.
“Well, I’m just stating the obvious,” he said, constantly needing to get in the last word.
“Thank you for that,” I said before looking at Kaley, whose expression showed deep shame. “After Cam helps us get those things out of your nose, we’ll get something to eat on the way home.”
“McDonald’s?” she questioned with excitement.
“You know Mommy doesn’t like to eat fast food,” I said. “Addy needs to stop encouraging you to like that place.”
“But it’s yummy,” she said with a cute and devious expression inherited from her dad.
“So is, or was, the spaghetti I was making for dinner tonight,” I countered.
“By the time Cameron gets in here and treats Kaley, McDonald’s will be the only place still open,” John said with annoyance, eyeing his sister in reprimand for all of this.
“You’d better watch that attitude, pal,” I said with an arch of my eyebrow, having had enough of his attitude. “I’m sure that when Kaley shoved the jellybeans up her nose, she didn’t plan on ending with a visit to the hospital. Things happen, so take it easy.”
“Okay,” he reluctantly agreed, but he was probably internally rolling his eyes. Little shit.
I heard two quick knocks on the door before it cracked open, and Cam came in with the pediatric ER nurse.
Cameron was a doll, always leading with his big blue eyes and a bright smile that made you want to smile, too.
His dark navy scrub cap had penguins all over it, matching his cheerful and fun personality.
No person on earth was more suited to work with sick kids than Cam.
“Hey guys,” he said. He saw John sitting in the chair next to the door and ruffled the top of his head before smiling at Kaley and then me, “Quite the night for you, Ash?”
“You can say that again,” I said. “Nothing like planning a quiet night at home before the unexpected happens, and here we are.”
“Ha,” he chuckled, then looked at Kaley, hiding behind her American Girl doll. “Don’t tell me your doll shoved jellybeans up her nose, too?”
“No, just me,” she said meekly, lowering the doll.
“Well, I have to admit,” he sat on his stool and rolled over to where Kaley sat on the exam table, “I’ve had many youngsters put jellybeans up their noses, but most of them stop after one. You didn’t!”
“No,” Kaley admitted, embarrassed.
“Let me guess why,” Cam said, tilting her head back to assess the situation, “you wanted to grow a jellybean farm in your nose because your mom and dad won’t let you eat all your Halloween candy at once?”
Kaley snort-giggled since she could only breathe through her mouth, making it sound like she was oinking.
“I think that’s what happened,” the nurse added playfully.
“Hand me the forceps, please, Shelly,” Cameron requested. “It’s time I start farming this cute little nose and see how many jellybeans we have shoved up there.”
“I don’t know how many,” Kaley said, leaning her head back further while Cameron eased the long tweezers into her tiny nostrils, retrieving the first jellybean.
I watched in humor and disbelief as he continued to pull jellybean after jellybean out of Kaley’s nose. I spied John’s eyes wide with shock at how many his sister had managed to get up there.
Cam massaged his thumb over her sinuses to ensure they were clear and moved to the other nostril.
“Sweetheart, I’m going to give you some advice,” he continued to work on her nose, “I know you idolize your dad and Uncle Collin, and I’m fairly confident that is where you got the idea to grow a jellybean farm up your nose, but I’m going to tell you something they don’t know,” he said while John chuckled.
“Yes?” Kaley said, being perfectly still as Cam searched deeper into her nose for yet another damn jellybean.
“You can’t grow candy in your nose,” he said as if offering her the wisest advice ever. “I wish you could, but you can’t. And now that you know that, we can laugh at Daddy and Uncle Collin when they try this trick.”
“It’s probably where she got the idea from,” I said, feeling relieved this was all pretty much over.
“No,” Kaley said, bringing her head back to normal position while Cameron used his fingers to feel around and see if there were any beans he hadn’t managed to find.
“Okay, kiddo. Take a deep breath through your nose and tell me if you can breathe again,” Cameron said.
Kaley breathed in deeply and exhaled the biggest sigh of relief I’d ever heard from such a tiny person. “I can breathe in my nose again,” she said sheepishly but happily.
“Fantastic,” Cam said, nodding toward the nurse who remained silent for most of the procedure.
“You’re all set, little one. And if your mom’s cool with it, we have a basket of toys for you and your brother to grab something from.
” He looked at John, “And before you smart off, Jim Junior,” he said, knowing exactly how John was with childish things, “there are some cool footballs and Nerf toys in that basket you might want to consider before you tell me you’re too old for toys. ”
John grinned at Cameron, looking like an eight-year-old for the first time since we arrived at the hospital.
“I’ll show you two where the basket is,” Shelly said with a friendly smile. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Mitchell,” she added before leaving Cam and me to discuss this craziness and wrap up our visit.
“Thanks, Cam,” I said, giving him a hug of relief. “I can’t believe we had to come in over this. I can’t imagine the hell you’ll give Jake.”
“Oh, you know how we operate,” Cam laughed, “but I don’t think tonight is the night to give Jake shit for anything.”
“Oh, no,” I said, not liking the change in his tone. “Did he lose a patient?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “After Jessa called and told me you were on your way, I tried to get ahold of Jake. I mean, it’s obvious that we’re hit and miss with availability when working on-call shifts, but Jake just texted back for me to take care of Kaley.”
“Damn it,” I said, folding my arms and wishing I could be there for my husband right now. “He never does well when he loses someone, even if they aren’t a regular patient.”
“Dr. Stone was with him. He’s the one who told me when I was in the cafeteria getting a coffee. It was a pretty tragic one due to the family’s situation. I don’t know much, but I’m sure Jake will tell you.”
“Well, maybe a little light-hearted humor about what his daughter did tonight will help ease the pain he must be feeling,” I said.
“Yeah, probably,” he nodded. “I just wanted to let you know. You can go to the cardiac wing and check in. I’ll goof around with the kids if you’d like?”
“I’ll leave him with his medical team,” I said. “I don’t want to distract him any more than he already is. I’m thankful you told me, though.”
“Not a problem,” Cam said, and then the intercom paged Dr. Brandt to an emergency operating room. “It looks like this night is just getting started, and that’s my cue.” He hugged me quickly, “It’s good to see you and the kids, Ash.”
“You too, Cam,” and with that, Cameron was out the door in a flash.
Being called into a life-saving emergency in the pediatric unit was never a good thing.
Nothing was worse than having a sick or injured child, and I hoped to my core that Cameron’s patient would be okay.
One thing I knew was that whoever was on the table would get the best care available since Cameron was on-call.
It brought to mind Jake’s patient and how I’m sure their family didn’t wake up this morning and expect to lose a loved one.
I suddenly felt overcome with gratitude that the reason for my visit was silly instead of serious.
I suppose we all take things for granted when life is going well, especially our health.
That was something I’d gotten a crash course in when I found out I had cancer, and it was a lesson I would be remiss to forget.
Tonight, I was grateful that nothing serious had happened to either of my children.
I walked out and saw them happily playing with the toys they’d carefully selected from the toy chest, and my resolve not to take them to McDonald’s on the way home faded.
Why the hell not? A happy meal might be the perfect way to heal jellybean trauma.