Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Tiffanie wished that beeping would go away.
The annoying sound drew her out of the best sleep she’d had in forever.
She turned onto her side and stopped halfway when something pulled uncomfortably in her hand.
Wrinkling her nose in aggravation, she blinked her eyes open.
The stark white light above her made Tiffanie squint as she tried to figure out where she was.
A shadowy figure loomed over her. Phineas. Instantly, her growing panic abated.
“Good morning, Princess. I’m glad to see your pretty blue eyes.” Phineas’s hands smoothed her hair from her face.
“Daddy?” Tiffanie whispered. “Where are we?”
“You collapsed in Essie’s office, Princess. Don’t move too much. You have an IV in your hand. Your brother is with us at the hospital too.”
“I just called you Daddy,” she whispered. She blushed with heat.
“It’s safe, Princess. He went to grab some coffee for us.”
“Oh, thank goodness!” Tiffanie scanned around the room and asked, “Is this the hospital? Am I sick?”
“How do you feel?” Phineas asked.
“Good,” she said, raising her shoulders in a silent “I don’t know”.
“Nice! I was hoping I’d find you awake,” the nurse said. “I’m Samantha, your nurse. Michelle updated me on you and went off shift. Is it alright if I check you over before calling the doctor?”
Tiffanie looked at the smiling nurse and glanced over at Phineas for help in deciding what to do. When he nodded, she said, “Sure. I think I’m okay.”
“I’m glad to hear that. You’ve been our favorite patient in the emergency department tonight.
Quiet, not asking for anything,” Samantha teased as she checked her blood sugar.
“105. That’s much better. I bet your energy level is rebuilding.
” She checked her blood pressure and heart rate and gave Tiffanie a thumbs-up after seeing the results.
“One more. I’ll need to draw some blood. Sir, if you’ll hold her hand, I bet that would help. Quick ouch here,” the nurse said as Tiffanie studied a poster on the opposite wall.
Tiffanie hadn’t finished reading all the hand-washing instructions posted on the sign when Samantha gathered up her things.
Tiffanie said, “You’re done? That didn’t hurt.”
“Be sure to tell the hospital that. I need a raise,” Samantha said with a smile before patting Tiffanie’s arm. “I’ll return soon. Want anything to eat? Maybe some lime sherbet?”
“Rainbow if you have it,” Tiffanie said.
“I’ll check.”
When the nurse disappeared, Tiffanie turned to Phineas. “Tell me what’s happening.”
“Hey! I’m glad to see you up,” Ivan said, stepping into the room with two cups of coffee.
“Hi, Ivan. Phineas was about to tell me what happened.”
“I can help with that. He missed the excitement,” Ivan said.
Her brother described her eyes suddenly rolling back in her head before she crumpled to the ground. Unreal. “I didn’t say a word? Just dropped where I stood?”
“We were working on the Knowledge Fair. You got up to show Essie the final table layout you’d planned, whispered Phineas, and boom—a Tiffanie puddle on the floor. Marmalade lost it. I’ve never heard him yowl like that.”
“I remember the cat being in the room. I always try to pay attention to Marmalade because things happen when he’s there,” Tiffanie said.
“I’d say that holds true in this instant. Essie picked up the phone to call for an ambulance, but I figured bringing you here in my truck would be faster than waiting for them.”
“What’s wrong with me?” she asked, petrified they were going to tell her bad news. She’d heard such a good report from the oncologist. Her cancer hadn’t spread somewhere else, had it?
“Tiffanie, I’m glad to meet you.” The doctor’s calm voice at the door contrasted radically with hers. “I told them you’d wake up when you were ready. I haven’t gotten the blood report yet from the nurse, but all your other tests are showing extremely optimistic results.”
“What made me pass out?” she asked.
“A bunch of minor stuff that overwhelmed your system. Low blood sugar, subpar iron, finishing chemo meds recently…. We gave you a bit of a tune-up while you were resting. Do you mind if I listen to your heart and lungs?”
“Okay,” she said, shrugging helplessly as she checked in with Phineas to make sure the doctor was telling her the truth and she wasn’t dying.
“They’ve given you glucose and iron to bolster your depressed amounts. That sugar test result was the best one yet,” Phineas shared with Tiffanie as the doctor assessed her.
“You sound great now. I’m glad to see you alert and making sense. The crisis appears to be over, but I’m going to keep you with us for a bit longer to get the last lab report. If those numbers come back okay, you’ll be on your way home,” the doctor assured her.
“How can we prevent this from happening in the future?” Phineas asked.
“Tiffanie needs regular meals with extra calories to rebuild her strength, light activity like a slow walk to build up strength and lots of fluids. And I mean lots.” The doctor focused on Tiffanie with a pointed gaze. “I want a glass of something in your hand at all times. No alcohol.”
His voice was so stern and reminded her of Phineas’s tone when he laid down the Daddy law. Automatically, she nodded and noticed Phineas’s assessing look. Crap! She was going to run to the bathroom four hundred times a day.
“We’ll get right on that,” Phineas said.
“Good. Rest for a bit longer. I’m going to give you a bit more potassium before you go.”
As soon as he left, Tiffanie glanced between the two guys who meant the world to her. “You’re going to be unbearable now, aren’t you?”
“You always were the smart one in the family,” Ivan said. “I’ll call Essie.”
When he left, Phineas squeezed her hand. “You scared me, Little girl.”
“I frightened myself. Well, when I woke up and all these machines beeped at me.”
Samantha bustled into the room with a turkey sandwich, rainbow sherbet, and a cola. She set those on the tray and waved a hand at Phineas as she carried a small medicine bag to the IV pole. “Could you lend her a hand with those while I get this hooked up?”
“Of course,” he said.
The nurse met her patient’s gaze. “Calories for you, Tiffanie. Eat for me. I don’t want these big guys angry with me.”
“Okay,” Tiffanie promised. To her surprise, she was actually hungry.
“What do you want to start with?” Phineas asked, arranging her choices in front of her.
“Rainbow,” she answered without considering the others. Life was short. She should definitely devour dessert first.
She’d finished everything by the time Samantha returned to take her IV out and send her home.
The lab report continued to show positive results, so the doctor had discharged her.
Phineas helped her dress. He took such good care of her.
Minutes later, they waved goodbye to Ivan and headed for Phineas’s house. Home.
When they pulled up in the driveway, a man unloaded groceries onto the front porch. “Hi, folks. Good timing,” the deliveryman called as he set down a few more bags.
“You ordered all this stuff? Are we having a party?”
“Prepare to eat better than you ever have.”
“I can’t consume this much, Phineas.”
“I’ll help you. The store had rainbow sherbet.”
“Yum. I love that.”
“I remember. Now to find something high in iron that you like. Spinach? Liver?”
“No way.” She shook her head. No amount of coercion would convince her to choke down either one.
“Pickled beets?” he asked, smiling as if he had a million suggestions for her.
“I’ll enjoy those. They’re yummy.”
“Then it’s good I ordered those and neither of the first two.”
“You’re pretty smart, Daddy,” she said as he helped her out of the car.
“Thanks. To bed with you. I’ll put away all the delicious food I selected for us while you take a nap.”
“I just woke up from being unconscious. Do you really want me to go back to sleep?” she asked, appalled.
“How about resting while I tend to things out here, and then I’ll come curl up with you.”
“Promise?” she asked.
“You have my word.”