The Heart Series by Shari J. Ryan & Shari Ryan

Author:Shari J. Ryan & Shari Ryan [Ryan, Shari J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-07-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Three

IN ADDITION TO not calling Tori like I should have, evidently I was supposed to call Gavin’s pediatrician as well before showing up at the ER, which the receptionist condescendingly informed me. Why don’t I know any of this? I listened to everything. I’ve been to every appointment, and yet, I feel like the dumbest parent in existence. Now we’re sitting here in a goddamn waiting room while my son burns up in my arms. Shouldn’t kids have priority in an ER?

Hunter places his hand on my shoulder and reaches over with a cup of coffee for me in his other hand. The coffee smells good, and while I appreciate the gesture, the caffeine is just going to stir me up more than I already am right now. “Did you call you Tori yet?” he asks.

I shake my head, realizing it’s been over an hour, and I have no excuse for not calling her by this point. “No,” I say, looking down at Gavin who’s unworried, unfazed, and asleep in my arms.

“Oh, you probably should let her know,” Hunter says, sitting down beside me. “I don’t want to pry, but—”

“You’re not,” I tell him.

“You’ve changed, AJ.” His words aren’t meant to be offensive. It’s a factual statement. “And I’m worried about you.” I’m worried about me too. “You don’t laugh, you don’t smile, and you aren’t…you.”

“Yeah,” I agree. I can’t disagree, because he’s right.

“Are you okay?” he asks with hesitation.

Wanting to blurt out my answer, I let his question stir around in my head for a minute. I’m not sure I know what the definition of okay is. I guess if I was okay I would feel happy, and I would smile and laugh like I used to, but since I don’t, I guess there’s only one answer to his question. “No. I’m not.”

“I know,” he says. “Can I help you?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t know if anyone can.”

“Gavin,” a nurse calls from one of the open doors.

“I’ll wait here,” Hunter says. Part of me feels like a child, and I want him to come with me. I hate hospitals. I know he hates them more, though, and with good reason.

I bring Gavin in through the door, following the heavy-set nurse who’s draped in smiling puppy dog scrubs. As we enter the triage area, she pulls the curtain closed around us. “If you could remove his clothes except for his diaper, we’re going to weigh him, check his temperature, and his oxygen levels. You mentioned at the front desk that he has a fever?”

“Yes. It was at a hundred-and-three.” With shaking hands, I remove the outer layer of Gavin’s clothes, then quickly move on to the buttoned onesie.

“Have you given him Advil or any type of fever reducer in the past six hours?”

“No, nothing. We came right here.” I look at her face, waiting for the judgmental “you did something wrong” look but there’s no look. She places a piece of paper down onto a scale and gestures for me to put Gavin down on it.

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