Family is Forever (Sequel to Running on Insulin)

Chapter 68

They moved Samantha upstairs about twenty minutes later and immediately the nurses came in with ice packs and cooling blankets. Sam had a heart monitor attached, and they put the ice packs under her arms, behind her neck, behind her knees, in her groin and around her head. Then they lay a heavy blanket over her that was like a huge ice pack, but not frozen.

I sat beside her listening to her heart monitor, watching as she lay still.  They'd put her on oxygen as well, because of the pneumonia.

The nurses were amazing and would come in and out, checking on Sam, checking on me, which was over the top sweet, and letting me know everything they were doing. Even if it was just changing her IV or checking her blood sugar. They wanted to keep it a bit on the higher side for now, to compensate.

They have these sort of sofa beds in the hospital for parents to sleep on, but I didn't want to leave Sam's side, so I pulled a second chair over and leaned back on that, holding Samantha's hand.

It was uncomfortable, but I did wind up falling asleep.

"Good morning," a voice said, waking me up. I looked around thinking it was Samantha at first, but it was a nurse. I looked over at Samantha and saw the ice packs were gone.

"Hi," I said, sitting up. "Where are the ice packs?"

"Sam's fever came down overnight. It's still high, 103.5, last time we measured it, but she's out of danger now. We'll keep the cooling blanket for now, but she's definitely much cooler to the touch."

"Has she woken up at all? I actually fell asleep and I don't know if she did."

"Not yet, but if you look, you can see she's sleeping comfortably," the nurse smiled at me. I looked over and sure enough, Samantha looked like she was just sleeping. I moved closer to her and smoothed her hair down.

"Good morning my sweet girl," I whispered to her.

The nurse finished what she was doing and asked if I wanted to take a few minutes and get a coffee or breakfast. I didn't want to leave Samantha's side so she came back with a cup of coffee from the nurse's lounge.

"You are too sweet," I said.

"Don't mention it," she smiled.

At nine, my phone chimed. It was a text from Erin.

'Hey, Jenna. Just checking in. Hope Sam is doing better. Do you need anything?'

I texted her back.

'Looks like she had a UTI which we didn't know about. She never said anything. It may have spread to her kidneys and into her blood. She also has pneumonia. We're probably going to be here for a few days,' I replied.

'Has she woken up yet?'

'No, but she looks like she's just sleeping right now. Her fever is down. Still high, but not as bad as before. She got up to 106 last night at the hospital and last check was 103.5'

'Poor kid,' Erin responded. 'Have you eaten? Anything?'

'No,  I'm okay,' I replied. 'A nurse brought me a cup of coffee.'

I sat back and drank the coffee while Samantha slept.

My phone rang again and I saw it was Tyler.

"You're up early," I said.

"I barely slept. How's Sam?" He asked.

"She's better. Her fever is down, and she seems to just be sleeping right now. They had her covered in ice packs and a cooling blanket and right now, just the cooling blanket."

"Oh thank god," he said. "I'm glad her fever is down. She hasn't woken up yet?"

"Not that I've seen. I managed to sleep some last night. And the nurses who checked on her didn't say anything. But she doesn't look so... unconscious? If that makes sense?  Like, she's moved an arm and she's definitely just sleeping."

"Okay. I'm going to FaceTime later. Before the show. Hopefully she'll be awake by then. I want to see my daughter, regardless."

"Okay. I'll call you if there's anything important you need to know immediately. I'll text you updates as I get them," I said.

"Okay. Thanks. I feel horrible not being there," he said.

"Tyler, it's okay. We're fine. We'll be okay."

"Okay," he said. "Hang on."

"Hello?" Josh's voice came over the line. "Jenna, how's my niece?"

I smiled at that.

"She's doing a bit better this morning, Uncle Josh.  She's sleeping right now but hopefully she'll wake up later."

"We're both really worried out here. We're talking about postponing and coming home."

"We'll be fine. We're in good hands. You guys just keep making the fans happy and I'll let you know if anything changes. Okay?"

"Okay. Give that girl a hug and a kiss from her Uncle."

"I will. You guys try to get some rest," I said.

We hung up and I sat back and watched Sam sleep some more.

A knock at the door woke me from my daydream. Erin was standing in the doorway.

"Erin. What are you doing here?" I asked, getting up and giving her a hug, which she awkwardly returned since her hands were full.

"I assumed you hadn't had any proper breakfast, so I stopped at Starbucks and brought you a coffee and a breakfast sandwich. I hope you eat turkey bacon."

"I do, thank you. You're an angel, honestly."

"I also brought you one of those protein plates for lunch and a water. In case you didn't want to leave Sam and go get some food."

"What did we do to deserve friends like you?" I asked.

"You adopted a girl who became friends with my daughter and did something for her that no one else has been able to do," Erin smiled. I smiled back.

"So, how is she, really?"

"Sleeping," I said. "The nurse thinks she'll probably wake up later. But you can see she looks better already."

"She does. Less, waxy? Does that make sense?"

I smiled.

"Sure. Yeah. Waxy," I laughed.

Erin sat with me while I drank my coffee and ate the breakfast sandwich.

We chatted quietly while Samantha slept.

Around noon, Erin said she was going to run some errands and head home, and to call if I needed anything at all.

Just after she left, Samantha opened her eyes.

"Mama?" She said.