Living with the Nurse

Chapter 9: Jess

Yawning, I got up. I had decided to take a nap, not having gotten as much sleep as I wanted. After I got to bed, I had been listing everything that I needed to do by the following morning. Hours after preparing for the day, I had regretted it. An afternoon nap, at the same time as Lucy, was the sensible thing to do.

Feeling energised, and still a little sleepy, I got up again. My hair was a mess, sticking out everywhere. Throwing it into a pony tail, I saw Lucy watching me, wide eyed.

"Are you watching Mummy?" A grin broke out, wide and toothy. She was always at her best after waking up. I went to her cot, crouching to kiss her. She took advantage, grabbing my face. I ignored the tremors in her hands, so used to it. Tickling her, I pretended to eat her cheek.

"Do you want to go to the playground?" Lifting her from her cot, I grabbed the oxygen tank and carried it to the chair. Placing the oxygen tank on the floor, I slid Lucy into her chair. Strapping her in, I checked nothing would rub against her. Adding the tank, I checked that we had anything we would need. Her suction unit went beneath the chair while her oxygen monitor went beside it. She wiggles cheekily when I rewrapped the probe around her toe, making it more difficult.

Satisfied, I left the unit. Lucy giggled and a waved her arms, excited. She loved going for walks. I stopped, seeing a man with a dog approaching. Lucy started screaming, high pitched squeals. Except, she wasn't upset. She was excited. Her hands reached out, shaking so badly that I momentarily thought she was having a seizure. The man stopped, as if concerned. Crouching down, I put a hand on her knee.

"So you like the dog, sweetheart?" Lucy was too fixated on the dog to look at me, gurgling and babbling at the dog. I hadn't seen her so excited for a long time.

"Is she allowed to touch him?" Snapping my attention back to the dog's owner, I found him watching curiously. There was a small, nervous grin on his face, which only seemed to brighten as he looked back at Lucy. Looking back at Lucy, myself, I found her still fixated intently on the dog.

"Yes. She should be fine" nodding, he gently pulled the dog foreword. It was an Alaskan, all big and fluffy. There was a tongue lolling out, the tail wagging frantically. As soon as the dog was close enough to touch, she buried her fingers into his fur and pulled. I tried to stop her, worried about the dog.

"Don't worry. My nephew practically rides him like a horse. He's great with kids- despite what they say about his breed" he had a killer smile, the type that probably had women throwing themselves at him. The eyes would have sealed the deal, bright blue and naughty. He was certainly an attractive man. Well dressed too.

Turning back to Lucy, I smiled down at her. I stood, unable to access my back pocket while crouched down, and pulled my phone out. Snapping a few pictures, I laughed when I caught Lucy's face as she was licked. That ones going on the wall. Then she coughed.

Immediately jumping into action, I shoved my phone into my pocket with one hand while turning the suction on with the other. Quickly, I eased the auction tube into her mouth and got it all out. There was a lot to come. Lucy was upset about not being able to see the dog, but let me do what I needed to. She couldn't swallow properly, which lead to her asperating anything in her mouth.

When she coughed, not only did it often block off her airways due to the thickness, but also posed the risk of her swallowing the loose mucus into the wrong pipe. The last thing we needed was to have some muck get into her lungs, and cause an infection. People often didn't understand the importance of suctioning her, probably thinking it was just one of those things. In reality, it was preventing her either choking, or getting a chest infection- which could both kill her.

I couldn't explain this all to the guy with the dog, unable to even consider starting that explanation. The few times I had told people anything, it depressed them. Or they just basically emotionally blocked it, ignoring it. So I didn't bother.

"Sorry. She can't swallow properly" flushing the tube through with some water, I put it back into its convenient place behind her seat. He smiled, but was obviously a little green. I was used to that reaction.

"We better get going to the park sweetie, say bye bye to the nice doggie" Lucy started to get upset, but must have realised we were going to a park. I was surprised when she didn't start screaming, making it easier to leave.

"Nice meeting you" smiling at the guy, I started to leave.

"You too. I'm Walker" I laughed, amused by the irony in his name.

"I'm Jess, and this is Lucy" I took his outstretched hand, shaking it firmly. I had come to learn that a firm hand shake told people whether you were a push over or not, after living at the hospital for so long. It was an engrained habit now.

"Maybe we'll run into each other again" he smiled again, flashing his pearly whites. I briefly wondered if he was a model. Had the looks for it, and the body too.

"Probably. We just officially moved here yesterday" Lucy made a sound, obviously bored with sitting there.

"I look forward to it" we parted, going separate ways. I took Lucy to the closest park, glad to find that there was some play equipment. Lucy wouldn't be able to run around on it, like all the other toddlers could, but she could at least watch it. I might even be able to get her onto the slide.

Pulled the chair to a stop, I put the breaks on. Quickly going through the pockets in the back of the chair, I found the oxygen holder back pack. It wasn't the lightest on your back, but was fine for a little while. There was a little pocket in the side for her monitor, but I was happy to leave her probe off for a while. It wasn't necessary to have on all the time, just most of the time.

The suction, however, was a trickier situation. I would need to give her a quick deep suction to make sure there was nothing that could obstruct her airways while we were up there. Getting little back, I was happy to take her on. Pausing to quickly pull her out of her chair, I headed towards the play equipment.

Ignoring the looks of the other mothers, I climbed the ladder. It wasn't easy, but I managed to get to the top. Taking her quickly to the slide, I carefully arranged her so that she was supported and wouldn't lose her oxygen prongs. At the last minute, I decided to get my phone out and use the screen camera to take a photo of her face as we went down.

It was beautiful, with a full grin and baby teeth. Not to mention the little dimple in her left cheek that only showed when she was really excited about something. Kissing her, I made the ascent again. I would never tire of hearing her squeal in delight.

We were due back at the hospital the following day, but I was content. Everything was perfect for now, and that was enough for me.