Finally Home

76. Samantha

Dad and Uncle Josh's livestream thing was amazing. Dad did cut his hair finally, but not until after they'd filmed the video for "Shy Away", which was fun to watch get filmed, too.

Rosie and I stayed on the sidelines but Mom got to be in the livestream for a bit because she is in one of Dad's songs, so she got to be a part of the whole thing.

Dad had also dyed his hair pink for it which was kind of funny, kind of cool. He looked good with pink hair, actually. Rosie kept saying "Dada hair is candy!"

While Mom and Dad were busy on set, it was my job to keep an eye on Rosie. At one point she got tired, so we went back to the dressing rooms and she napped on the couch. I did some homework while she napped.

"Hey, Sam, how's it going?" Dad poked his head in during what I would assume is a break.

"Good," I said, looking up from my science homework.

"Rosie isn't causing you any trouble?" He asked.

I looked at him with a look that said "Rosie? Trouble?" He laughed.

"Dumb question I guess," he said. I smirked at him.

"When Rosie wakes up, come out and watch some more. We're going to do Heathens next. You'll like it," he said.

"Okay," I said. "Are you on a break now? How long?"

"An hour. We just stopped. Josh and I are going to grab a quick bite. We'll come in here. Mom should be here in a minute. She was just talking with Debby."

I smiled. I loved when we were all together.

Dad waved goodbye and I went back to my homework.

"Dada?" Rosie sat up on the couch. "SaSa? Where's Dada?"

"He's just getting something to eat and coming back, RosieRo," I said as she climbed on my lap.

"No bad people?"

"No bad people," I smiled.

Mom and Aunt Debby walked in and Mom handed me a plate of pasta from the dining room.

"You're starting to trend low and it's later than you realize."

I checked my app and smiled at Mom.

"Thanks," I said.

After we ate a bit, and Mom and Dad relaxed, they went back to it. Rosie and I watched from the sides. It was so cool to watch.

When that was done, Dad and Uncle Josh went out to California to film a couple music videos. Mom, Rosie and I went out over a weekend and a couple of extra days. It was cold even in California! At least, where Dad was filming. But we also got to see Uncle Brendon and Aunt Sarah, and that made the cold weekend bearable.

"How's my favourite niece?" Uncle Brendon asked as we met up, pulling me into a tight hug.

"Rosie's fine," I smiled up at him.

"You're a brat," he said, then pulling me into a hug again he said, "and I love it."

We were only in California for a few days, but it was fun. We just hung out since we didn't have a lot of time to do too much.

I was off two crutches again but my right leg was still causing problems. It would tighten up or cramp up really painfully sometimes. Physio worked on strengthening the muscle and then I had a massage after to try to loosen the muscle. It helped but my leg hurt more than I thought it should. More than I let Mom and Dad know.

Because I wasn't reliant on the crutches anymore, I warmed up with my team. Even though I couldn't play yet, I could still practice.

One afternoon, after practice I realized I'd pushed it too hard when my leg cramped painfully in the car.

"You okay?" Dad asked.

I grimaced and clenched my teeth but nodded.

"Yeah. That's convincing. What's up?" He asked.

"My leg is cramping up really bad," I said through my clenched teeth. "It really hurts."

"I'll massage it when we get home, okay?"

I nodded. When we pulled into the driveway, he called Mom and asked her to put the heating pad on the couch and turn it on.

We went into the house and Dad told me to lie down and wrap the heating pad around my thigh. That was the muscle that hurt the most. I did and lay down. Mom came over with a snack.

"You okay?" She asked, smoothing down my hair.

"My leg really hurts," I said.

"I can tell," she said. "You don't look good. Do you feel okay?"

"Yeah. Just my leg hurting," I said. Mom checked my forehead anyway. She frowned.

"You feel a little warm," she said.

Dad came in then and sat down and took my leg. He started to massage it but it wasn't helping. In fact, it hurt more.

"Dad, stop," I said. "It hurts."

He stopped and frowned at me.

"It shouldn't," he said. "It's just a tight muscle."

"Maybe but it really hurts," I said, tears coming to my eyes.

"She's warm, too," Mom said to Dad. He felt my forehead and frowned.

"Grab the thermometer," he said to her.

"I'm fine," I said.

Being parents, they didn't listen. Dad took my temperature and said it was 102.

"Alright you, we're getting you checked at the hospital."

"Why?" I whined. I hate going to the hospital.

"Because none of this makes any sense. Your leg shouldn't be hurting and you shouldn't have a random fever. I don't like how much pain you're in."

I tried arguing but I was sore and tired.

Dad helped me out to the car and drove me in to the hospital. We got checked in and I lay on the stretcher in the room they put us in, annoyed and listening to music. They took some blood and got me changed into a hospital gown.

I must have dozed off because Dad was shaking me awake. There was a doctor standing over me.

"Hi," he smiled as I pulled out my earbuds. "I'm Dr. Jones."

"Hi," I said.

"So, we did some blood work as you're likely aware. You have a nasty infection somewhere and since you're complaining about pain in your right leg, it's possible it's there. So, we're going to admit you, do an ultrasound and see what's going on."

I sighed.

"Fine."

Dad smiled at me. He knew I was annoyed at yet another hospital stay.