Wild Little Dreams

15

January 10, 2013

Kamryn was now 7 years old and had just gotten back to her first-grade class after winter break a few days before. The winter had proven to be a hard one for Kam sickness-wise as she was constantly getting ear infections and strep throat. She got sick a lot as a toddler but they had finally gotten past that. Both Jay and Hailey thought she'd finally had a strong enough immune system but then the winter came around every year.

Not only was Kamryn on the tail end of first grade, but Jay had also gotten officially moved to the intelligence unit at CPD. He now worked at District 21 which was only a short drive from Kamryn's school.

He worked under Hank Voight who'd been known around CPD as a dirty cop, and how he got to take control of a whole unit, no one knew. Jay had been working in organized crime and caught a bullet to the shoulder. The case he was working on put him on Antonio Dawson's good side and the rest is history.

"Can you please drop her off? I have to go in early," Hailey asked as she got her stuff ready for the day.

"Yeah, i'm only a few minutes from the new district, I got her," He nodded, brushing Kam's hair into a ponytail before putting a cute green be in it to match her outfit.

"That's right, that's today," she sighed, "Sorry I forgot,"

"It's fine Hailey, I can take her," He chuckled, "Go to work,"

"Alright. Have a good day baby," She told Kamryn, kissing her cheek before she left the house.

"Alright peanut, you ready?" Jay asked, standing Kam up in her chair, "Let's get going,"

"Okay, Daddy!" Kamryn smiled, jumping down as she held Jay's hand.

They went out to the Impala and Kamryn got strapped into her booster seat and was soon ready to go. Jay drove her to the school and took her up to the door, giving her a quick hug and kiss goodbye, and headed back to the car.

He got to his new district within minutes of dropping Kamryn off, heading up the steps.

——————

It didn't take long for Kamryn to spike a fever and her to become miserable. She went to the nurse's office with one of her teachers, sitting in the chair as soon as she got in the office.

"Hey honey, what's the matter?" The woman asked, looking at the 7-year-old in front of her.

"My throat hurts and my tummy," she mumbled as the nurse pulled out the thermometer.

"Just your throat and tummy?" She asked as she immediately got her temperature taken which popped up at 101.7.

"Mhm," she nodded, "I wanna go home,"

"Alright honey, I'll call your mom. What's your last name again?" She asked, pulling out the book of first-grade phone numbers.

"Halstead," Kamryn answered.

"Alright, go lay down and I'll call Mama," she instructed, pointing at the empty cots to one side of the room.

The nurse watched her as she pulled up Kamryn's file and dialed Hailey's number.

"Hello?" Hailey answered as soon as she saw the school's number come up on her phone.

"Hi Mrs. Halstead, I have Kamryn in here. She spiked a fever of 101.7 and she told me her throat hurts and so does her stomach,"

"Alright, I have one thing to finish up here and then ill be on my way to get her," Hailey sighed, hating that her baby was sick again. It'd been a rough winter for them.

"Sounds good, thank you," she nodded, hanging up the phone as she turned to Kamryn, "Your mom will be on her way soon,"

"Okay," she mumbled, looking around the office.

Hailey was on her way in minutes and at the school within 20 minutes of them calling her.

She got buzzed into the office and soon enough, Kamryn appeared in front of her.

"Hey, sweetie,"

"Hi Mommy," she mumbled, coughing a few times as Hailey signed her out for the day.

"We gotta stop at Med and then we'll go home okay?"

"Okay?" She nodded, coughing a little more as they walked out to Hailey's SUV.

She got in and in her booster seat since she was still pretty tiny and buckled up while Hailey got up front. She went straight for med and got Natalie as soon as they arrived so they were able to get a room pretty fast. It helped a lot that Med wasn't as busy as they usually were.

"What's going on?" She asked, putting on hand sanitizer and gloves. "Upset tummy and throat?"

"Mhm," Kamryn mumbled, looking at her soon-to-be aunt.

"Alright you know we're gonna do a strep test?"

"Yeah," she nodded, laying back as it was the easiest way for Nat to get it done really fast. She got what she needed and quickly stuck the big a-tip to the back of Kamryn's throat. "All done honey,"

Kamryn sat back up and looked at Hailey as she coughed again.

"I know honey," she nodded, waiting with her daughter for the results that eventually confirmed the strep throat. "We'll get your medicine and go home, okay?"

Kamryn nodded and got off the bed, going with Hailey to get her medicine and then heading out to the car to go home.

As soon as they were home, Hailey got her the first dose of medicine and cuddled up to her mom on the couch.

"That should make you feel better," she told her, "and I'll see if Dad will stop and get you a milkshake,"

"Can he get me a chocolate one?" She asked, looking at Hailey again.

"I'm sure he can honey," she chuckled, pulling out her phone to send Jay a message.

For the rest of the day, Hailey and Kamryn watched movies as Kamryn slept on and off.

Jay showed up at home while Kamryn was napping but came with a chocolate shake for his little one.