Better Off Alone (Adopted by Brendon and Sarah Urie)

81. Brendon

I went to wake Callie up in the morning to see if she felt like going to school. She was still in bed, her alarm going off. I didn't know if she was awake or not. Her back was to the door. I went over to her bed and she was lying there, curled up, her eyes closed.

I sat down on her bed and gently shook her shoulder. She buried her face into her pillow, so I shook her again just the tiniest bit more forcefully. She opened her eyes, looked at me, her eyes widened and then she rolled over and threw up.

"I guess you're not going to school today," I signed to her as she started crying. I pulled her into my lap. Sarah came in and saw the pile of sick and went to get a towel to clean it up before coming back in and checking on Callie.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked Callie. Callie shook her head.

"My head hurts, my stomach hurts. I don't feel good."

"Okay sweetheart," she signed and looked at me. I didn't know what to think.

"Maybe we'll just keep an eye on her for a little? See if she should see a doctor?" I said to Sarah. I looked down at Callie who was looking up at me and just looking ridiculously sad. I smiled at her and she tried to smile back.

I picked her up and carried her downstairs with us. I placed her gently on the couch and smoothed down her hair.

"I'm going to call the school. You relax, okay?" I grabbed a small garbage pail from the downstairs bathroom and put it next to Callie. "Throw up in here if you need to, okay?"

Callie nodded and then put her head down and pulled a pillow over her head.

"Too bright," she signed. I glanced at Sarah who had already called the school and was talking to the doctor to see if we should have Callie checked out. As we were talking, I heard Callie throwing up again. It went on for a while. Sarah and I both looked at each other, worry on our faces, and ran to check on Callie. She was leaning over the garbage pail, throwing up and dry heaving over and over. She was crying.

I sat down beside her and rubbed her back. She signed 'can't stop', as she leaned over the garbage bin. Sarah pulled out her phone and called the doctor's office.

Finally, Callie seemed to be able to stop throwing up.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Crappy," she spelled. "My head hurts. The lights are too bright."

I looked at Sarah, whose back was to us while she talked to the doctor. I saw her nodding.

"Okay," Sarah said after hanging up her phone. "He said keep an eye out for intensifying pain in your head, more throwing up and if she has any trouble concentrating or walking or is dizzy."

"And if she's just spent ten minutes puking?"

"He thinks we might have to take her in to the emergency room. He said if she keeps throwing up, or keeps saying her head hurts, especially if it gets worse, we should take her in. Or if she complains of lights being too bright. He said sounds, too, but, well..."

"She's already complaining her head hurts," I said. "And that the sunlight in the living room is too bright."

Sarah nodded.

"Let's keep an eye on her for the next hour. If nothing changes or gets worse, we'll go. Okay?"

I nodded. We'd been signing as well so Callie knew what was going on.

"My head really hurts," she said, laying and looking both cute and pathetic, on the couch.

"Okay. How bad? 1-10?" I asked.

"11," Callie said. I looked at Sarah.

"Maybe we should take her in?"

Sarah nodded and ran to get her purse and all our insurance information.

"Okay, Callie, let's get you up and we're going to go get you looked at, okay?"

Callie nodded and stood up, but immediately sat back down. She got up again and took a couple steps, but was off balance. We definitely needed to take her in.

I picked her up and carried her out to the car. Sarah handed me the keys and sat in the back with Callie in her arms.

I drove as quickly as I dared. I had Sarah text Zack and let him and Kala know where we were.

As soon as we got to the hospital, I parked and grabbed Callie and carried her into the emergency department. 

"I need a doctor. My daughter has a concussion and she's been throwing up and complaining that her head hurts, lights are too bright and she's off balance."

"Okay, Sir," the nurse said. "Just fill out these forms and we'll have her looked at."

Just then, Callie stiffened in my arms and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. I held her tight but she was shaking and seizing. She was having a seizure and I was trying not to drop her. I knelt quickly and got her to the floor a little less gently than I'd have liked, but safely.

The nurse jumped up and pretty soon we were surrounded by medical staff who placed Callie on a stretcher and rushed her to the back. We followed and the doctors and nurses asked us what had happened before us coming to the hospital. I explained about Callie's concussion and other health issues.

After the initial rush of medical staff, we were alone in Callie's curtain area. We weren't sure what was happening.

A nurse came in, checked a few things on Callie's I.V. That had been started once she stopped seizing.

"Okay, so the doctor has ordered an MRI and a CT scan. We're just waiting for them to call for her. For now, she seems to be resting comfortably, and we'll keep coming in to check on her. I expect they'll be ready for her within the hour. The doctor is very concerned about a brain injury and so he's going to try to pull some strings and get Callie taken as soon as possible."

We thanked her and then looked at each other. A brain injury?  What would that mean for Callie's future? After fighting for her at Merton, would we have to pull her anyway?

I looked down at my sleeping (I hoped) daughter and picked up her tiny hand. I squeezed it, and was rewarded with a light squeeze back. I smiled. She was still asleep, but she was responding sort of.