Childish

76

Something wasn't right the next morning when I woke up. I didn't remember being carried upstairs the second time I fell asleep nor did I remember being put in Mommy and Daddy's bed. I slept in between them the entire night. Everything was fine until I woke up the next morning.

Mommy and Daddy let me sleep while they got ready for work. They moved around the room quietly so they wouldn't wake me up. It wasn't until Mommy tried waking me up with next morning that she realized something wasn't right.

"Ly, baby, we have to get ready for school. I need you to wake up for mommy." She brushed my hair away from my face. Her hand stilled at my forehead when she felt my clammy skin.

I couldn't feel that anything was wrong. I was asleep. At least... I looked like I was asleep. In reality, I was in a coma. An in-between that I couldn't come out of.

"I really hope you're not getting sick." Mommy picked me up from where I lay on the bed.

As she cradled me into her arms, my head lolled to the side.

Her eyes widened and she stared at me with a fear she hadn't had since giving birth to Cooper. When she was able to speak, she yelled for Daddy.

It took him a minute before he came to the door. He was getting Cooper ready for school when Mommy called for him.

"What is it?"

"There's something wrong with Lyla."

He raised his eyebrows. "Is she giving you a hard time-"

"She's limp. I-I think there's something... really wrong." Mommy looked down at me as tears began to sting her eyes.

Daddy walked over and took me from her eyes. All four of my limbs and my head were limp as he lifted me into his arms. Even my eyes were still beneath my eyelids, showing that I wasn't dreaming.

He laid me down on the bed and put his ear against my chest to listen to my heart beating. "Go get a thermometer and a wet towel. I'm gonna call Monica."

She nodded and ran out to the guest bathroom where she kept the thermometer.

Daddy knelt on the bed beside me as he held his phone up to his ear. As he listened to the phone ringing, waiting on Monica to answer, he could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. He was breathing heavy, a sign that he was nervous that I was too far gone to save.

"Alex, it's seven-thirty. Why are you calling me-"

"Ly's not waking up. I think she's-"

"Breathe, Alex. Check her pupils."

Daddy pulled the phone away from his ear and turned the flashlight on. He lifted my eyelids one at a time and ran the light over my eyes, checking to see if my eyes moved in any way. He put the phone back up to his ear to speak once more. "They're non-responsive."

"What's her temperature?"

As she was asking her questions, Mommy came back into the room and handed over the thermometer. She sat down beside my head on the bed and pressed the wet towel to my forehead.

"You'll get the best results rectally. Let me know what it says when you get it."

Daddy did as Monica said and checked my temperature. He was fixing my diaper as he read off the temperature to Monica. "It's 104.6."

Monica sighed. "We need to run a CT scan to see if something happened while she was asleep. Get her to the lab. I can meet you there in fifteen minutes."

"I can take her," Mommy said quietly.

Daddy shook his head. "I should take her in case something happens."

"Alex-"

"He's right, Naomi. She needs someone who can help if something goes wrong."

Mommy shook her head. Her tears were more visible now. "She's my daughter. I can't just leave her. What if something happens and I'm not there-"

Daddy shook his head and tried his best to be gentle with her in the moment. "Cooper needs to get to school. He doesn't need to know about any of this. Once you drop him off, you can meet us at work."

"We're just supposed to send him to school like nothing's wrong?"

He nodded. "He won't understand what's going on. I don't want to make him afraid."

Mommy ran a hand through her hair. She was visibly shaken up and having a hard time focusing on what needed to be done rather than what she wanted to do. "Alex, I..."

Daddy walked over to where she was and pulled her into a hug. He held onto her as she cried, her fear showing.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared too. I don't know what this means, either. Monica and I are going to do everything we can to help Lyla, okay?"

Mommy had a hard time letting go of Daddy as she hugged him. He was holding her together, for the time being. She really needed him to make things better. "Will you call me if anything happens?"

"Of course, baby."

Mommy sat back and rubbed the tears out of her eyes. She took a deep breath before she stood up. She looked at me for a few long seconds before she walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Alex, hurry."

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In case anyone was confused, the temperature is in Fahrenheit. I don't understand Celsius enough to do that. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Stay tuned for more!