Troian Bellisario: Just Me & My Girl

The Metephorical Rollercoaster

*Troian's Pov*

Aspen lays asleep in the hospital bed. The doctors have treated her, injecting her with Chlorpheniramine and Hydrocortisone to counteract with the venom of the wasp. The doctors told me that she is just asleep in the same way any person would be at night, and that she will wake up to whatever I usually do in the morning to awaken her. But I want to let her rest. A doctor walks back into the room, then sits down in a chair beside me.

"Hello, I am doctor Griffiths." He introduces himself.

"I'm Troian." I say, my voice raspy from crying. He smiles, although it seems forced.

"It is of my understanding that you are the mother of Miss Bellisario?" Dr. Griffiths asks, motioning to Aspen. I nod.

"Yes," I say "I'm her mom." Dr. Griffiths looks at his clipboard.

"According to the information I have, there is no one legally registered at her father." He says "Is this correct, or has the hospital made a mistake?"

"No," I say "You're correct."

"Okay." He replies "Then I'd like to talk about Aspen's wasp sting allergy." I nod, wanting to know more about what just happened to my daughter.

"Aspen has a severe allergy to wasp and bee stings." Dr. Griffiths says "Because of the severity, it can be fatal. She will be sent home with an Epi-pen containing Hydrocortisone and Chlorpheniramine. It will have the right dosage for her age and size. Once she wakes up, I will show both of you how the Epi-pen is used. I advise Aspen takes it everywhere with her, just incase she does get stung." My mind buzzes with all the information I just found out.

"And if she does get stung and she uses the Epi-pen, do I still bring her to the hospital?" I ask.

"Good question," He says "Yes. Although you won't need an ambulance. It would just be for a pretty generic check up to make sure the Epi-pen did its job properly." I nod, a new question forming on my tongue.

"If she didn't get to the hospital on time, would she have died?" I ask, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"If she didn't get to the hospital, there would've been an extremely small chance of survival." Dr. Griffiths says. Suddenly, I feel sick to my stomach.

"Don't worry," He says "It wouldn't have happened that quickly. It's just a good thing you called 911 when you did." I nod, looking over at my daughter.

Dr. Griffiths explains a few more things to me, then leaves the room. My phone makes a noise, signalling I got a text. I turn it on, seeing that I have 7 unopened text messages. I read them, every single one from my friends asking how Aspen is. I reply to them all, explaining that she has a severe allergy, but that she's getting better.

I look at Aspen, studying how perfect she is. My daughter is beautiful, and I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom. She truly is a beautiful little girl. Aspen is the best thing that ever happened to me, and I hate seeing her in pain. I just wish I could take her away from anything that could ever harm her.

The swelling around the sting on Aspen's arm has definitely gone down, although it is still unsightly. The puffy rash used to go all the way up the inside of her arm and nearly down to her wrist, but is now just a small red area surrounding the sting.

Suddenly, Aspen moves, stretching out her legs and yawning.

"Aspen?" I ask quietly. Her eyes flutter open, revealing their bright blue beauty.

"Mommy?" She replies, looking confused "Where am I?" I lean over her hospital bed and gently stroke her cheek.

"You're in the hospital, baby." I tell her "But you're gonna be okay." She yawns and rubs her eyes, then looks around the room.

"Do you remember getting stung by a bee?" I ask her. She nods, then looks at her arm. Her eyes widen, and she looks scared.

"It's okay," I reassure her "That'll go away soon. You're going to be fine." She looks at me for a second, her scared expression slowly fading.

"Mommy?" Aspen asks, sitting up in her bed.

"Yes Aspen?" I reply.

"Can we still get ice cream?" She asks. I chuckle, finding it funny how that's what she's thinking about right now. I sigh, not knowing how to tell her that she has to spend the night in the hospital. Suddenly, I get an idea.

"We can't leave until tomorrow, but I can get someone to bring you ice cream." I suggest, thinking about which of my friends I could call.

"Okay." Aspen says happily. I grab my phone after I decide who to call, then wait for them to pick up.

"Hello?" Keegan says on the other end of the phone.

"Hi Keegan." I reply.

"How's Aspen doing?" He asks worriedly.

"She's getting better." I reassure him "But there is one thing she's requesting." I smile, even though he can't see it.

"And what's that?" He asks happily.

"Remember how I promised her ice cream if she jumped off the diving board?" I ask.

"I do," Keegan says "And yes I'll bring you guys ice cream."

"How did you know that's what I was gonna say?" I ask, sounding surprised "And I don't need any, just Aspen."

"Lucky guess," Keegan says "And I know you want ice cream, Troian."

"No, really. It's fine." I tell him "I don't need any Keegan."

"Well, I'm bringing you some anyway." He says firmly "Be there soon." And with that, he hangs up, not giving me another chance to convince him I don't need ice cream.

I climb onto the bed with Aspen and pull her onto my lap, then kiss the top of her head. I'm so thankful that she's okay.

"Knock knock," Aspen says, smiling. She loves knock knock jokes.

"Who's there?" I ask, grinning.

"Boo," Aspen says.

"Boo who?" I reply, going along with her joke even though she's told it a million times already.

"Don't cry it's just a joke!" Aspen laughs. I laugh along, just happy to see her smiling.

I tell her a knock knock joke, getting a pretty great reaction. Even though we're in a hospital, Aspen and I somehow manage to have fun. As we wait for Keegan to arrive with the ice cream, Aspen tells me a story about a chicken and a porcupine that she makes up on the spot. I laugh at her silliness, loving every bit of it.

After a few more minutes, Keegan arrives with three ice cream cones. Aspen is overjoyed to see him, and even more excited when she sees the ice cream. For the next little while, the three of us all sit on the hospital bed, talking and laughing together. There's one word I would use to describe today: rollercoaster. It's definitely had its ups and downs, but I guess every good rollercoaster does. But it seems that through these ups and downs, there's always someone there for me and Aspen. And I couldn't be more thankful.