Arion

1.08

"Bad man, Toni."

I woke from my sleep and turned over. I looked up and saw Arion hovering over me. Her nose was bleeding.

"Aw, honey. Are you okay?" I asked before noticing the blood dripping on sheets. "Look at the bed."

I took her out the bed and to the bathroom. I placed her on the counter, wiped her nose, and pulled over my bench to sit. "What happen?" I asked.

It was the middle of the night, tired was an understatement on my end and hers after the night she had.

"Bad man take me. I want to sleep with you," she said. I could tell she was shooken up about another nightmare. "Fine, bring some pull ups and change then you can sleep with me," I said. I helped her down and left the bathroom.

I changed the sheets and covers of the pillows on my bed as waiting for her to come back. She took longer than I expected so I went into her room.

The sight before me scared the shit out of me. She was shaking on the floor, as if she was spazzing or seizing.

"Oh shit! Baby! Baby!" I yelled starting to freak out. I rolled her over and seeing her eyes rolled to the back of her head nearly scared me half to death.

I ran to my room and got my phone to call my mother. "Mom, there's something wrong with Ari. Meet us at Cedar Point now and call the girls please," I said while getting Ari's bag.

I picked her up and dashed out the house within a minute. The whole ride she was still out of it and shaking. My heart was slowly tearing and I felt every rip.

When we got there, I got Arion and the bag and ran inside. "Somebody help! My, uhm, girl, she needs help!" I yelled. Two nurse ran over with a gurney and had me place Arion down.

"Sweetheart, can you see me?" the one nurse asked as the other put the oxygen mask over her mouth. My poor baby was blacked out. They stopped me at the room door and thought it was best that I stayed outside.

I couldn't even sit down, I paced the waiting room back and forth almost a gazillion times. "Toni." I heard hoping a nurse was calling me in, but it was my mother and sisters.

I hugged my mother and started tearing up a bit. I then greeted Tamar, and my other sisters: Towanda, Trina, and Traci. They haven't met Ari but they were in town for a family dinner we scheduled months ago.

"So what happen?" Trina asked after they finally got me to sit down. "I don't know. She woke up crying about some nightmare and her nose was bleeding. She asked to sleep with me and I sent her back to her room for pull ups so she didn't wet my bed. She was taking too long and when I went to her room to see what was up, she had blacked out or something..." I felt tears building back up.. "I feel like a horrible person. This is all my fault," I added.

"No, baby. She might be sick. Things happen," my mother said trying to comfort me. No matter what anybody said, I felt horrible. She's in my care and I let her down. Now she's in pain because of me.

"Miss Braxton." a nurse called.

I jumped up and sped towards her. "Your foster daughter is going to be okay. Her body was overheated and she was dehydrated. We are providing her an oral hydration called Hydralyte and suggest she drinks sports drinks to calm her body down. We believe you didn't know of either, so we aren't going to alarm the agency. She's awake so whenever you want you to go in," he said.

I pulled a small mirror out of my bag and made sure there were no tear stains on my face. I had to be strong for her and not worry her. "We'll give y'all some time then meet you in there," Mommy told me. She kissed my cheek and went back to sit with my sisters.

I walked in the hallway and peeked through some windows because the nurse didn't give me a number. I finally got to her room –Room 27.

"Hi baby girl," I said quietly and calmly as I entered to the room. The smile on her face when she made eye contact with me made me tear up a bit. Happy tears. I couldn't help but admit that I loved this little girl and couldn't be happier that she was okay.

I sat by her on the bed and watched her color the book they gave her. "Toni?"

"Yes, pumpkin?"

She dropped her crayon and hugged me. "Thank you. I wuv you," she whispered.

"Aw," my voice cracked, "I love you, too, Ari." I kissed her head.

She went back to coloring and I laid beside her just watching between her and the TV playing Elmo, which soon caused my eyes to get heavy.

"You sleepy?" Arion asked watching my eyes struggle to keep open. "Yeah, it's been a tiring night. Miss E is here though and so are my sisters, and they want to meet you." I said mid sleep.

"I know sister. Tay," she said. She laid down next to me and faced me. "My other sisters, Trina, Traci, and Towanda." I told her. "Trina, Traci, and Towumba," she repeated making me laugh.

"Towanda. Wanda not Wumba." I corrected her. "I call her Wumba, I like that," she giggled. She scooted over me and fell asleep under me. I kissed her head and fell sleep shortly after.

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