Page 73 of The Off-Limits Rule: Extended Edition

“I think my child will come out more mature than your brother.”

“Most likely.”

“I should buy him a big diaper for Christmas.”

“Yep! Sounds good!”

“You’re doing that thing where you’re backing away from me while I talk.”

“Nooooo. Not me.” My back bumps into the glass door, and Jessie crosses her arms and flattens her smile. I flash her all of my pearly whites and blow her a kiss. “Love you! I promise I’ll let you rant about my brother who you’ve never officially met tomorrow!”

“Have fun tonight.” She rubs her belly dramatically. “And remember to always be safe!”

I’m still laughing about Jessie’s comment as I make my way to my car and get in. I drive all the way to Cooper’s house with a cheesy smile, feeling the need to sing Christmas tunes even though it’s nowhere near Christmas. Christmas tunes make me happy, so I do it anyway.

When I arrive, my phone rings. “Hey, Mom! I just made it to Cooper’s house and should be at your place in about two—”

“Honey.” Something about the way my mom’s voice sounds as she cuts me off has an immediate panic shooting through my veins. “I need you to meet us at the hospital.”

I don’t even know what’s wrong yet and tears are welling in my eyes. “What happened? Is it Levi?”

At that moment, I see Cooper step outside, still wearing his nice work clothes: a button-down dress shirt, slacks, and dress shoes. The bright smile stretching across his face does not fit the words that are coming out of my mother’s mouth.

“I’m sure everything is going to be okay, but Levi is having really bad lower abdomen pain, and he just started throwing up. We’re on our way to the ER now to have him assessed.”

Cooper opens my car door, and I can’t even look at him. My mind is frantically running to dark and scary places. “Have you called his pediatrician yet?”

The shake in my voice has Cooper crouching down beside me and putting his hand on my leg. “Yes, about an hour ago. I thought it was just a stomachache, so I didn’t want to worry you, but Dr. Daren said to take him in if it progressed, so that’s what we’re doing.” My mom’s voice sounds calm, and I know if Levi had to be with anyone during something like this, my parents are the perfect people. Still, I’m terrified.

“Okay, I’ll be right there.”

The moment I hang up, Cooper asks, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“My parents are taking Levi to the hospital. He’s having severe stomach pain. I need to go. I need to get to the hospital.” Tears are streaming down my cheeks as I numbly put my hand on the steering wheel, suddenly feeling a thousand miles away from my baby and like I won’t get there in time.

Cooper softly peels my hands from the wheel and guides mychin to look at him. “Let me drive, Lucy. Everything’s going to be okay.”

I swallow and let him help me out of the driver’s seat, then I rush around to the passenger side and get in. My hands are shaking as he starts the car, and I can’t get the buckle to snap into the buckle thing. I try to slam it in five times. Six. Seven!

“Gah!It won’t go! The freaking buckle thing won’t buckle!” I’m frantically trying to jam it in, and if I look insane, Cooper doesn’t say anything. He leans over, takes the buckle from my hand, and slowly clicks it in place before taking my hand and interlacing our fingers. His eyes lock with mine, and my chin wobbles, tears streaming down my cheeks like waterfalls.

“It’s okay. I’m going to get you to the hospital, and everything is going to be okay.” It’s a brave promise on his part, but I cling to it like I’m dangling off a cliff and those words are my only lifeline. Cooper kisses my knuckles before putting the car in drive and breaking every speed limit on the way to the hospital, and I’m more thankful now than ever that I have him. Otherwise, I would have definitely rammed into the back of the snail in front of us driving two miles an hour on the interstate.

Miraculously, Cooper doesn’t even threaten to break up with me when I roll down the window as we pass said snail and stick my head out, yelling, “The gas pedal is on the right!” I do regret flipping that lady the bird, but it was her fault for getting between a mama bear and her cub.

—

Whew, what a night.

Several hours after arriving at the hospital, I’m sitting beside my child, who’s hooked up to an IV and sleeping, still under the effects of anesthesia after having his appendix removed. Yep, myfour-year-old had appendicitis tonight. I almost can’t believe it. For some reason, I thought that was like an old man’s disease. Turns out, it most commonly affects kids, and Ihatethat my kid is one of them. But it’s over now, and he’s sleeping peacefully as I stroke his hair.

My mom has had a series of meltdowns, the poor thing. She feels so guilty for not calling me as soon as the pain started. She didn’t want to disturb me if it ended up just being gas, but then everything escalated quickly, and she realized what was going on. I’ve hugged her at least a hundred times tonight and reassured her that I won’t be taking her grandma license away, because honestly, I would have done the same thing in her shoes. Kids have five thousand aches and pains a day. It’s hard to know when things are serious or not, so I don’t fault her for waiting to call me. I’m just thankful we were here in Nashville and around my family when this happened.

Beyond the obvious reasons—like the man walking into the hospital room right now with a gigantic coffee for me—I’m glad I came home. Not everyone has the ability to live near their family in a healthy way, and I feel beyond thankful that I do. This is where I belong. Making it on my own is overrated when I have a family like mine.

Speaking of…

“Have you heard from Drew yet?” I ask, looking up and taking the Styrofoam cup from Cooper.

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