Page 61 of Jeremy
Westand shoulder to shoulder while I swipe through the pictures of Calvin on myphone. “Oh my goodness. Look at those eyes! So much character for such a tinyslip of a thing.” She beams at me. “Another artist in the making.”
BeforeI can put it away, the phone jumps to life in my hand, buzzing and displayingthe name of the hospital on the screen. My heart plummets to my toes. Theynever call me. I’m there most of every day, so they give me the reports andupdates on him once I show up. This can’t be good news.
“Melissa?”I recognize the nurse, Clarissa’s voice. We’ve spent enough time together to beon a first name basis.
“Ishe okay?” I ask frantically.
“Calvinhas spiked a fever and he’s having some trouble breathing. The doctor is inwith him now, but he may need to go back on the respirator.”
Ohgod. He’s been doing so well with his breathing. He’s even been taking most ofhis meals through a bottle. “I’m on my way.”
“Melissa,he’s not in any eminent danger, so please take your time and drive carefully.”
“Iwill.” I turn to Penelope. “Calvin’s in distress. I have to go.”
“Ofcourse,” she calls after me as I rush away. “I hope he’s okay.”
Assoon as I’m in my car, I try to call Jeremy, but it goes straight to voicemail.Because of his work, he often leaves his phone in the car, but I was hoping todaywasn’t going to be one of those days. My next call is to Justus.
“Wellhello, baby mama, are you finally ready to get those margaritas?”
“Calvin’ssick. It sounds bad. They might have to intubate him again.”
“Fuck,where are you?”
Ipull onto the highway at a speed that’s far from legal. “Five minutes away fromthe hospital. I can’t get a hold of Jeremy. I was hoping you’d be able to.”
“I’lltake care of it. And we’ll be there as soon as possible.”
Itdoesn’t take me long to find a parking space in the hospital’s parking garage.I know every inch of this place now that I’ve spent so much time here. Ithasn’t been ten minutes since I got the call when I rush into the NICU.
Clarissameets me at the door. “He’s doing a little better. We were able to get hisoxygen stats up a little, but Dr. Hanlon put him back on the ventilator to besafe, until we figure out what’s going on.”
“CanI see him?”
Shewalks me back to where my son lays in his crib. The ventilator is breathing forhim again, and the sight causes my body to shake with sobs. He’s so young andtiny, and he’s already been through so much.
Dr.Hanlon nods at me as he examines him.
“What’swrong with him?”
“Isuspect it’s pneumonia. We’re going to get a chest x-ray to confirm. It’scommon in premature infants. We’ll treat him with antibiotics and keep him onthe ventilator until his breathing improves.”
“Buthe’ll be okay?”
Dr.Hanlon gives me that neutral stare all doctors seem to perfect. “We’re going todo everything we can. We’ll know more in a few hours.”
Clarissa’svoice is soft when she adds, “Right now, we’re going to take him down toradiology. You’ll need to wait in the waiting room. I’ll come and get you assoon as we know anything.”
Shewalks me back out to the small waiting room where it seems like I’ve spent halfmy life. For the first couple of weeks after his birth, we were only allowed inthe NICU for short periods of time, and I sat out here until they’d let me inagain. It didn’t matter I couldn’t see him, I had to be as close as possible.
Thetelevision in the corner blares with some game show, but everything is justbackground noise until I hear his voice.
“Mel.”Jeremy rushes in, and I throw myself in his arms. “I’m sorry. I got here asfast as I could.” I don’t know how Justus reached him, but I’m so glad he’shere.
“Theythink he has pneumonia. They put him back on the ventilator. He’s running afever.”
Hishands smooth down the back of my hair. “He’s a fighter, Mel. Whatever it is, hecan beat it.”
