Page 10 of The Holidays with Dr. Mitchell
She started crying. “There’s more,” she said with embarrassment.
“More?” I said. “How many more?”
“A lot,” she said. “They hurt.”
“Good God,” I said, a little fearful now. I felt around and tried to push down from the outside, but I had no idea what I was dealing with and didn’t want to hurt her. “Do you know how many are in there?”
“I can’t count, Mommy. Remember?”
I sat back on my heels, trying to contemplate what the hell to do.
Right! Cameron. He’s in pediatrics.
“Hold on. Let me call Cam and see what he thinks. Maybe he can come over and help.” Jesus H. Christ. The joys of unexpectedsurprises from a three-year-old. “Hey, Ash,” Jessa, Dr. Brandt’s wife, answered on the first ring. “What’s up, lady?”
“Hey, honey. I’m sorry to bug you at dinner time, but Kaley decided to shove beans up her nose. I have no idea how many are in there, and I was wondering if I should take her into Saint John’s or if Cam was home and could help me with this?”
The Brandts lived close to us in Malibu, and since Cam was a softie, I knew he wouldn’t be put out to come over and free my daughter’s sinuses from jellybean prison.
“Cam’s on-call tonight, so just take her in, and he’ll be the one to treat her.”
“Thanks so much, honey. I’ll do that,” I said, annoyed to be heading to the hospital instead of eating spaghetti.
That’s when the smoke detector started blaring a notification that my goddamn garlic bread had caught on fire and my pot of noodles was boiling over everywhere.
Dear God, why did things escalate into disastrous affairs with no warning? I’d gone from peacefully cooking dinner, excited to have coffee on the beach with my best friend, to the full-blown chaos of nasal-cavity jellybeans and a small-scale kitchen fire.
“Grab your coat and get Kaley’s, too. We’ve got to go to the hospital,” I hollered at John as he came rushing into the kitchen disapprovingly. “Your sister decided to do some weird experiment by shoving beans up her nose, and I have no idea how many are up there.”
“Kaley, you’re so weird,” John stated with annoyance.
“Be nice, young man. She’s scared.”
“I’m not weird,” Kaley insisted, erupting into a fit of tears.
“You’re not weird, Kaley,” I said, throwing the charred garlic bread into the sink and spraying it down to keep the damn things from bursting into flames. I shut off all the burners, and the Momzilla in me erupted when I turned to see that John was not doing what I asked while Kaley began crying uncontrollably.
“Everyone stop it this instant,” I demanded in a firm voice. “John,” I looked at him with an intensity I only had when I was frustrated and pissed off, “go and do as I told you—no arguments and no insults—and meet me and Kaley in the car.” I looked at Kaley, “Don’t worry. Uncle Cam is going to help get those things out of your nose. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 6
Ash
We sat in the pediatric waiting room, waiting for Dr. Cameron Brandt to come in and relieve my daughter’s sinuses. What a damn mess this all was. The nurse finished taking Kaley’s vitals and getting our story for Cameron’s charts, and God only knew what that man would say when he walked in here.
“I’m hungry,” Kaley said, bringing my attention to where she sat, playing with her favorite doll that John had managed to snag before we rushed out of the house.
I smiled at my daughter, amused by how things with kids always went sideways so fast and thankful that things weren’t worse.
“Why don’t you pull the jellybeans out of your nose and eat them, then?” John smarted off.
“John, focus on your homework,” I said, nodding at the iPad he brought.
“Well, I’m just stating the obvious,” he said, constantly needing to get in the last word.
“Thank you for that,” I said before looking at Kaley, whose expression showed deep shame. “After Cam helps us get those things out of your nose, we’ll get something to eat on the way home.”
“McDonald’s?” she questioned with excitement.
