Page 7 of Kaya's King

I shake my head when he says crutches. “Dr. Young, my son has the ability to fall on thin air. Adding crutches to the mix is a recipe for him being in a full body cast.”

His laugh is genuine which has me joining him. “Most kids his age are just like that so we’ll send you home with a pediatric-size wheelchair. Noah? Can you come over here for a moment?” I’m relieved that he’s decided a wheelchair is the best course of action. I’d be in a perpetual state of fear walking behind him if we’d gone the other route.

Noah slowly walks toward where we’re standing, his limp even more pronounced than normal thanks to all the manipulation he’s gone through today. “Yes, sir?” he asks once he’s reached the two of us.

Reaching down, Dr. Young picks up Noah then turns to the scans. I watch in avid fascination as he explains to Noah, using words he can understand, what’s going on with his hip.

“Well, this is going to be a barrel of laughs,” I mutter to myself as I maneuver Noah’s wheelchair into the hotel room I booked for the night. After the MRI, Dr. Young opted to put him in an abduction brace which we’ll return for tomorrow before heading out of town. Until then, I’m lugging my six-year-old around and he’s not a lightweight, that’s for sure.

“Mommy?”

“Yes, monkey?”

“I’m sorry my leg is messed up.”

Tears well in my eyes at his words. “Oh, sweetie, no, it’s not your fault! Dr. Young said they don’t know what causes it, but we caught it nice and early so hopefully, what he’s going to do tomorrow will help. We’ll figure it out, okay?”

Mentally, I’m thinking of our small rental house, and I realize rather quickly it’s not going to work while he’s in the brace or using a wheelchair. I’ll reach out to CeeCee to see if there’s an extended stay hotel with handicap accessibility that’ll do an extended stay. Granted, I’ll be paying rent on the house as well as what sounds like a hefty hotel bill, but there’s nothing I won’t do for my son.

Nothing. There’s no price too big to pay where he’s concerned.

“How about I wheel you into the bathroom in case you need to go?”

“Mommy! I won’t be able to stand up to pee!”

I hold back my giggle because out of everything Dr. Young told him he had to be careful not to do, apparently, not standing up while urinating was his takeaway. “It’s okay, Noah. It’s not forever, remember? Just until your bone starts to heal. We want you to be able to run around like everyone else, not be in constant pain, right?”

He sighs, sounding so forlorn. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“And if you want, I’ll decorate your casts so they look really cool, okay? Because you’re a superhero, Noah.”

He really is, at least in my eyes. I’ve noticed since he was young that he favored one side, but the doctors could never find anything until last year. Not sure why because he’s had so many X-rays at this point, he should glow from the radiation. But I’m not a medical professional, it’s outside of my realm of expertise, I’m just a mom who loves her child unconditionally.

After getting Noah into the bathroom and settled on the toilet so he can take care of business, I give him some privacy to take care of his other needs while I unpack the meal I picked up for our dinner after we left the hospital. “Mommy, I’m all done!” he cries out.

Hurrying into the bathroom, I see he’s waiting on me so I lift him up and get him back into the wheelchair, then move him to the sink so he can wash his hands, then push him back into the small eating area. “I got you some chicken nuggets as promised,” I tell him, while opening up his chocolate milk.

“They’re my favorite,” he replies, grinning at me. Seeing the spot where his tooth is starting to come down reminds me how quickly time flies by. It seems like only yesterday when Ibrought him home in the tiny outfit Granny had bought for him. Countless sleepless nights as I navigated being a new mom were made easier because she was a constant companion at my side. She never stepped in and took over, that’s not her style. Instead, she taught me so many mom hacks that by the time he was two months old, I felt like I’d been a mom forever.

“When you’re all done, I’ll get you into the bath then we can call Granny and tell her about our day, okay?” I question, pushing my salad around on the plastic plate.

“Why aren’t you eating, Mommy?” Noah asks. “You have to eat to get big and strong.”

Laughing, I lean over and ruffle his hair. “Monkey, I’ve just got a lot on my mind is all. I’ll try to eat some more.”

“Good, because you’re going to need all your muscles to push me around,” he advises before tackling the rest of his fries.

Bath time was a little bit chaotic since I couldn’t figure out the knobs and shit in the tub. They have it set up as a handicap accessible unit, which is what I wanted, but there were extra, unfamiliar knobs that I’d never come across before that switched the nozzle over to a shower, then another lever that activated the hand-held device. Finally, after twenty long, frustrating minutes, I managed to fill the tub enough for Noah to take a bath. As always, I added some Epsom salts which seems to help keep him from swelling and keep him from hurting too much. I try not to use the prescribed pain medicine unless he absolutely needs it. Not because I want him to be in pain, but rather, some of the long-term side effects are scary.

Now, we’re snuggled into the king-size bed watchingThe Fairly Oddparentson Nickelodeon. Granny was updated on thecurrent treatment plan via our prior phone call with her, Noah has gone to the bathroom one more time, and brushed his teeth. “We’ve got an early day, monkey,” I tell him. “So, this is the last episode then you need to roll over and go to sleep, okay?”

“But how will I be able to sleep if you have the lights and tv on?” he questions.

“I’ll turn the volume down low and shut the lights off,” I tell him. There’s no way in hell I’m going to bed at eight o’clock in the evening! “First, though, I’m going to take myself a shower to wash off the day’s grime. Do you need anything before you go to sleep?”

I watch his face screw up in concentration as he thinks over my question. Finally, after long moments, he shakes his head. “I should be okay until morning, Mommy. But if I do have to pee, should I wake you up?”

Considering he’s non-weight bearing right now, I foresee us going back to a somewhat sleep-deprived mom. “Yes, Noah. Wake me up because Dr. Young doesn’t want you putting any weight on your leg right now.”

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