This is the End 2(642)

She nodded, but barely. And then she whimpered and leaned into my fingers that were carefully combing lines across her scalp.

“Will you show me, sweetness? Can you open your mouth so I can see?”

She whimpered again and shook her head.

I turned to Vaughan and asked, “Have you checked her throat?”

“No, this is the most she’s told us. While you guys were out checking the barn, she laid down in here to take another nap. Hendrix and I thought it was weird, but maybe stress related? We haven’t had a good place to sleep in a while. She woke up about twenty minutes ago crying and that’s when we realized she had a fever. Reagan had some Tylenol, so we gave her that. But it’s been a while now, shouldn’t it have kicked in?”

I frowned at that. The Tylenol should have definitely brought down her fever. I found it frustrating that pain meds didn’t help. That was our best bet as far as miracle cures went.

Damn it.

“Does she have her tonsils?” I turned back to Page, hoping I would get her to open up. But first I needed to make sure I needed to.

“Yep,” Vaughan answered. “Harrison, King and Page all have their tonsils.”

“Good.”

“What do you think it is, Hales?” Reagan asked from behind me.

Nelson put a hand on my shoulder, standing century as I took over as medical professional. I was a little surprised the Parker brothers trusted me with this role. I assumed their protective instincts would keep Page as close to them as possible, but I also knew that helplessness could be crippling. I’m sure they loathed the feeling of not being able to do something for their cherished baby sister.

“I’m thinking it might be strep. If her throat hurts and she still has her tonsils, then there’s a good chance it is. I just want to look down her throat to make sure.”

Nelson knelt down next to me and reached for his sister’s hand. Holding it in his huge hand, he pressed a tender kiss to her knuckles. “Pagey, can you open your mouth wide for Haley? She wants to see why you feel so bad. She wants to make you feel better.”

I pulled out my semi-charged iPhone and turned on the flashlight app. If this wasn’t a bright enough light I would ask one of the boys to borrow their flashlights, but this seemed easier and faster.

Page finally opened wide enough for me to shine my light down there, but my real break came when she broke out into a yawn. The bright light from my phone illuminated her small mouth and shone light directly onto the white, pustules dotting her enlarged tonsils on either side of her throat.

Gross.

But at least we had a diagnosis.

“Does anything else hurt, babe?” Reagan asked over my shoulder. “Your ears, your head?”

“Both,” she squeaked out in reply.

“Alright, baby girl,” I whispered while placing a kiss on her burning forehead. “Get a little sleep, alright? We’re going to make you some ice for that sore throat of yours.”

I stood up and Nelson followed. He turned to King and asked him to stay with Page in case she woke up and wanted something and the rest of us moved into the kitchen. Hopefully Page was out of it enough so that she didn’t pick up on how dangerous her sickness could be for her.

“What treats strep?” Vaughan asked immediately. His game face was on, tight lips, drawn eyebrows, wide stance and crossed arms. Vaughan was about to go to war and the entire idea was so familiar to me I realized how palpable his fight was. Only instead of fighting off hordes of Zombies, Vaughan was going to fight strep throat until he was the lone victor. Nothing came between him and his family.

I cleared my throat, hating to be the bearer of bad news, “Penicillin.”

“Ok, we don’t have penicillin,” Vaughan bit out. “What next?”

“Amoxicillin,” I answered again- just as dismally.

“Haley, if you keep naming things we don’t have I will ask you to leave the room,” Vaughan growled.

I took a step back, hating that he intimidated me so much. But how could he not when his vision tunneled to include only his sister- only a way to fix his sister. And I wasn’t sure there was a way.

“Vaughan, I know you’re concerned, but you need to change your attitude. I will not tell you again,” Nelson warned. “Haley’s trying to help. Do not piss all over her efforts.”

Vaughan’s eyes snapped up to glare Nelson down, but Nelson seemed entirely unfazed. He rolled his eyes and put a comforting arm around my waist.

Nelson’s touch gave me the courage to say what I needed to say, “Strep could go away on its own in a few days. It’s definitely not the worst thing she could have right now, even though she is absolutely miserable. That being said, it’s not the best thing she could have either. If this doesn’t go away on its own, then it’s going to get really bad for her before it gets better. If it gets better.”