Trust Me .(69)

When I head home that night, I feel lighter than I have in weeks. I have made amends with one person, and now I just have one more, the most important one, to go.



*****



Jake and I are cruising down Main Street on Sunday afternoon when his phone rings. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”

“Really?” he says, concern etched in his voice. “What are they thinking?” He listens to his mom for a bit. “Okay. Well, keep me posted. I’m on until nine, but I can be there as soon as I’m off.” More silence. “No, I’m not driving while I talk on the phone. Maddox is driving.” He laughs. “Okay, I’ll tell him. Bye.”

Jake drops his phone back in his shirt pocket and says, “Mom says you’re invited to dinner on Thanksgiving.”

“That’s what that call was about? You sounded all concerned at the beginning.”

“No, she mentioned that part at the end. She called to tell me that Avery was taking Brooklyn to the emergency room.”

My world stops spinning. My knuckles turn white as I grip the steering wheel, and I have to force air into my lungs. “What do you mean? What’s wrong with her?” I’m nearing panic at the thought of Brooklyn being in the emergency room.

“I guess the medicine that her doc gave her on Friday isn’t helping. Mom says she’s having a hard time breathing. Her fever is spiking up to one-oh-four and it’s not coming down very much. Mom suggested that Avery take her to the ER.”

“Avery’s by herself?”

“No, Will was there and he’s driving her. Mom is leaving the house now to meet them there.”

“What do they think it is?”

“Mom wasn’t sure. Avery called the on-call doctor and he’s supposed to be meeting them in the ER. Mom promised to call when she had more info.”

It was quiet for the next several hours, Jake and I each lost in our own thoughts. We tried to focus on work, but neither of us did a very good job of it. I wrote the wrong offense on a traffic stop, twice, for the same guy, and Jake was going to issue a speeding ticket to an eighty year old man who was going ten miles an hour under the speed limit.

Jake checked in with his mom around dinner time, but she still didn’t have any answers. The pediatrician was leaning towards pneumonia, but they were waiting on the radiologist to read the X-rays to confirm.

At quarter to nine, his phone finally rang. Jake answered it as quickly as possible and listened as his mom updated him on Brooklyn’s condition. After he hung up, he filled me in on the latest.

“Apparently she has pneumonia. It’s pretty severe, and moved very quickly into her lungs. Mom says she’s at REMC right now, but they could be sending her to St. Charles. They have a big pediatric wing there, I guess.”

My throat constricts the breath I’m trying to suck into my lungs. I know pneumonia is bad, especially in little kids and the elderly. My heart rate spikes and I start to sweat uncontrollably. What if something happens to Brooklyn?

“As soon as we’re done with paperwork, I’m heading to the hospital. They won’t let me in because she’s in ICU, but I want to be there in the waiting room with everyone.”

“Go now. I’ll drop you off at your truck, and then I’ll head inside to file the paperwork. I’m sure the captain will understand. I’ll do your part. You need to be with everyone else right now.” I speed up slightly to get to the station. When I pull up along the back bumper of his truck, I’m barely stopped before his door flies open.

“Jake! Keep me posted.”

“I will, buddy.” And with that he’s gone. I drive up and park the cruiser in its usual spot. I wander inside to finish up the end of shift duties and stop by my Lieutenant’s office to fill him in on Jake’s phone call. I’m trying to hurry through as much of the paperwork as possible without making any mistakes. When I’m finished, I fly out to my truck and head towards the hospital.

When I pull in the almost deserted parking lot, I park next to Jake’s truck and head inside. Inside the elevator, I push the button for the second floor, remembering that Jake said she was in the Intensive Care Unit.

I reach the waiting area and see the entire Stevens family sitting there, offering comfort to each other with shoulder slaps and one armed hugs. Michael has his arms around Elizabeth as she gently cries in her seat. Jake sees me and walks over.

“You just missed Avery. They’re moving her to St. Charles. They started an aggressive round of antibiotics here, but her doctor wants her to get more extensive drugs and stuff at the bigger hospital. They’re taking her by ambulance in a few minutes. They’ll only allow two people there so Mom’s going with them.”