“It’s going to try,” she says, and he looks down.
“Jumping Jack, do you want to choose a color for the elastic band?” Mallory asks him, and I turn to walk out of the room to compose myself. Denise sees this and follows me out of the room. She sees me leaning against the wall when she walks past me and puts her hand out for me. I grab her hand, and she brings me to a small little room with a cot and two chairs.
“Let it out,” she says, and I just look at her.
“I could lose him.” My voice cracks. “My baby is in there, and I could lose him.” I put my hand to my chest as the tears stream down my face. “Why?” I ask her, and she doesn’t answer me because she has no words. Instead, she comes over and gets on her tippy toes and wraps me in her arms.
I bend my head and bury it in her neck. My arms go around her waist, and the tears come; everything I’ve been keeping in, afraid to show, always having to keep my brave face on is gone. With her, I let it go.
“I promise,” she whispers, “I will do everything in my power to make him better.” She softly rubs my head while I compose myself. “You feel better?” she asks softly.
“How do you do that?” I don’t want to let her go, but I do it anyway as I step out of her embrace.
“Do what?” she asks, and I see that she has her own tear marks down her face.
“Know what to say and when to say it,” I ask her.
She goes over to the little desk and grabs a Kleenex and wipes her eyes. “I don’t want Jack to see me like this.” She totally avoids what I just asked.
“You’re beautiful,” I tell her, and she looks at me.
“We should go and check on him,” she says, and I just nod at her, but I grab her hand before she walks out of the room, making her turn back to look at me.
“Thank you,” I tell her. She just nods at me but doesn’t let my hand go as we walk back to Jack.
“There they are,” Shirley says, looking at us and then down at our hands. Denise lets go and then walks to the side of the bed.
“How is the patient?” She smiles at them, and Mallory looks at her.
“We are almost done,” she says, and then Jack looks at Denise.
“I don’t feel so well,” he says, and I see that his lips are turning a little white.
“Mallory, get some juice.” Denise springs into action while I stand here with fear gripping me. She lowers the head of the bed and grabs a pillow to put under his legs. Mallory comes back with apple juice, and she puts the straw between his lips. “Take a sip for me, honey,” she tells him, and he does. “Little sips.”
As he’s taking small sips, Mallory gets the sphygmomanometer out and takes his blood pressure. “Eighty-five over sixty.”
Denise looks over at me and my mom holding hands. “His blood pressure is low.” She looks back at Jack. “How are you feeling, honey?”
“A little tired,” he says, and she just nods at him.
“You just have to keep talking to me for a bit, and then if everything is okay, you can take a nap.” He takes another sip of apple juice while he lays there.
Mallory takes his pressure again. “Normal,” she says when she finishes.
“Okay, if you want, you can take a nap or sit up,” she tells him, and he turns on his side.
“I want to stay here a bit,” he says, and she runs her hand over his head.
“Okay, honey,” she says softly to him, and Mallory walks out of the room.
“Did he eat a big breakfast this morning?” she asks me, and my mother answers.
“He was a bit antsy, so he took a couple of bites, but not much.”
“That could be it. But I would like to keep him a bit for observation.” She looks back at him. “And if he’s all better by the end of the day, he can go home.”
“Whatever you think,” I say, and then Jack looks up a bit.
“You okay, buddy?” I say, going to the bed, and he just nods his head.
Mallory comes in with a blanket in her hands. “Look what just came out of the dryer.”
She places the blanket on Jack, and he smiles. “It’s so warm.”
“It is,” she says and then looks at Denise.
“I have to go see some of the other patients. But I’ll be back,” she says, leaning over and kissing his cheek. Her eyes come up to me. “Page me if you need me.”
“I will,” I tell her and watch her walk out the door.