“My tummy.”
“He hasn’t eaten since breakfast and only very little.” Dee filled the doctor in. She was practically vibrating in her worry.
“Okay. How long has your tummy hurt?”
“Uhhh.”
“Before you had breakfast?” Jax shook his head no. “After breakfast then?”
“It stawted to hurt while I was eating.”
Dee’s startled gasp drew everyone’s attention to her. “Oh my God! Did I give him food poisoning? Oh Jax, baby, I’m so sorry.” She cried, going to him and holding his hand.
“What did you give him, miss?”
“We had bananas and yogurt with a glass of apple juice. I bought it all yesterday. It was fresh.” She had tears trailing down her face now. He knew nothing he said or did was going to make her feel better, so he cuddled her into his arms. Her little body was shaking in her upset.
“It’s fine, dear. Sometimes these things happen at the oddest of times. At the moment, I’m going to say flu, but I’ll run a few blood tests and go from there. Okay?”
He felt around a little more on Jax’s stomach to rule out appendicitis before calling the nurse in to draw some blood. As he left the room, he explained it would only take a couple of days to get the results back but to keep him hydrated for now and bring him back if things worsened.
“Are you sure we should leave town? We’re an hour away from any medical help if he gets worse.” She hadn’t taken her eyes off of Jax since they got back in the truck.
“Princess, relax, please. If you’re tense, he’ll be tense. Calm down.”
*****
She couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid! She obviously hadn’t checked the expiration dates on the milk and yogurt from this morning. What if she really did make him sick? What if Dom gets so mad at her, he doesn’t want her around anymore?
Oh, God.
Her chest was tight with the thought of never seeing them again.
Breathe, dammit.
As soon as they got home and had Jax comfortable on the couch, she darted to the kitchen pulling everything out of the fridge that she’d bought the day before.
Yogurt, milk, any produce, the special rainbow parfait she thought he’d like. Everything came out. As she was checking the dates, Dom came in. Seeing the mess she’d made, he asked her, “What are you doing, Deedee?”
“I poisoned your son, Dominic. I need to know why. I have to make sure I don’t do it again. I can’t do it again.” Agitation was clear in her voice and in the way she was moving around. She didn’t even look up at him as she told him what she was doing.
“I can’t hurt him,” she mumbled under her breath.
Dom obviously heard her remark as he came over, grabbing her arms. “Deidre,” he began, speaking soothingly. “You didn’t hurt him. You heard Doc Mullins; it’s probably the flu. He’s a kid. It’s not the first time and won’t be the last.”
What he said made sense to her head, but her heart hurt because Jax was sick and she couldn’t make it go away. Dom’s laughter had her looking up at him scowling. “What?” she snapped.
“You’re fucking adorable all worked up, Dee.” Leaning down, he kissed the tip of her nose. “C’mon, let’s put this stuff away, and I’ll take you for a ride.”
“We can’t leave him, Dominic!”
“Case is here, Deidre!” He mimicked her.
Irritating man.
“Fine.”
While she put everything away that she’d pulled out, double checking all the dates, he went to get Case. It wasn’t long before they were busting through the back door laughing, probably about her meltdown. “So the brat’s just fine I hear?”