“Mama,” Juniper said from her spot on the couch, sweat covering her face. “I don’t feel good.” She followed with a hacking cough that made her entire little body shake.
I bit my lip, trying to think about what I should do. She was on antibiotics, but they didn’t seem to be helping much if at all.
She coughed again, and I sucked in a deep breath.
No more hesitation. I wouldn’t let my baby end up worse because I was too worried about some doctor thinking I was overreacting. I was tired of seeing her suffer.
“We’re going to the hospital, sweet pea. The doctors will make sure you’re all better.”
* * *
“Severe pneumonia, Mama,” I said over the phone. “She’s going to need to stay overnight, maybe a couple days. They have to try out some antibiotics to make sure they can clear the infection causing the pneumonia.”
Juniper slept in the hospital bed in front of me, an IV hooked up to her arm. I could almost not bear to look at my daughter in such a state. The worst thing for any parent is to see their child suffering and not be able to do anything about it. I took some small solace in realizing that at least I’d not made her suffer through another day at home before taking her to the hospital.
“Oh, my poor little Juniper,” Mama said. “And she wasn’t sick on Sunday?”
“No, Mama. Why?”
Mama grumbled something under her breath. “I just wonder if that no-good ex-husband of yours let her get sick. If he did, I’ll never forgive him.”
“I wouldn’t forgive him, either, if that were the case, but I have to be fair. I doubt he let her. Maybe he didn’t pay a lot of attention, but the more I think about it, it probably wasn’t his fault. Like I said. Have to be fair.”
“Fair? You don’t have to be fair to that man.”
“We’re all sinners, Mama.”
She scoffed. “Well, he’s a sinner and a cheater. I still don’t understand why you didn’t destroy him during your divorce.”
“I wanted it over quickly.”
“Providing that evidence you had of the cheating and the drugs would have made it quick.”
“And I also had to think of Juniper.”
Mama scoffed. “Now look at her.”
I sighed. “Look, Lionel’s many things, and a bastard, but I doubt he’d let Juniper get sick and not mention it. So, I can’t be mad at him for that. She didn’t say anything, and I didn’t notice anything either.”
“Uh-huh. Whatever you say, dear. Sometimes you take Christian charity too far.”
The comment made me laugh. I’d spent a lot of time yelling at Lionel and thinking bad things about him. The last thing I thought anyone would ever say was that I was too charitable toward him.
I had other things to worry about anyway. Lionel being a cheating son of a bitch in the past didn’t mean anything right then and there with my daughter in a hospital bed.
“Mama, I need a favor.”
“Anything I can do, Emily, just let me know.”
I furrowed my brow, trying to remember the last time Mama had actually been to my house instead of the opposite. “You still have my spare house key, right?”
“Yes, dear.”
I let out a sigh of relief. That made things much easier. “Please go to my house and pick up a bucket of LEGOs for Juniper to play with and her favorite blanket. It’s the one that’s on the couch right now.”
“Of course, dear. I’ll head over there right away.”
“Thanks, Mama. I really appreciate this.”