The doctor shoots me a reassuring smile.“That’s a fancy way of saying she has an ear infection.How long has she had the symptoms?”
“Just since last night,” Maddie provides.
Dr.Klemmer flips the scope off, nodding.“I think for now, we just observe and give her over-the-counter pain relievers.If she’s not better in the next forty-eight hours, I want you to call my personal cell phone, and I’ll write her a prescription for antibiotics.”
Maddie’s eyebrows shoot sky high at the generous offer from this doctor.“That’s… very kind of you.”
Dr.Klemmer smiles.“Any friend of Brienne’s is a friend of mine.Give Grayce lots of fluids.She might be extra clingy or wake a bit more at night.”The doctor eyes both of us over her chart as she scribbles notes.
“Both of you are on cuddle duty,” she says lightly.“Good for ears, good for hearts.”
We leave with Dr.Klemmer’s cell number scrawled on the back of a business card and a cartoon sticker stuck onto Grayce’s onesie by the nurse—an orange tiger giving a thumbs-up.
The parking lot air is softer than the exam room’s hum, but it’s still cold enough that Grayce’s nose pinks as I settle her car seat into place.She’s exhausted from combatting the otoscope and the indignity of strangers, and by the time I shut the back door she’s dozing off.
Maddie stands there with the diaper bag strap digging into her shoulder, staring at the closed door like she can see through it.“Thank you,” she says, louder this time, clearer.“For calling Brienne.”
“Anytime,” I say lightly, because I don’t want her to think that was a big deal.That was just a perk of the job.
Her jaw works, like there’s a bigger thank-you stuck under her tongue, but she swallows it and nods toward the street.“Let’s stop by the pharmacy.I want to get a humidifier.”
“Let’s do it,” I say.My obligations to the team don’t start until this afternoon with nothing more than a team meeting and video review.
The pharmacy is bathed in harsh fluorescent lighting, and I hold Grayce as Maddie paces down the baby aisle, fingertip trailing over thermometers and nasal aspirators like she’s taking inventory in a language only she speaks.She picks up a small humidifier and turns it in her hands, checking the back, the side, the back again before putting it in the basket.
At the register, Maddie starts to dig into her wallet, but I thrust Grayce at her.She has no choice but to take her, enabling me to pull out my own wallet and credit card to pay.
“You don’t have to—”
“Don’t, Maddie,” I say quietly.“I know we haven’t discussed finances yet, and we will, but for now, let me pay.I’m rich, after all.”
She grumbles under her breath, most of which I can’t understand, but there’s a thank-you in there.
By the time we get home, Maddie looks as whipped as Grayce and I’m guessing that’s from worry.It’s not that I wasn’t worried, but I was confident that we got her the proper treatment.
I carry the pharmacy bag in one hand, the car seat in the other, bump the door with my hip, and try not to wake Grayce snoozing under her tiger sticker.
Maddie exhales like a diver breaking the surface.
“You okay?”I ask, because she looks like she’s about to shatter or sleep on her feet.
She leans her hip against the counter and rubs the bridge of her nose.For a second, she doesn’t fight herself.“I hate feeling powerless,” she admits, voice raw.“I know exactly how the system works.I know how to make a plan and follow it.Then she gets sick and none of my rules matter.”Her mouth twists.“I don’t ask for help.”
“I noticed,” I say, and somehow it comes out warm.
Her eyes flick up to mine, blue and careful.I expect the snark, the shove away.What she says instead is, “I’m trying.”
“I know,” I say.“Me too.”
Something loosens in my chest and I glance at my watch.“I’ve got to head to the arena in about forty minutes,” I say, careful, like I’m testing the ice.
She nods, no heat in it.“Okay.”
Grayce squirms and I look down to find her eyes open, inquisitive and locked on me.I lift her out of the car carrier, noting that she tugs on her ear before putting a hand to my scruffy face.
I offer her a knuckle and she latches on to it, solemn and fierce.“Hey,” I tell her, as if she can understand me.“You were a warrior princess this morning.Ten out of ten for bravery.Eleven out of ten for screaming.”
Maddie snorts.“She gets that from you.”
