“Yes, princess?”
“Why am I hooked up to all this?” Isla tried to pry the catheter out of the back of her hand, but I held her hands steady. She mightn’t understand what was going on right now but that made two of us. If she’d collapsed and been unresponsive, then she was exactly where she needed to be. And as scary and uncomfortable as it was, we weren’t going anywhere until we got to the bottom of what the hell happened.
Before I got a chance to answer, the nurse who’d been checking her vitals interrupted and asked if she could draw some blood. Isla cried. She didn’t want a needle. Eventually, with her cradled in my arms, we convinced her to let us try to see if we could make her better.
The waiting was the hardest part.
Isla drifted off to sleep, seemingly unaware of how many years she’d taken off my life in the last few hours. Charlotte hadn’t come in despite my messages telling her to. She’d replied each time and I knew she hadn’t gone far but she wasn’t coming in.
When the doctor appeared, I started to sweat.
“Mr. Steele. Isla’s test results are back.”
Adjusting Isla in my arms. I sat up a little straighter trying to fortify myself for whatever was about to hit me.
“And?”
“I’m sorry to say, they’re inconclusive.”
“Inconclusive?”
“Unfortunately. We’d like to admit her for the night and run some more tests in the morning. Given her age and what happened, we want to get to the bottom of it.”
“Can I stay with her?” I asked quickly, knowing full well that even if he said no, I wasn’t leaving.
“Absolutely. We’ll move her into a room and you are more than welcome to stay with her.”
Letting out a huge sigh of relief, I agreed and signed the paperwork. While they prepped everything to move, I shifted out from under Isla and she started to wake.
“Dad?”
“I’m here, sweetie. I’m just going to the bathroom. I’ll be back in a minute,” I lied.
“I’m so tired,” she mumbled.
Bending down, I kissed her forehead, squeezed her hand softly. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be right back.”
“Mmmkay.”
With one final look back at her, my heart hurt. She looked so small, so fragile lying there in the bed. I’d seen a lot of sick kids, but not once did I think my daughter would ever be one of them. Maybe I was naive or perhaps it was just wishful thinking.
In the hallway, I scrubbed a hand down my face as I slid down the wall. I needed a moment to just fall apart and worry. I couldn’t do it, I wouldn’t do it in front of Isla but I just needed to breathe. Tugging my phone from my pocket, I replied to messages from Mrs. Neal and Franklin, letting them know that she was okay, but they were still running tests. When Franklin replied letting me know to call if I needed anything I knew he just fortified something I already knew. He was someone I could depend on no matter what.
Caught up in my head, I hadn’t heard someone approaching. “Here you go. I thought you might need this,” Charlotte’s friend Liam said, handing me a cup of sludge like coffee and a premade sandwich.
“Thanks,” I said gratefully, setting the sandwich aside.
“You need to eat. Isla needs you to stay strong and that means taking care of yourself too.”
“I know.”
“She’s in her office if you’re looking for her,” he added.
“Who?”
“Charlotte. She’s in her office. She was going crazy out here pacing the corridors not able to help, so she went to help someone else.”
“Oh.”
