I assumed since I’d gotten married, I was no longer eligible to be on my dad’s policy. But had Alan added me and Ruthie to his?
Did he even have insurance?
As I frantically waited in the lobby with Ruthie in my arms, I adjusted my hold on her and fished my phone from my pocket and called Alan.
It went straight to voicemail without even ringing.
“Alan, it’s me. Can you call me as soon as you can? I had to take Ruthie to the emergency room,” my voice cracked, and I took a steadying breath before continuing. “I need to know if we have insurance through you or not.”
A few minutes later, Jade appeared in the lobby and escorted me back to a room. There, she took Ruthie from me and laid her on the exam table.
“Tell me what’s going on,” she said as she took off Ruthie’s bodysuit and diaper. I tried not to wince when she inserted a rectal thermometer into my baby girl’s bum.
“She was fussy in the middle of the night and didn’t want to nurse. But she didn’t want to sleep either and was up all night. She finally fell asleep around six, so I laid back down, too. When I woke up and checked on her, she was burning up.”
“What time was that?”
“Ten thirty. I drove straight here.”
“You did the right thing.”
The thermometer started beeping, and Jade took it out and looked at the reading.
“A hundred and one.”
My stomach felt like it was in my shoes.
“That’s bad, isn’t it?”
She put a new diaper on Ruthie as she explained, “We don’t like to see anything over a hundred in babies this little. I’ll get the doctor in here as soon as possible.” She loosely wrapped a light receiving blanket around the baby and handed her back to me. “Is Alan on his way? Do you need me to call anyone?”
“Alan is in Vermont, and I can’t get a hold of him. I tried my parents, but I think they’re at church and have their phones off.”
“Do you want me to call Lainey?”
“Um…”
“It might help to have another set of ears if I’m not in here while the doctor’s explaining things to you.”
“That’s a good point. But I can call her, I’m sure you have enough to do.”
“You just focus on Ruthie; I’ll take care of getting a hold of my sister.”
~~~~
Jade left and not three minutes later, a good-looking doctor about Alan’s age walked in, sat down on a rolling stool, and introduced himself.
“Hi, I’m Dr. Weaver.”
“Hi, I’m Jessica Brad—er, Callahan.”
He rolled close enough to softly stroke Ruthie’s downy hair, and asked, “And who do we have here?”
“This is my daughter, Ruthie.”
“Oh, sweet girl,” he soothed, “youarewarm.” He looked up at me and asked, “Do you know when her fever started?”
“I don’t,” I confessed.
