“Was she administered her EpiPen?” Tanner’s voice breaks through my silence as if he has read, or at least translated, the mess that is my mind. “It’s kept in the front zipper of her drawstring bag.”
“Yes. Ms. Morton applied it on the scene.”
“How long until she wakes up?” Tanner asks, his hand firmly grasping my leg.
“In an hour or two we will probably start to wake her up.”
“And she’ll be okay?”
The doctor smiles. “Yes. She should make a full recovery, and quickly, I presume, as well.”
I could almost weep at the doctor’s feet, and I could kiss Tanner for asking questions when I can’t even think past my own nose. The doctor slips back out of the curtain and I squeeze Winnie's hand.
“Wife and Daughter?” I question now and a sheepish grin grows across his face.
“Don’t think for one second I wasn’t going to do anything in my power to get to you two.”
The lights are dim in the hospital room, Tanner is on the couch, and I sit in a chair pulled up to Winnie’s side. Tanner must have called them, because it doesn’t take long for Rhett andLauren to arrive. They sneak in almost silently with panic on both of their faces.
“She’s okay,” I tell them. “They have her sleeping for a little longer, but she’ll be okay.”
Lauren’s chest deflates as she sits on the edge of the bed. She smiles when her eyes catch the yellow flowers on Winnie's table. Tanner said they were originally for me as another apology for the goldfish and handcuffs from the fair. They’re Winnie’s now.
The hours drain by as we sit and stare at Winnie. I don’t know how many more times I can look at the same wires and tubes coming in and out of my child, or the rash on her face. My eyes are on a loop and it’s making me motion sick. Then, there’s a snore, her shoulders shiver, and she turns her head to the side.
“Mommy?” she croaks.
I squeeze her hand. “Bug, I'm right here.”
“Where my sheep?”
“What? Honey we can’t bring sheep to a hospital.”
“No, my Tanner sheep.”
Her Tanner sheep. The stuffed animal from the fair.
“Baby it’s on your bed at home.” I tell her.
“I’ll go get it.” Rhett pops to his feet. “What else do you need kid?”
“My blanky,” she says and Rhett is gone a moment later.
Instantly, all her grownup-ness I have seen this summer melts back into innocence. She looks younger and smaller under the hospital blanket. Her cheeks rosy, eyes glassy, and her dry lips slightly protruding.
“Are those flowers mine?” she asks and I want to cry at her hoarse voice.
I swipe my tear away, so she doesn’t see. Even though now, they’re tears of joy.
“Yeah.” Tanner has appeared at my side, and he pats her footthrough the blanket. “They’re all yours. Eric and Ava helped pick them out.”
She smiles. “Does that mean you’re my boyfriend if you bring me flowers?”
A laugh bubbles up in the room, being the exact thing we all needed. “Bug, you know flowers doesn’t mean someone is your boyfriend.”
“But boyfriends and girlfriends do hold hands.” She smirks. “And you guys hold hands.”
“I agree.” Lauren chimes in.
