“Davey, it’s Sarah.” She touched her hand to his forehead then checked his pulse. He was warm and his heart rate was a little fast which could be explained if he had a fever, and though his respirations were even they did seem a little labored. She carried him out to the four-wheeler and laid him on the seat, then pulled out her phone, her fingers trembling as she went through her contacts. She’d managed to hold the tears off until David answered and she heard the desperation in his voice.
“David, I’ve got him. I’ve got Davey,” she cried through the tears.
David took his first deep breath since Sarah had received Jack’s call telling them Davey was missing. He’d been about to dial the emergency number after he hadn’t found Davey anywhere around the stables when Sarah had called. He still didn’t understand why his son would have gone off like that, but he did know that it wasn’t something he would be taking a chance with ever again.
Pulling his car up to the house, he could see the lights of the ATV as it topped a hill on the road and he held his breath as he watched it headed toward him, then stop in front of the house.
“Hey, Daddy,” his son said as Sarah lifted him off the bench of the vehicle and handed him to David. “I’m tired. Can we go home now?”
“Hey, buddy. Let me check you out first,” David said as he hugged his little boy tight to him. There had been so many times in his son’s life that he had thought he might lose him, but he had never imagined that he could lose his son like he had tonight.
“Let’s get him inside. He’s a little warm. I’ve got a thermometer in the house,” Sarah said as she opened the door for them.
“We found him, Jack. Humphrey went back to the house, just like you said,” David heard Sarah shout as she entered the house.
He followed her, then stopped when he saw the man that Sarah considered a second father sitting at the table looking tired and older than he had ever seen him.
“It’s okay, Jack,” Sarah said as she went to the man David knew she loved as much as she had loved his son. “Davey’s okay.”
Only David knew exactly how Jack felt, and he wasn’t sure how easy it would be to get back to being okay.
David fixed the faded blanket decorated with cartoon animals so that it covered his son better as he watched Davey sleeping on the bed in the ER. He wondered exactly how many times he had sat in emergency rooms just like this one while he waited for Davey’s lab tests and X-rays to come back. Ten? Twenty? More?
He should have been more in tune with what was going on with his son. He knew that Davey wasn’t usually such a fussy child. He should have known that he was getting sick. He of all people knew how fast a small infection could turn into something worse where his son was concerned.
The night’s growth of stubble scraped against his hand as he rubbed at his face, trying to remain awake. He’d spent many long nights sitting with Davey and even more on his rotations through his residency, and he’d still been able to function the next day, but the stress of the night was taking a toll on him. He jumped up as the door to Davey’s room opened and the petite blond doctor that had seen Davey when he had first arrived came back into the room.
“You’ve got the X-ray back?” he asked before the women could speak.
“We did, and the labs too. If you want to go see them, we can walk back to my desk,” she said.
David looked down at Davey. He wanted to see the labs and the X-ray film for himself but what if his son woke up while he was gone? Davey had been alone for hours in the woods; he couldn’t leave Davey alone now.
“That’s okay. I’ll look at them later. What did the radiologist report say?” he asked. He couldn’t remember the doctor’s name though he was sure she’d introduced herself earlier.
“There is a small pleural effusion in the left lower lobe, but from the rest of the lab work I think Davey might have a slight case of pneumonia. I’ve sent all the results to Dr. Benton for a second opinion, but from the complaints that he had earlier that’s my professional opinion. His white count is just above thirteen so I’ll start him on some antibiotics. There’s a nasty respiratory infection going around the schools right now. Whether exposure to that is the cause of Davey’s infection or if it’s his increased risk due to his transplant, I can’t tell you. But I’m going to start him on an IV infusion and I’d like to admit him for observation at least for the next forty-eight hours just to be safe. Do you have any questions?”
“Not right now, but I would be interested in seeing his labs and of course I’ll talk to Dr. Benton when he comes in this morning,” David said. He didn’t want the woman to think he didn’t trust her opinion, but he was glad that she had consulted Dr. Benton.
“If you think of anything else you’d like to ask me or if there are any other tests you feel we should run just have the nurse let me know,” she said before she left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.
She’d done everything to put David at ease and more, but it was the fact that he hadn’t listened to his intuition when he had first thought that his son was sick that
