But I wasn't noticing the other things I should have. I didn't notice how close my sister was getting to Dr. Marstens, or how more and more of his things ended up in her room.
I didn't notice how I saw less and less of Liam. I only saw him with Hilary, who had started coming by the playroom to help out as much as she could.
I surely didn't notice the changes in Julie. I only noticed how amazing she felt in my arms, how wonderful it felt when she was kissing me, and telling me that she loved me.
I can't say that every problem she had was ignored. She had lost weight, I could feel that. She would get dizzy, but when I asked her about it, she told me that she was just stressed out about school. Tests were coming up soon, and I was distracting her.
I teased her that I could leave her alone, and she laughed and told me to shut up. She would make up her tests if she failed.
Some part of me questioned the excuse, but that other part, that was being held under the water by her smile, decided that what she said was probably true.
And then, came the day at the hospital. We were all there, the Fantastic Four as Liam had begun to call us. Hilary was making the kids laugh with funny faces, Liam was building a Lego castle, I was coloring, and Julie had been cleaning up the dolls.
One moment, I was looking up from my group of kids to give her a secret smile, and the next, I was watching her lean against a wall. By the time I had realized something was wrong, Julie's eyes rolled back, and she crumbled to the floor.
“Julie!” I yelled, and leapt from my seat. The kids screamed, and began to cry. Me and Liam ran toward her.
I got there before she did, and picked her up. She was completely immobile in my arms, hanging there limply. Liam stood. “One of you get a nurse, quickly!” he yelled.
Two of the kids ran out of the room, and slowly, Hilary held to one of the kids to come by our side. She knelt down when she got there, and felt for Liam's hand.
“Show me where her neck is,” she told him. Liam guided her hand to Julie's neck, as I held her in my arms, my heart beating rapidly. Hilary placed two fingers against her neck. “She has a pulse. She must have fainted.”
“What did she say?” Liam said frantically, looking to me.
“Julie has a pulse. She must have fainted,” I told him, my own voice on the edge, tottering toward insanity.
I couldn't be holding my Julie like this. It felt wrong and foreign. I wanted to be pinched from this dream.
And then she moved. Her eyes fluttered, and then slowly opened. I watched as she took in a deep breath, and then clutched my shirt. I placed my hand over hers and squeezed.
“What happened?” she asked softly.
“You passed out. Are you okay?” I asked her, smoothing her hair from her forehead.
She leaned forward and nodded. “Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little lightheaded,” she said.
“Julie, do we need to take you to the emergency room?” Hilary asked.
Julie quickly shook her head. “No, I'm fine. My elbow is sore though,” she replied.
Liam instantly reached for her arm, and we stared at the ugly purple that was coming from a bruise. It wasn't a small spot either, but a large misshapen oval along her forearm.
“You must have gotten one of the doll houses,” Liam replied.
The doors opened behind us, and it was Julie's mom that came in. The children must have sought her out since it was because of Julie.
“Honey? What happened?” she asked quickly. I moved out of the way so she could be next to her daughter.
“I'm fine. I just passed out,” she said. Julie looked to me and held out her hand. “Help me up?” she asked. I nodded, and knelt down to lift her, bridal style. “What are you doing?” she asked.
I furrowed my brows. “Taking you to the ER. Mrs. Michaels, can you lead the way?” I asked.
She nodded, as I knew she would. The look she had given me when she came to Julie's side has assured me that the ER was exactly where she was headed.
“Liam?”
“Go ahead, Hilary and I will wait here for you,” he said immediately, and ushered us out of the room.
I followed Mrs. Michaels to the first floor, and we were only lucky that no one was waiting. As soon as we got down there, they took her back.
“Only one guest,” the nurse replied.
I sat down Julie and gave a careful smile to her. “I'll be out here waiting,” I told her.
Julie nodded, and she leaned up to kiss me. Then she and her mom disappeared behind the automatic doors, and I resumed to sitting in a chair and watching it.
♥
I waited for nearly an hour. I texted Liam to tell him that I hadn't heard anything yet, just so he wouldn't think I had forgotten about them. Then I texted Ava, and told her I might be late. She texted that she would get one of the girls to drive her home.
Each time the doors opened, I jumped up, but it wasn't them. Just a nurse, or a patient. And each time, I sat back down and placed my hands over my eyes and growled.
When they finally did come from the back, Julie looked better. She had color again, and despite her frown, she didn't look like she
