Chapter 1
Feverish heat radiates from his body,as I find my hand lying against his back as he continues to throw up. I know I probably should call for my mom but I also know he won't let me because she has enough to worry about without him being sick. "Joe,I'm going to go get my mom alright, you've been throwing up for about an hour now, and i've done all I can do"I say, "that's fine Nor"he barely utters. I go and get my mom ,who is in her bedroom because it's 2 am, and she comes back with me. She kneels down beside him and rubs his back, "Norrie,go get my phone please, I need to call Sam, he's really sick"she says. I do as she asks and I grab the phone off of the bed side table, and bring it back to her. She makes the call leaving the phone on speaker, "hello"I hear him answer in a sleepy voice, "hey'it's me, I think I need you to come over, I got a really sick kid on my hands and I can't get him to the clinic because our car's not working"she says, "K Carolyn, I'm on my way, what's his temp"he asks, "don't know, but I can get it real quick though"she says.
She grabs the thermometer and gently puts it in his mouth, he groans a little bit because he feels like he's going to throw up, "shh baby I know,almost done"she says to him, "temps 104"she says to Sam. "k, can you get him into the shower at all"he asks, "yeah possibly, it's a walk in shower,so we can get him into it but I don't know how he'll feel about be naked in front of us"she says, "ok then what I want you to do is sponge bath him for now and i'll help with the shower later"he says , "OK"she says. Very gently we get him out of the puke smelling clothes and then lie him down on a towel on the floor. He doesn't even flinch or react as we run the wash cloth across his body, and then we help him get into a new t shirt and sweat pants. At this point Sam knocks at the door and I let him, I show him to where my mom and Joe are. He kneels down beside my mom and starts to talk to Joe, "hey buddy heard your not feeling all that well tonight, do you mind if I move you to the couch so I can get a better look at you"he asks, "no"Joe responds weakly.
Very carefully Sam lifts Joe into his arms with ease and then takes him downstairs to the couch, there he lies him down and gets his medical stuff out of his bag. He checks his temp again and then gets the rest of his vitals. After this he starts to feel his stomach and then that's when Joe starts groaning in pain, "shh, Carolyn that's not good, he has appendicitis, we could take him to the clinic but I know they have no room, I can do the surgery here but it'll be messy"he says quickly and quietly. "I don't know, what do you think is best"she asks, "it's close to ruptuing, so I say we do it here since we don't have time, I have a sedative in my bag, it'll put him to sleep"he says, "k that seals it,what do we need to do"she asks, "go set up in the bathroom Norrie, put a clean towel on the floor and roll one up to use as a head rest"he says. I do as i'm told and it's then I realize how die the situation we are in is, he could die from all of this,and it scares me.
By the time I'm done, Sam comes in with Joe in his arms and lies him down on the towel,"ow"Joe barely murmurs, "shh I know Buddy, are you sure your up for this"he asks, "yeah,whatever it takes to get me better"he says. "k I'm going to put this iv in your arm now alright, it'll give you the sedative and put you to sleep alright"he says, "yeah"Joe says. I see Sam very gently and quickly put the iv in his arm and soon enough Joe is out like a light. The last thing I see before I leave the room is blood welling up to the surface as he makes the first cut.