Around 1 pm, Sami decided to check on Will. She knew something was wrong as soon as she entered the bedroom. Will was moaning as he tossed and turned. Sami rushed over and tried shaking her son awake, but he wouldn't open his eyes. She carefully placed a hand on his forehead and immediately pulled it back in shock: his brow was on fire! "Oh God," she breathed. Quickly, Sami ran into the bathroom and found the thermometer. Then she went back to the bedroom and sat on Will's bed. "Shh, it's okay Will."
Will immediately responded to the soothing tone of his mother's voice and stopped tossing. Sami gently stroked his cheek and Will's eyes fluttered open. "Mom?" he moaned.
"Hey baby. I need to take your temperature again, okay?" Sami asked. Will slowly opened his mouth and Sami inserted the thermometer. She waited for a minute and then looked for a reading. She felt sick all of the sudden. The thermometer read 104 degrees. "Oh my God, Will? Will, can you sit up at all?"
Will nodded and struggled to sit up. He grunted in pain and immediately fell back on the pillows. "It hurts!" he groaned.
"What hurts, baby?" Sami asked.
Will clutched his right side. "H-here," he stuttered.
Sami's heart leapt into her throat and she immediately stood up from the bed and leaned down to place a quick kiss on Will's cheek. "Hold on, baby. I will be right back." Sami ran out of the room and grabbed her phone off the counter. She dialed 9-1-1 and tapped her foot impatiently.
"9-1-1, what's your emergency?" a dispatcher finally answered.
"Finally!" Sami said in exasperation. "My son woke up with flu like symptoms and I just went to check on him a couple minutes ago. He's burning up and he says his side hurts."
"All right ma'am. Can you tell me your address?" Sami complied. "Okay ma'am, I am dispatching an ambulance now. They should arrive in about ten minutes," the dispatcher said.
"Thank you," Sami replied.
"You're welcome, ma'am. Do you need me to stay on the line until the ambulance arrives?"
"No, that won't be necessary," Sami said.
"Okay ma'am. Good day," the dispatcher replied before the line went dead.
Good day? How the Hell is it a good day? Sami thought to herself. She shook her head and went back to Will's room. He was curled up on his left side clutching the right. Sami sat down on the bed and stroked his head. "Will, baby? I called an ambulance. You are going to be okay," she whispered.
"It hurts, mom," he moaned.
"I know it does, baby. Hang in there," Sami murmured. She continued to stroke her son's forehead as he writhed in pain, right up until she heard the knock on her apartment door. Sami jumped up and ran to the door. She flung it open and was greeted by two EMTs.
"Somebody called for an ambulance?" one of the EMTs announced.
"Yes, I did. It's my son, Will," Sami said.
"Okay, where is he?"
"In here," Sami replied. She walked briskly to her son's bedroom and pointed inside. "There."
The EMTs nodded and ran inside the room, gurney in toe. One of them put a hand on Will's shoulder. "Hey Will, my name is Billy. This is Jacob. We are going to take you to the hospital, okay?"
Will opened his eyes and looked at Billy. "O-okay," he muttered. The EMT named Jacob gently rolled Will on his side while Billy slipped the stretcher under him. Jacob gently lowered Will back down and on the count of three, they lifted Will onto the stretcher.
Sami watched on, her nerves shaken. "What do you think is wrong with him?"
"It might be appendicitis, ma'am. But we won't know that for sure until we get your son to the hospital," Billy replied. "Would you like to ride with us in the ambulance?"
"Yes, please," Sami replied.
"Then we need to go quickly. If it is his appendix, we don't want it to burst," Jacob added. Sami nodded in understanding and the EMTs began rolling Will out of the room.
They reached the hospital in record time and Sami squeezed Will's hand. "Hang in there, baby. We're at the hospital," she whispered, bending down towards her son's ear as she did so. Will looked at his mother, tears streaming down his face, and nodded.
"Okay Will, we are going to take you in to the hospital and find out what's wrong. How are you doing?" Jacob added.
"Hurts," Will moaned.
"All right. Well then, let's get moving."
Jacob opened up the doors to the ambulance and hopped out. Billy came around to the side and together, they pulled Will from the ambulance and began wheeling him towards the hospital. Sami followed close behind. "Please let him be okay," she thought to herself. A doctor was waiting for them outside the hospital doors.
"What do we got?" she asked.
"18 year old male, complaining of pain in his side. His mother took his temperature and got a reading of 104 degrees F," Jacob said.
"Okay let's get him inside," the doctor said. She leaned down towards Will. "Can you tell me your name?"
"W-Will," Will croaked.
"All right Will, we're going into the hospital now. You're going to be okay."
The EMTs and the doctor began rolling Will into the hospital with Sami in toe. "Will somebody tell me what's wrong with my son?" Sami asked frantically. The doctor who had met them outside looked up at Sami.
"We are going to find out, ma'am. I'm Dr. Terry. We will run some tests and someone will be out to let you know what's going on," Dr. Terry replied. "But we need to do it now. It seems to me that it could be his appendix. I'm going to need you to wait in the waiting room."
"But…" Sami argued.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but that's hospital policy," Dr. Terry replied. Sami sighed and nodded her understanding. She leaned forward and kissed Will on the forehead.
"The doctor is going to find out what's wrong, baby. I will be in the waiting room," Sami murmured. Will nodded.
"O-okay m-mom," Will whispered. Suddenly, he shouted in agony. His side felt like it was being stabbed repeatedly with a knife.
"Okay, let's get moving!" Dr. Terry said. Sami squeezed Will's hand and then watched as he disappeared behind double doors. Once he was out of sight, Sami went to the waiting room and sat down. Her heart was fluttering in her chest and she took deep breaths to try and calm herself.
"He's going to be okay. The doctor's are going to find out what's wrong," she said to herself. When Sami felt calm enough, she pulled out her cell in order to call Lucas.
"Well hello Sami. Calling to berate me more about Will?" Lucas answered snidely.
"Oh Lucas," Sami whimpered.
"What's wrong?" Lucas replied, his tone turning from annoyed to worried.
"I'm at the hospital. It's Will," she said.
"Say no more. I'll be there as soon as I can," Lucas replied. The phone beeped and Sami lowered it into her lap. She looked up at the clock on the wall, saw that it was 2 pm, and a though suddenly occurred to her.
"Sonny!" she almost shouted, startling a couple sitting across from her. "Sorry," Sami said before lifting up her cell once more. She located the number for the coffee shop and waited.
"You've reached the Coffee Bean. This is Sonny! How can I help you today?" Sonny answered.
"Sonny, it's Sami Brady," Sami replied.
"Ms. Brady? Hey, uh… what can I do for you?" Sonny asked in confusion. He hoped she wasn't calling to tell him not to stop by later.
"Sonny, I'm sorry to be calling you at work, but something's happened."
"Something happened? What do you mean? Is Will okay?"
"Sonny, I'm at the hospital right now. Will's fever spiked and his side hurts," Sami replied.
"Oh my God! What's wrong with him?" Sonny asked frantically.
"I don't know. They are doing tests now, but they think it's his appendix," Sami said.
"Shit!" Sonny cursed. "Sorry, Ms. Brady. Um… can I… can I come to the hospital?"
"Of course, Sonny," Sami replied.
"Okay… Um… I will get there as soon as I can. I hope he's okay."
"Me too, Sonny. See you soon," Sami replied. She hung up the phone and looked at the clock. How long was it going to take for them to tell her what was wrong with her baby?
About fifteen minutes later, Lucas arrived. He stopped at the nurse's station first. "I'm looking for my son? He was brought in awhile ago."
"What's your son's name?" the nurse asked.
"Will Horton," Lucas replied.
"Okay. Let me just look him up." The nurse typed Will's name at the computer and waited a moment. "All right, it says here that your son was brought into the ER. They are currently running some tests," the nurse said. "If you could just go sit in the waiting room, someone will come out and let you know what is going on."
"Thank you," Lucas said. Then he walked briskly towards the ER. He saw Sami sitting in a chair, staring at the clock. "Sami?"
Sami looked towards Lucas and immediately jumped up. "Lucas!" she exclaimed. Lucas hurried over to her.
"What happened?" Lucas demanded. Sami quickly filled him in.
"Oh Lucas, I hope he's okay…"
