Colleen tossed and turned all night. She did her best to stay still because she did not want to wake Andrew. She decided to go downstairs; but before she made it into the hall, she started coughing. She put a handkerchief to her mouth and after a few moments the coughing subsided. She pulled the handkerchief away and was shocked to see dark splotches illuminated by the fireplace. She fell to the floor and started coughing again.
Andrew's deep dreamless sleep was interrupted by Colleen's violent coughing. He opened his eyes to see Colleen hunched over on the floor. He went to her had rubbed her back until the coughing ended. Andrew bent down to join her on the floor. He tucked her hair behind her ears so he could see her face. Colleen sat clutching a handkerchief in her hands not wanting to reveal its contents to her husband.
"Is Mama all right?" Ella questioned from the hall. The noise had apparently awoken every member of the Cook household. Ella was trying to assess the situation from the doorway.
"She'll be fine. You should go back to bed," Andrew said trying to sound reassuring.
Ella stalled for a moment but eventually went to her room as instructed. She climbed into bed, she could not fall asleep.
Andrew helped his wife back to bed that was all he could do for her now. Tomorrow he would take her to the hospital to have tests done. He sat next to her stroking hair as he drifted to sleep. When he awoke the next morning, Colleen was gone. Andrew dressed and went downstairs was Annette was cooking breakfast.
"Good morning, sir," she said to him was she placed the biscuits in the oven.
"Good morning," he replied, "Have you seen Colleen?"
"She left early this morning said something about visiting a hospital," Annette answered.
"Thank you," Andrew told her before he left the kitchen. He was glad Colleen had taken her health seriously enough to have it looked into. When Colleen arrived at the clinic, Andrew had already begun seeing patients. He pulled her aside and asked, "How did the tests go?"
"Fine, everything is in order," Colleen replied wondering how Andrew knew that she had gone to see Mrs. O'Malley.
"I'm relived for a moment last night I thought you had consumption," he said with a smile.
Colleen answered with a faint smile. She did not want to tell Andrew that she had not had the tests preformed on her. She didn't need to. Colleen already knew the answer.
Several days later, Colleen and Andrew were sitting in the parlor looking over their finances.
"How much do we owe?" she asked.
"Too much," Andrew said tossing aside the bill he had been holding.
"If we cut down on expenses, we might be able to make it," Colleen said examining the figures.
"What expenses? We have cut just about everything besides food, housing…" Andrew started to list.
"And Annette," Colleen told him.
"What we would do with Ella? We both need to be at the clinic," Andrew said dismissing Colleen's idea, "I know we can have Ella come to the clinic and help with charts."
"Andrew," Colleen responded, "This is not funny."
"I know. What do you suggest we do with Ella if we let Annette go?" he asked.
"She could stay Ma and Sully temporally until we get enough money to hire someone again," Colleen told him.
Andrew did not say anything. He knew the painful look in Colleen's eyes. She did not want to send Ella away anymore than he did.
"Would they be all right with that?" Andrew asked as he organized the bills into to no particular order.
"I had mentioned our problems in letters to Ma. She suggested it. We can all go out for Christmas and then leave Ella with them," Colleen explained.
Andrew nodded and said, "We should talk to Ella about it so she knows what to expect."
Ella was pleased with the idea until she realized her parents would not be staying in Colorado Springs as well. The days until the Cooks trip passed quickly. Colleen and Andrew were busy because of an influenza outbreak, and Ella was preparing for her extended stay in Colorado Springs. Annette had made a few new dresses and was helping pack Ella's belongings in Colleen's trunk.
One evening Colleen and Andrew returned home from the clinic to Annette telling them Ella had locked herself in her room earlier that afternoon and refused to come out. Colleen went to Ella's room to persuade her to come out while Andrew went to retrieve the key from a small chest on Colleen's dressing table.
"Ella," she called as she knocked softly on the door.
There was not a response before Andrew arrived with the key and unlocked the door. They entered to find Ella asleep on the floor with red wet checks. She had cried herself to sleep thinking about having to be away from her parents.
"Ella," Colleen said gently trying to rouse her daughter.
Ella moaned and turned her head away from Colleen.
"Pull the covers back on the bed," Andrew told Colleen as he bent down and lifted Ella.
Colleen complied. After Andrew had set her on the bed, Colleen pulled the covers up to tuck in Ella. She noticed Ella's favorite blanket was missing and began to search for it. Ella was able to sleep without it, but she used to comfort herself when she was upset. Andrew joined the search and pulled the soft pink blanket out from behind the large trunk. Colleen placed it in Ella's arms. As they left the room, Andrew saw a tear fall from Colleen's eye. She was going to miss Ella. They were going to miss Ella.
Note: All right, I know this is another story about something being wrong with Colleen, but I swear I only hurt her because I love her. Let me know what you think.