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Ursula gave a big yawn as she arched her back and drew her knees to her chest, stretching her arms up and over her head. Then she realized she could not move her arms. Bringing them in front of her, she frowned, looking at the ugly fat yellow sleeves on her arms and wondering why they were there. She wiggled her fingers, and then examined the ducks and flowers on the ceiling. She decided that someone wasn't much of an artist.
Looking to her left, she saw a couple of machines making beeping noises and one that had squiggly green lines. In addition, she had strings on her chest… There was a window, and a teddy bear, and… bars. Bars? She turned to her right to find an empty chair with a blanket thrown on it and more bars on the other side of her cage.
Rolling herself over onto her tummy and then sitting up, she looked around to see bars surrounded her. A cage? No, not a cage, she decided when she saw the pillow and blanket next to her. A bed. An ugly blue bed… an ugly blue bed with bars. And she was supposed to stay here…
Ursula stood up in the bed, grabbed hold of the top of the railing, and shook it. It wouldn't budge. She decided since she couldn't get out like that, she would simply climb out of the ugly bed. She moved around the bed and added the adjective 'noisy' to the list as the mattress made crinkly noise under her feet.
Lifting her leg, she tried to hook her foot on the top of the rail. She didn't have a very good grip with her hands, but she tried. Suddenly, the noisy bed moved, and the leg she was standing on slipped through two of the bars as she bumped her forehead and fell back onto the mattress.
Ursula was frustrated now. She had an owie on her forehead and couldn't reach it to rub the hurt away. Her leg was hanging through the cold bars, and she couldn't get it out. Now all she could do was look at the ugly duck painted on the ceiling.
She lay like that for what seemed like forever to her. She opened her mouth and called out for help. She grabbed the pillow and threw it out of the bed, but not before it landed in her face four times making her angrier. She grabbed at the blanket and threw it out of the bed… well, she tried and couldn't, so she pushed it through the bars.
The door opened quietly and someone came into the room. A fat woman with a bunch of curly hair… she looked like Zach's Madonna…Ursula's eyes got big as the woman smiled as she spoke to her. The woman pushed Ursula's leg back through the bars and then as if like magic, the bars disappeared and the woman took off the yellow sleeves.
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Kendall smiled at Ursula then pressed the call button for the nurse. She gathered the girl in her arms and hugged her close, drowning in the sweet smell of he child's hair. She sat down with her in the chair that had been occupied by Zach earlier. Kendall studied Ursula's face, as she caressed her cheeks and ran her fingers through the large thick curls. Ursula simply stared back at Kendall with her eyes big.
The nurse came in, took Ursula's vital signs, and then told Kendall that the doctor wanted to start her off on clear liquids. Then she left to order a tray for Ursula.
A short time later, Zach had come to Ursula's room and she couldn't get to him fast enough, almost knocking over the tray of bland broth and gelatin that she really didn't want. He picked her up, giving her a tight hug, and kissed her on her cheeks. Ursula hugged him back as hard as she could. Kendall stayed seated in the large chair while Zach bent down to her and kissed her so intimately that it made Ursula smile and blush while she got the up-close view of it.
Zach and Kendall laughed at Ursula when she buried her face in Zach's shoulder and pushed her hand between their mouths, saying, "Ok, Ok," trying to do away with the sight of them kissing.
Kendall insisted on staying with Zach and Ursula when visiting hours ended. The nurse and one of the aides pushed an extra easy chair into the room for her so that she did not have to sit on one of the hard plastic chairs that were in the hallway.
Ursula was fascinated with the different people and their uniforms as they came in and out of her room later in the evening. One woman had on a white top with Sponge Bob all over. A man came in with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck all over his top.
She found comfort as she lay on Zach and listened to his heartbeat and the sound of his voice as it hummed in his chest whenever he spoke. He had waited until Kendall had gone to sleep before he got on his cell phone.
"Edie," Zach whispered into the cell phone as he shifted Ursula on his chest. Ursula looked up at him with her eyes wide, saying Edie's name loudly. He put one finger in front of his lips, to signal her to be quiet and she copied him adding a "Shh," and smiling. "Edie, I need some food here, I'm starving!" he said into the phone and glancing over at Kendall.
"Well, I'm on my way home," Edie said to him as she walked out of the casino and to her car, "I guess I like you enough to bring you food."
"Think you can pick up a burger for me?"
"Sure, where from?"
"I don't care, get something from BJ's, you know what I like," he whispered.
"What about Kendall?"
"She's sleeping, and she said that she ate before I got here, but I never did get to eat."
"Eat!" Ursula piped in, a little too loudly for Zach's liking. He glanced over at Kendall and saw she had not stirred.
"Shh!" he whispered loudly to Ursula as she grabbed at the phone.
"Eat!" she whined into the telephone even louder this time.
"Ursula," Zach said sternly, looking her in the eye, and taking the phone from her. "Bring some chicken fingers for Ursula please." He and Edie exchanged a few more words, and then he snapped the phone shut and looked at Ursula. She was crying, and his heart sank.
She was hungry and thought he was going to let her stay hungry. He wiped away her tears with his thumb and saw her chin start to shake. Glancing at Kendall, who had not stirred, he stood with Ursula in his arms. He moved to the door and pushed it open, walking out into the hallway.
He walked a little ways down the hall trying to comfort and quiet Ursula when an aid walked up to him with a blanket. He draped it over her and started to speak softly to her. He told her a story about a dog he had when he was little, he recited silly nursery rhymes to her, even though she couldn't understand him, but she seemed to calm down enough to parrot him as she had done when they were in Rio de Janeiro.
She studied his face and dragged her finger across the stubble along his jaw. "Owie?" she asked him and he shook his head no. She touched the purple area on her forehead and said, "My owie."
Zach walked up and down the hall on the unit with Ursula while the nurse and the aid watched them. He listened intently to Ursula as she talked about something that happened earlier that day from what he could understand. Something about the bed and she kept pointing to the bruise on her forehead. She found it amusing that he kept kissing her for head every time she pointed to it and so did the nurse and the aid.
The elevator doors opened and they watched Edie walk in carrying a large white bag. She gave the food to Zach and smiled as Ursula kissed her on the cheek, calling her "EED" again. Edie didn't correct her. If that is what this child wanted to call her, then so be it. At least she was around to butcher her name.
Zach went back into Ursula's room and pulled the tray table up to the chair he and Ursula were sitting in, and quietly took the food out of the bag. He had to give it to Edie, she did better than BJ's, she went to Chilis. He smiled as he peered into the bag with all the food; she even got a giant cookie for Ursula. His stomach began to rumble as he uncovered the big mouth burger and onion peels for himself and put a very large soda on the table. He uncovered the long chicken strips and seasoned fries for Ursula. "I guess we will have to share the soda, Ursula." He said as she reached for the plastic cup that was almost as large as her torso.
She drank from it until her eyes squeezed shut and she shivered, letting go of the straw, "Soooo-da" she growled and reached for the cup again as Zach put it back on the table.
"Eat," Zach told her and handed her one of her chicken strips.
"Eat," Ursula growled, and started eating the chicken while she watched Zach eat his burger. They were both quiet, careful not to wake Kendall.
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Kendall woke up and glanced around the room. By the eerie glow of the television, Kendall could see Ursula and Zach sleeping in the recliner next to her. They looked so sweet together, she thought as she smiled at the two of them. She sat up and looked around the room.
Getting up, she started to clear away the trash on the table next to Zach's chair. She thought to herself that he sure did eat a lot… she saw the half-eaten chicken strips and it looked like the fries had been picked over. Then she saw the second tray with some shreds of lettuce and what looked like dipping sauce in a cup and one battered onion peel. She stood up straight and stared at the empty trays in front of her then spun to look at Zach and Ursula again.
He fed her solid food! Kendall began to panic. She quickly put the bag down and headed out of then door and to the nurses station. The nurse looked at her and smiled. "Mendoza De Soto," Kendall said and pointed with her thumb down the hall, "Did the doctor say it was ok for her to have solid food now?" Kendall asked, as she tried to remain calm.
"Let me check for you, dear," she told Kendall, who was starting to fidget with her fingers. The nurse flipped open a chart and flipped a couple pages scanning them quickly. "No, no, she is still on clear liquids, as of this afternoon…"
"My husband fed her while I was sleeping!" Kendall said in a high-pitched voice, then bringing her voice back to a whisper, "What if she gets sick?"
The nurse flipped through a different section of the chart and then said more to herself, "She is in here for-- mild malnutrition, dehydration… at risk for re-feeding syndrome…" the nurse harrumphed and mumbled to herself something about exaggerating a care plan. Then she looked up at Kendall, who was looked as if she would crawl right out of her skin. She decided Kendall was just a frantic mother who needed to be re-assured. She grabbed her stethoscope and a thermometer and got up to go check on the child, even though she was sure she was probably fine.
As the nurse entered the room, she could smell the remnants of what must have been dinner for the two sleeping in the chair across the room. She clicked on the dim light near the head of the bed and then touched Zach on the arm. He grunted. "Sir, I need to check little missy's vitals now," she spoke calmly, hoping that the woman would just calm herself down.
Zach peeled one eye open and looked at the nurse in the blue uniform. She smiled at him and held up her thermometer and stethoscope. Nodding, he pulled Ursula's hair from her ear while the nurse took her temperature then went about getting her pulse, her respiration, and then her blood pressure, which woke Ursula up.
Ursula gave her an ugly look. She removed the cuff after she got the blood pressure then looked Ursula in the eye, "Sweetie, are you in any pain?"
Zach thought for a moment and then said, "Está você na dor, Ursula?"
"No," she replied and then lifted her head and looked around the room, spotting the large cup of soda still on the table, "Soooo-da." Then she dropped her head on Zach's chest again, and started to go back to sleep.
Kendall looked at the nurse, who seemed to be ignoring her now, as she walked out of the room and back to the nurses' station. Kendall followed, wondering if she was the only one concerned about that little girl's health.
She watched as the nurse jotted something in the chart that she had left on the desk earlier and then made a note somewhere else. She glanced at her watch and then picked up the telephone. Kendall stood there, getting angrier as she was being ignored.
She listened as the nurse gave her name and left a message concerning Ursula. She told why she was there, and then said "the child's guardian" was worried about her husband feeding her solid foods when it wasn't ordered. She mentioned that she checked on the child and that she seemed to have handled the food fairly well, gave the vitals and said that Ursula said she was not in pain--then she turned over and went to sleep.
"Miss--" the nurse looked down at the chart again, "Mrs. Slater? I just left a message for the physician. Just watch her and tell me if she has any discomfort or nausea or vomiting." Kendall didn't budge. "Kid's are pretty resilient nowadays, Mrs. Slater. The doctor may just change her diet to solids if she makes it to morning without any incidents."
"You think so?" Kendall said, still fidgeting with her fingers.
"This happens all the time, and it's usually mothers who worry about it and Fathers who don't give a second thought to a child's diet. Her doctor is used to it." The nurse reassured Kendall, and then added, "Just be glad she wasn't NPO!"
"NPO?"
"Nil per os-- Nothing by mouth… the things that go wrong with THAT order when no one pays attention!" the nurse said as she closed the chart and put it back on the shelf. She started to go down the hall with her med cart, "Is there anything else you need?"
Kendall shook her head and headed back to the room. When she got there, Zach and Ursula were snoring again. Kendall threw away the empty trays then covered Ursula with a blanket.
She sat down in the chair and watched the two sleeping. She closed her eyes herself, and dreamt of the beautiful family that they would all make together.