Baby and Josie wait patiently in a cubicle for the doctor. Luckily they were able to be brought right tin but now they just have to wait on the doctor. Josie was resting still on the hospital bed and Baby was right beside her.
"Uh, oh we not feeling well?" Baby's attention was turned to the doctor walking in the door. "Hi I am Dr. Fleming."
"Baby Houseman." Baby said shaking his hand. "This is Josie."
Dr. Fleming walked over to Josie as he felt of her head. "The nurse said she had a fever of 101.2." He looked at his folder before he continued. "She is complaining of her arms hurting?"
"That is what she tells me. She said it hurts when she moves them." Baby said as she brushed the hair out of Josie's face.
"Josie, did you fall or anything on your arms?" Dr. Fleming asked Baby as he took a seat on the side of the bed.
Josie just shook her head no. She never spoke.
"Has the nurse been in with Tylenol to break her fever?" He asked Baby.
"Not yet."
"Let me see if I can get her in here. I want this fever broke now." He said as he walked out the door.
Baby walked back over to Josie who had fallen back asleep. She was still burning up and pale. Baby began to worry now. It was so unlike Josie to be pale.
Within minutes the doctor return with his nurse. "Lets see if we can wake her again to take this Tylenol."
"Josie, honey, wake up." Baby said.
Josie rolled over on her back and slowly opened her eyes. Baby helped her sit up at the nurse handed Josie the medicine cup filled with cherry flavored Tylenol.
"Now that should break her fever." Dr. Fleming said. "But, what worries me is she says her arms hurt. With her not falling or anything it leaves me to wonder. I need to ask your permission to run a few test to see why she might be feeling this way. I don't feel it is the flu or anything especially with her being pale like she is."
"You think it is something serious?" Baby asked as she eyed the doctor closely.
"It is just a precaution Ms. Houseman. I just really don't think it is a virus or anything especially with her complaining of her arms aching."
"Do what ever you have to do." Baby told them as she rubbed down Josie's cheek. "It just isn't like her to be sick."
"First of all I would like to run a blood test." Dr. Fleming motioned to his nurse to proceed with doing so.
Josie's eyes opened big as she knew that meant she would be stuck with a needle. "No mommy no!"
"Honey, it will be okay. It will be just a little sting. We need to make you better." Baby told Josie to calm her down.
"No mommy!" Josie let her tears out now as the nurse was ready to draw Josie's blood. "Please mommy!"
It broke Baby's heart for Josie to be so upset like that. She just wished she understood it was for the best and would help the doctors make her better. "It will be over before you know it."
The nurse sanitized Josie's arm and began to draw her blood. Josie would let out little whimpers as she turned her head away from the procedure.
"It shouldn't be long and we should have the results back." Dr. Fleming told Baby. "Hopefully the blood test will tell us something."
It worried Baby now that the doctor didn't think it was a virus or anything. It could only mean something worse. "You are scaring me a little."
"Ms. Houseman, I haven't diagnosed her with anything yet and we will cross that bridge when we get there."
Dr. Fleming and his nurse exited the room to review the blood samples. Baby then crawled up on the bed and held Josie close to her. She wished she could take all this away from Josie.
"He thinks I am sick?" Josie asked quietly.
"He will make you all better in no time." Baby said as she worried what the blood test could reveal.
Josie finally drifted off back to sleep as Baby still held on to her tight. Baby had to be optimistic at what Dr. Fleming could find. Josie has always been a very healthy child and surly nothing had changed that. It had to be something trivial, it just had to be.
About an hour later Dr. Fleming came back in with Josie's results.
"Well?" Baby asked as she gently moved out from under Josie and stood up to face the news.
"I am still unsure at this point so I would like to do a bone marrow aspiration." Dr. Fleming said straight faced.
"What is that? What did her blood tests say?" Baby now felt her knees go week so she felt it best to sit down.
"Ms. Houseman," The doctor let out a sigh but he continued. "Josie's had a low blood cell count."
Baby looked over at Josie to make sure she was still asleep and couldn't hear their conversation. "What does that mean?"
"Bone marrow aspiration will tell me more." Dr. Fleming told her.
"What is a bone marrow aspiration?' Baby asked never having heard that term before.
"Perhaps we better step outside." Dr. Fleming said as he looked at Josie.
As the stepped outside the room Baby was more scared now then ever. "Please be straight with me."
Dr. Fleming understood her worry and just told her flat out. "I want to check her for leukemia."
Leukemia? Baby could not believe her ears. There was no way her little girl could have leukemia. She felt her insides just tie up in a knot. She felt she just couldn't breath at the thought of her little girl having cancer. "NO!"
"It looks like Josie may have leukemia cells are present in her blood. This procedure will confirm my suspicions." He told her as he noticed all the color drain from Baby's face.
"She had never had anything majorly wrong with her." Baby said as tears began to form.
"When she complained of her arms hurting when she moved them it reminded me that one of the symptoms of leukemia is bone or joint pain." He told her.
"I just can't understand all this. She was fine earlier this morning." Baby told the doctor.
"I would like to schedule a day to do this procedure." He told her "I would like to do it soon."
"What exactly will you do?" Baby asked him still not understanding
"It's a simple procedure really. All will do is insert a needle into one of Josie's large bones, probably somewhere in her hip, and remove a small amount of liquid bone marrow for examination" He said trying to explain.
Baby's mouth dropped open as she hated to put her daughter through that. "This is so unreal."
"I am going to prescribe you some Tylenol to help keep her fever down. Call my office in the morning and let set up a time to get his handled, okay?" Dr. Fleming could see Baby's uneasiness.
"What if it really is leukemia?" Baby asked.
"Let's cross that bridge when we get there. If it is you and Josie can beat it." He said tying to ease her mind.
"Thank you for everything Dr. Fleming." Baby asked as she tried to come to her senses.
Baby loaded Josie up and headed to take her home. She placed Josie in the back seat so she could lie down and couldn't' help but see how perfect her little angle looked at that every moment. Her baby couldn't have leukemia. If so she would move heaven and earth to make sure her baby has the best medicine possible.
