Houston, We Have a Problem
A/N: Just wanted to take a second to say "thanks" to everyone who has read and reviewed this chapter. Also, to any of you who aren't reading my other story, Scar Tissue, I wanted to let you know that there's a message on my profile that you might want to check out. As always - Enjoy!
"Jen, it's Trish. I don't want to scare you, but John and I decided that it would be best if we took Keegan to the emergency room. She was laying on the couch, looking way worse than when you brought her over, and we're just not sure if that's normal kids stuff or not. So we'll be there, waiting for you, when you get this message."
Trish's words played over and over in Jennifer's mind as Dave rushed through the darkened backstreets from the restaurant to the hospital. "David, slow down," she instructed, resting her hand on his thigh.
With a slight look out the corner of his eye, Dave huffed. "Our daughter is in the hospital," he reminded his fiancee.
Jennifer nodded and eased her hand up his arms to cover his fingers softly. "I know," she whispered, scooting closer to him. "And unless you want both of us to be in beds beside her, you better slow down a little bit."
Dave eased his foot from the pedal slightly and sighed, his shoulders relaxing against the back of the leather seat. "How are you staying so calm?"
She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder as they drove. "I've been through enough catastrophes, bruises, bumps, and sickness with Keegan, Dave. She senses everything. If I'm all worked up when we get there, she'll get scared and freak out, too."
With a slight smile, Dave squeezed her hand as they eased into the ER parking lot. "You're an amazing woman. You know that?"
Turning her face toward his, Jennifer accepted a brief kiss. When Dave opened her door, she nodded. "Don't let the cool exterior fool you, Sweetness. I'm a mess on the inside."
They barely made it through the door before Trish came rushing toward them. "Where is she?" Jennifer asked, looking around the waiting room for some sign of her daughter.
"Through those doors - in the examination room," Trish pointed. "John's with her. They're expecting you."
Jennifer nodded and headed off through the doors as Dave smiled down at Trish. "How bad is it?" he asked.
Trish sank back to her seat and tucked her legs up under her body. "Not sure. They couldn't really do anything until they had Jennifer's permission." Reaching forward, she ran a hand over Dave's knee. "Go see your daughter. I'm sure she'll be better now that you're here."
With another quick "thanks" he took off in the direction Trish had instructed, meeting John coming out of the examination area. "How's it look in there, Champ?" he asked nervously.
John shook Dave's hand and patted his back. "Not great, but they don't know much yet. I'm sure the doctor is better at explaining this shit than I am, ya know?"
They shared another hand shake and Dave took off again, leaving John to wander back into the waiting room. Did he want to be by his daughter's side until the moment they knew what was wrong with her and he could be assured that she would be safe in her bed until sunrise? Of course. But the most important thing at the moment was to give Keegan the mommy and daddy that she knew, and every sense of stability and security. He wasn't a part of that.
And for once since he met her, it didn't matter. All that it mattered was that those tubes they were hooking up to his precious little girl helped figure out what the hell was wrong with her.
After only two hours in the emergency room, they had admitted Keegan to the pediatric wing. The doctor explained that her red blood cell count was extremely low. It could have been anything from a basic iron-deficiency to the early stages of leukemia. He wanted to order more tests for the next day, to find the extent of the cell damage and to better diagnose the problem.
By the next morning, Jennifer had never been so grateful for Dave. While she slept at Keegan's side, he fetched coffee, went home and got her clean clothes, and brought her breakfast. "Morning, Baby," he whispered as he bent to drop a kiss on Jennifer's forehead.
She opened her eyes and smiled up at him, happily accepting the cup of coffee he brought her. "Hey you," she whispered. "You smell good."
Dave smiled and sat in a chair on the other side of Keegan's bed. The ball of energy that he was so used to was lying completely still, hooked to wires and monitors and looking like death warmed over. It broke his heart, but he blinked back the tears as he felt Jennifer's eyes on him. "I called the girls this morning and told them what was going on."
Nodding, Jennifer propped her feet up on the side of Keegan's bed. It was like a dream - a surreal nightmare that every parents dreads. It certainly didn't feel like she was looking at her own little angel in that bed, her little chest rising and falling with the beeping monitors around her.
A light knock on the door drew both Jennifer and Dave's attention. Edge, Lita, Randy, Ashley, Trish, and John all walked into the room with somber looks on their faces. "Hey," Jennifer smiled, welcoming all of them to crowd around the bed.
"I'm so sorry, Jen," Ashley whispered, holding out her arms. When Jennifer motioned her over for a hug, the younger woman sniffled. "This sucks."
"Sweetie, it's going to be okay," she assured Ashley, and herself while she was at it. "I mean," she smiled as she pulled back and accepted a hug from Lita. "How can you be sad with walls this red?" she asked, motioning to the bright decor of the room around them.
"Well, we kinda gotta make this quick," Randy informed Dave as the two shook hands and shared a man-hug.
"Some dude nurse told us that only a couple of us at a time could come in here, so we told Orton he has to suck the guy off to keep us out of trouble if we get caught."
Jennifer and Dave laughed with the rest of them as Keegan stirred in her bed. Opening her eyes, she pushed a strand of hair from her face. "Mommy?"
"I'm right here, Peanut," Jennifer whispered, rushing to Keegan's side as the young girl looked around her bed.
"Daddy?" John almost moved forward, but caught himself as Dave reached out to hold Keegan's other hand. Moving her eyes from her parents to the others in the room, a wide smile lit up her features. "Everybody came to play with me."
Though it wasn't the exuberant screech she would normally use, the eight adults in the room found it enough reason to feel comforted. At least a small part of the old Keegan was still in there.
"That's right," Lita spoke with a smile, taking a small step forward. "Look at Edge, Keegan," she whispered dramatically.
Her little blue eyes twinkled as her lips slid into a deep frown. "Edge," she protested weakly.
"What?" he asked, oblivious to the problem.
Releasing her mother's hand, Keegan held a tiny palm out to the man at the foot of the bed. "Hand 'em over, Mister. The rules don't change just cause I can't chase you anymore!"
He had never been so happy to give away a pair of sunglasses. Stepping past Dave, Edge slid his dark shades over Keegan's eyes and bent to kiss her forehead. "There ya go, Munchkin."
"Thank you," she giggled, turning her head toward her mother and coughing slightly. "Can I have some juice, Mommy?" she asked.
"Of course you can have some juice," a jovial, booming voice sounded behind them.
Randy jumped, his face draining of all it's color until he realized that the man wasn't the nurse from earlier, but the doctor. "We should get out of here," he pulled on Ashley's arm and motioned for the others to follow him.
"Nah, you can stay," the doctor assured them. "The more familiar faces Keegan has around her right now, the more at home she'll feel. It just might help her heal faster," he smiled at the young girl wearing the sunglasses in the bed. "Those are some nice shades, Keegan," the doctor complimented.
"They're Edge's," she pointed to the man who had given her the glasses. "He's my friend."
The doctor shook Edge's hand, and then the hands of the others, stopping briefly to smile at John. "So," he finally said, turning back to Jennifer and Dave. "The blood work from last night is back. Our little trouper definitely does not have any cancerous cells," he announced.
Jennifer thought she would collapse from the relief, until she remembered that something was still wrong. "So is it anemia?" she asked.
The doctor checked the charts in front of him and nodded. "Yep. We're gonna give her a pint to make up for what she's lost over the last few months, and then I'll talk to you about her diet and some iron supplements that will keep this from happening again, okay?"
"Great," Dave smiled happily, holding his hand out to shake the doctor's. "Thanks a lot, doctor."
The doctor's pleasant smile faltered just slightly as he looked from Dave to Jennifer and then back again. "Can I talk to you two over here for a minute?"
Jennifer and Dave followed, instructing their friends to keep Keegan occupied. "What's wrong?" Jennifer asked.
"Summer is an incredibly tight time for our blood banks, Ms. Houston. Keegan's got a pretty rare blood type, but it just happens to be the rare one that we seem to be needing the most of lately," the doctor explained. "As soon as we find a pint that matches, we'll do the transfusion, but I just wanted to make sure you know that it might be tomorrow before she gets to go home."
"What's her blood type?" someone asked from behind the doctor.
Jennifer looked up, not really focusing on who had asked the question. "B negative."
Without hesitation, the answer followed. "Take mine."