Lena finished packing all their stuff. "Ok Bug, let's get you home to your brothers and sister." She put her arm around Callie's shoulders as a nurse came into the room with a wheelchair.
At the sight Callie grimaced. "I don't need that." She said pointing to the chair.
The nurse smiled and said. "Sorry, it's hospital policy."
Callie looked at Lena with pleading eyes. But Lena just gave her a look that said don't argue. She sighed, nodded her head and got in the chair.
As the nurse pushed Callie towards the front doors, Lena had an idea. "Can you please wait with her while I get the car? I promise it will be quick!" Callie gave Lena a anxious look. But she just smiled and squeezed Callie's arm in reassurance.
The nurse smiled. "Of course. It's no problem at all." And with that, Lena left both girls alone.
"So are you excited to be going home?" The nurse asked, trying to make small talk.
Callie was a bit quiet at the moment. She r a shy person, it's just that she really didn't like hospital. "Yeah, I miss my family." Callie spoke very softly and kept her eyes oh her lap.
"So how long were you here for?" The nurse prodded.
"Since yesterday afternoon, I got stung by a bee in the back of my neck." Instinctively she went to touch the swollen welt she new was there.
"So I'm guessing you're allergic?" The nurse asked.
"It looks like it. It's the first time I've been stung. It felt really scary. I couldn't breath or talk and I got dizzy…" Callie answered more than she expected. She normally didn't share this much. "How did you know"
"Oh wow I'm sorry to hear that. I figured you were allergic because if not they wouldn't have kept you this long. plus you're still a little swollen." She said. "So are one of your parents allergic? Those types of allergies are usually hereditary." The nurse asked with a smile.
"Idk. I've never heard anything about allergic reactions from my mom and dad." Callie answered while looking out for her momma. She was getting uncomfortable with the conversation.
"So even after this your parents haven't said anything to you about it?" The nurse was puzzled. You would think that after going through something like this the parents would talk about it.
"Well I haven't seen my bio dad in years and my mom died when I was 10, so… Lena is my adopted mom. But I love her like if she and Stef had me." Callie said with attitude.
"Oh! Well that I understand." The nurse could tell that Callie didn't want to talk about it. Fortunately Lena chose that moment to pull up at the pick-up area.
"Ok Bug ready when you are!" Lena said with a smile. She went to help Callie get up from the wheelchair.
"Yes! Please I want to go home! I still have a ton of homework to do." Callie said as she stood up from the wheelchair and went to get in the front passenger seat of the car with Lena's help.
"Thank you so much." She said to the nurse while she helped Callie into the car. She then turned to Callie and buckled her seat belt. "Do you remember what the doctor and mom said? You need to rest first. And you might not go to school tomorrow. I still have to make you an appointment with the pediatrician to get that allergy test done." Lena told her as she got in the driver side and buckled her seat belt.
"But momma the doctor said I can go if I'm ok. And I feel ok!" Callie argued. Then she thought about something. "Momma? How do they do an allergy test?
"Well… um… they um…" How was she going to tell her daughter, that was terrified of needles, that they scratch her arms or back with needles with different things oh them and wait to see if she has a reaction?
"Momma?" Callie was now looking at her mom with a worried expression.
"They expose you to different thing you could be allergic to. And if you have a reaction them they know." She hoped being vague would work , but Callie is a smart girl and she new it was a long shot. She was counting on the fact that the girl was still tired.
"They expose me how?" Callie asked. She was starting to get nervous.
"Well I'm not sure how they do it nowadays, really. But it will be fine. And we decided to take all you kids to get it done just in case." She was hoping that by going with all her siblings she might be ok.
"Great! Now they're all going to blame me for having to get the test done!" Callie said irritated.
At this point Lena wanted to check and see what had gotten into her daughter, but she was going to have to wait. She needed to stop at the pharmacy to get Callies prescriptions and to ask the pharmacist about the epipens. "Callie, they are not going to blame you! This was mine and mom's decision. We are not going to take any chances with any of you. What if the next time we go out to eat, Mariana or Jesus eat something they're allergic to? You already know how it feels. Would you like you're siblings to go through what you just did?" She glanced at Callie.
"No! It was horrible! Callie sounded appalled
"Then you understand why we want the to get the test done? Lena probed.
"Well I guess I do. But that doesn't mean they will." Callie said quietly.
"Oh honey, it's going to be fine." Lena tried to comfort her.
When she looked at callie her head was leaning against the window. She had hooded eyes and looked really tired. "Bug, I have to stop at the pharmacy to get your prescriptions. Try not to fall asleep. We're almost there." She told Callie.
"OK." Callie said yawning as Lena turned into the parking lot of a Walgreens.
"Come on Bug, the faster we get your prescriptions, the faster we can get you home and into bed." Lena tried to encourage her. The girl looked just about dead oh her feet.
They went into the pharmacy and walked straight to the pharmacist's counter. Lena gave them the prescriptions, Callie's insurance card and all the information they asked. Callie had sat down oh the little bench by the counter and she had he head back and her eyes closed. This just broke Lena's heart. She look so tired and from what the doctor said she just might sleep for days. After she was done the pharmacist told her it would take less than a hour to fill all the prescriptions. That if she wanted she could wait. Lena thanked her and went to sit by her daughter.
"Hey Bug you ok?" Lena sat down next to Callie and nudged her shoulder.
"Hmm? What? Sorry, I think I must have dozed off." Callie opened her eyes and rubbed her face with her hands.
"It's ok hon, I know you're tired. They are going to fill your prescriptions now so we get to wait a few minutes for them. Do you want to go ahead and buy some stuff? Maybe some snacks and juice or something. The doctor said you need to stay hydrated." Lena coaxed her. She didn't like seeing her like this.
"Can I get a candy?" Callie asked unsure.
"Yeah, you can get one, but make sure you get one you've already had before. I don't want to take any chances until we get your allergy test done ok?" Lena said.
Callie nodded and stood up to go to the candy aisle.
Lena started thinking. Could she have more of these kinds of allergies? Could she end up in the hospital just by eating something? She never really thought about it much, but it must suck for those kids that have allergies to things like peanuts and eggs. Lately all you hear about is how people allergic to gluten are now able to eat much more things. That's the big rave now, gluten free. What if she's allergic to some kind of food? Suddenly she thought about her always trying new ingredients and new foods. Trying to make dinner a different experience. She could have almost killed one of her kids by making something they might be allergic to. All because they never thought to test for allergies.
Callie came back with some blue frost gatorade, some M&M's and a small bag of chips. And sat down next to Lena.
Lena put her arm around her shoulders and she felt Callie melt into her side. The girl lied her head on her shoulder and closed her eyes.
"Callie Adams-Foster?" The tech called out.
Lena felt Callie sit up and pick up her stuff so they could pay.
"That's us." Lena followed her daughter to the counter.
"The pharmacist would like to explain some of the medicines to you." Stated the tech.
"Ok thank you" Lena said
As the tech rang up all the medicine and the snacks that callie had gotten the pharmacist came over to the counter.
Once Lena had paid she and Callie made there way over to the pharmacist.
"Hi how are you both doing?" The pharmacist asked the two women.
"Hello we are fine thanks. Is there a problem?" Lena asked with a little concern.
"No. No problem at all. There was a note oh the prescription to explain all the medicines and how to use them." the pharmacist explained.
"Oh ok that's great because I was going to ask anyway." Lena was glad they we're going to show her how to use this epipen that her daughter needed to carry everywhere now.
"Well Callie was prescribed Epipens, an antihistamine, prednisone and antibiotics. The epipens are pretty simple." She took out the training pen so she could demonstrate. "Ok, so, the epipen comes in packs of 2. And they bring a training injector, which is what i'm going to use right now to show you. When you pull it out of it's cover, hold it with your hand like a fist. Like this." She showed the women the way to hold it. "Then you pull off this blue cap at the top. Make sure not to put your thumb on the top because it won't let the needle come out correctly and these are one time use injectors. "
When Callie heard the word needle she paled a little and looked at her mother. Lena held her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze to reassure her.
"So you pull off the blue cap and you press the orange tip to your outer thigh. You can do it through cloths and everything so don't worry. And you press it hard against your thigh until you hear a click. When you hear the click count to 10 then remove it. Then you're going to rub the spot for about 15 seconds and call 911."
"Wait, I still need to go to the hospital?" Callie asked.
"Yes, that's very important. Epinephrine is basically just adrenaline. So you're heart rate will go up and so will your blood pressure. You will feel jittery and anxious. This is just so that you have time to get to the hospital." the pharmacist explained. " That's one of the reasons they come in two packs. In case you start to have more symptoms before the ambulance gets there you have a faulty injector, or maybe a mis fire on the one you used."
Lenas nodded her head. "So how many does she get today?"
"She gets three of them so six total." The pharmacist said. "Now the antihistamine is just for the next 2 days to make sure her reaction doesn't flare up again. They will make you drowsy. The prednisone is to keep the swelling down and has some side effects. Those are all listed in the pamphlet. Those are also for two days. Then she has the antibiotic, this is a ten day supply. You'll take two oh the first dose of the first day then one every 12 hours until you finish them. It's very important that she finish these or the infection might come back stronger than before. Any questions?" the pharmacist asked.
Lena looked at Callie. Cal do you have any questions?
"Nope." She said to the pharmacist. Then she looked at Lena "Can we go home now?"
"Callie please don't be rude!" Lena reprimanded.
"Sorry Momma. I'm sorry mam. I'm just tired."
"It's ok." She said to Callie. "Just got out of the hospital?" The pharmacist asked with a smile.
"Yeah and it's the first time she has ever gone into anaphylactic shock. Then the sting site got infected so she spent most of the night with a fever." Lena answered for her daughter. "Is there anything else we need to know?"
"No, I believe that's it. If you have any more questions you could always call or come over back to the counter and I will gladly answer all your questions." The pharmacist seemed very nice and knowledgeable.
"Well thank you so much. I hope you have a great day." Lena said and she gave Callie a very gentle nudge.
"Yes, thank you very much and have a good day. And I'm very sorry again for my outburst earlier." Callie apologised again.
"Don't worry I understand. Go home and rest take your meds and sleep for a couple of hours." the pharmacist said. she could tell the girl was tired and moody.
"I wish I could. I have too much homework to do that's due on Monday." Callie stated looking at her mother.
"Oh honey, I don't think you're going to feel like going to school on Monday. All these meds make you tired and you're not going to feel 100% for a couple of days." The pharmacist warned her with a sad smile.
Lena looked at Callie and saw the determination in her daughter's eyes. She was going to do everything possible to go to school on Monday and she had to be prepared to watch her in case she over did it. "Ok Bug, let's go home so you can eat something, take your meds and then take a nap."
Callie just nodded and followed her mother out to the car. She got in and buckled her seatbelt. As Lena got in the driver side and did the same. She was so tired and just wanted to go home and sleep a little before she started on the mountain of homework she had.