"It's Cate—meet us in the ER. Lenox Hill."
Andrea quickly began tossing her things into her bag. "Oh god, what's wrong?"
"I don't know. Cara said fever, not eating, coughing, and just constant screaming," Miranda said as she hurried through the Elias Clarke lobby to the waiting town car.
"Do you think maybe we should have called the doctor first?" Andrea asked.
"No. If it's serious enough for Cara to call me out of a meeting, it's bad. You know she doesn't tell us half the stuff she deals with. I trust her judgment," Miranda said. "Look, I have to go. Meet me there, unless you'd rather stay at the office and call the doctor." She ended the call and tossed it into her bag as she let out a few quick sobs.
The thought that her baby was hurting caused an ache so great that she could hardly breathe herself. For the moment, she didn't want to think about Andrea. She knew the young woman loved her children immensely, but there was just something she couldn't explain.
When they were stopped at a traffic light on Park Avenue, Miranda looked up and wiped her eyes. "Roy, is there any way you can get there faster?" she asked.
"It's down to one lane up there because of a pothole. If I take the side streets, it will be even longer because everyone else is trying to do that," he said.
"Okay," she said, nodding. She didn't want to call Cara while she was driving, so she called the house instead, and Caroline answered. "Hi baby, is everything okay? Emily is on her way to stay with you girls for a while, okay?"
"Hi Mom. Yeah, Callie is doing fine. Cass and I are doing homework in the living room and she's in her bouncer thing, chewing on that blue flower," she said.
"Okay. Will you both be sure you scrub your hands with soap and hot water? And can you ask Emily to use the Lysol wipes when she gets there?"
"Sure. Is Cate going to be okay?"
"Yes, she's going to be fine," Miranda said, half trying to convince herself of the statement. "I'm on my way to meet them at the hospital now. Did Cara say how long she has been sick?"
"She said she's been fussy since she woke up, and I don't think she had a bottle since you fed her this morning. Why were her lips blueish? Was she cold?" Caroline asked.
Miranda felt like she had just been punched in the stomach.
"Mom?"
"Bobbsey," she said slowly, trying to catch her breath, "sometimes that happens when babies are crying and screaming a lot. It's because they're not taking deep breaths to get oxygen. Okay, I'm almost there. Call me if Emily isn't there in the next fifteen minutes, okay? And Caroline—" she said, "I love you, baby. Give your sisters a hug and a kiss from me."
"Okay. Love you too, Mom. Tell Cate we love her, too."
"I will. Bye," she said, hanging up.
Roy turned into the Emergency entrance and Miranda bolted from the car, pushing past an elderly man in a wheelchair as she ran up to the desk.
"Can I help you?"
"My six-month-old daughter, Catherine Priestly—she was just brought in?"
"Oh, Miranda, hi. She hasn't arrived yet. We have a room ready in the back if you'd like to follow me?"
Miranda paused for a minute and looked to the door.
"Don't worry. We will send your nanny and your daughter directly back to the room as soon as they arrive. We've also called Dr. Stevens, so he should be here to evaluate her within the hour," she said, opening the door and leading Miranda into the room. "Someone should be by shortly with a breast pump you can use. Is there anything else I can get you?"
Miranda shook her head and sat on the edge of the bed, stunned by how prepared and organized they were. "No. They should be here soon, though. And my fiancée might be coming, too."
"Yes, I spoke with her on the phone. We'll be sure to send them back right away," she said, leaving the room.
Miranda took a deep breath and closed her eyes, suddenly feeling guilty for how she treated Andrea on the phone earlier. No, she wasn't Catherine's biological mother, but that didn't mean she didn't understand what Miranda was going through at the moment.
A few minutes later, Andrea walked through the door. "How is she? Are they here yet?"
"Not yet," Miranda said. Andrea sat next to her on the bed and she reached for her hand. "I feel terrible for how I treated you on the phone. I know you—"
"—shhh," Andrea said, pressing a finger to her lips, silencing her. "You were upset and worried about Cate. Don't worry about it."
They sat there in silence for another minute until they heard a Cate's cries echoing down the hallway. They both jumped up as the nurse led Cara in, carrying Cate in her car seat carrier. Miranda immediately unfastened her daughter and picked her up, hugging and kissing her as she sat on the edge of the bed.
"Catherine, sweetheart," she whispered. "Mommy loves you, baby. Mommy wants to help you feel better, yes she does," she whispered as Cate finally made eye contact with her. Miranda cradled her in her arms and when she brushed her cheek, she could feel how warm the infant was.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Grant," a young blonde woman said. "I'm the pediatrician on call today. I understand Dr. Stevens is on his way. Let's see, Mom, can you sit back in the bed and hold Catherine while I do a few tests?"
Miranda nodded, and Andrea helped adjust the bed so she was reclining. Dr. Grant carefully listened to her breathing, checked her oxygen saturation and temperature, and drew some bloodwork.
"So, she seems to have settled down a bit," Dr. Grant said, noticing that the baby was no longer screaming now that she was in Miranda's arms. "I would like to put her on some oxygen right away. That should help the discoloration of her lips and trunk, and then we can check out the results of the CBC for the next steps."
"I gave her 5 mL of infant tylenol an hour ago," Cara said. "And she had another dose around ten this morning."
"Thank you. I think we can definitely give her some more to try and make her feel better. I'm going to have the nurse start an IV so she can get some fluids, as well, but hopefully after a little oxygen, she'll be willing to take a bottle or nurse," the doctor said, whispering some instructions to the nurse before leaving the room.
The nurse connected the oxygen mask and handed it to Miranda. "Infants don't usually like this attached to their face, so if you can just hold it as close as you can to her nose and mouth," she said.
"What does the doctor think it is?" Andrea asked.
"She said Catherine's lungs sounded 'crackly,' which is usually an indicator of pneumonia or some sort of fluid on the lungs. She will probably want a chest x-ray to confirm anything," she said. "Mom, can you hold her still while I start this IV in her foot?"
"Yes. And please, call me Miranda. This is Andrea, and our nanny Cara."
A few seconds later, the nurse connected the IV drip and administered some acetaminophen. "She's looking a little better already," she said. "I think the O2 is really helping her color. You might try seeing if she'll nurse a little. It's okay to take the oxygen away for a short time like that. The doctor will be back in shortly," she said before leaving.
"Miranda, I'm sorry. I should have called you sooner. I just thought she was teething or something," Cara said with tears in her eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm glad you called when you did," Miranda said. "I've been trusting you with my babies for the past ten years. Just—thank you for bringing here here safely."
"I'm going to head back to sit with the girls, then. Will you call me if anything changes?"
"Yes," Andrea said. "Why don't I walk you out? It would probably make more sense for you to leave the keys with us and just have Roy take you back. Hopefully we'll be home tonight."
It was quiet in the room, the only sounds being Catherine's rapid breaths and coughs. Miranda softly brushed her cheek and pressed a kiss to her head. When she bent down, her hair fell in front of her eye, and it brushed against the baby's forehead, making her giggle.
"Did that tickle?" Miranda asked. "Did Mommy's hair tickle your forehead?" she said, bending down again and deliberately brushing her hair across the young girl's skin.
Again, Cate smiled and giggled, but her laughter turned into a coughing fit and Miranda held her upright for a few minutes, hoping to help. Careful of the IV, she pulled Cate onto her chest and began to hum quietly as she soothingly rubbed her back.
It seemed like her daughter's breathing had calmed, and Miranda quietly began to sing to her.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy when skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.
So please don't take my sunshine away…
Andrea returned to the room and quietly slipped into a chair next to the bed. "Is she asleep?" she whispered.
"No, just content."
A few minutes passed and Catherine began to fuss again. Miranda carefully laid her on the bed next to her, and took off her cardigan.
"Do you need help?" Andrea asked.
"No, just give me a second," she said, slipping her arms out of the straps of her camisole, then putting the cardigan back on. "There we go," she said, kissing Cate gently. She turned to her side and pushed her camisole down so she could free her breast.
Without needing much encouragement, Cate pressed her hand to Miranda's breast and began nursing. Every few sucks, though, she pulled away and began to cough, causing her to spit up half—if not all—of the milk.
"Oh, I know, darling," Miranda said sweetly. "You're so hungry and you can't even eat because of this cough." She carefully slipped her finger inside Cate's mouth after nursing for a few seconds to pull her away and wait until she swallowed. "Andrea, is there a bulb syringe around? It might help her breathe."
"I'll go find the nurse," she said, rushing out of the room. Before she could return, Dr. Stevens came in.
"Miranda, Catherine, how are we doing?" he asked, watching how Miranda was controlling her feeding. "Is she coughing it up?"
"Yes," Miranda said. "I don't know how this all started. She was absolutely fine this morning. No coughing whatsoever."
"Well, this tends to come on quickly. I reviewed her chart and the bloodwork definitely signals she's fighting an infection. I would like to do a chest x-ray just to be certain, but I want to start her on IV antibiotics right away, then maybe a few breathing treatments. She had her pneumococcus vaccine, right?"
"They both did. They should be getting their second booster in a few weeks," Miranda said.
Dr. Stevens nodded as he listened to her chest. "This must be a different strain of bacteria, then. She definitely has pneumonia. But the bright side—antibiotics will make her feel better very quickly."
Miranda tucked her breast back into her bra and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Can we get her started on the antibiotics right away?"
"Of course, right after the chest x-ray," Dr. Stevens said.
"Does she still need it?"
"Yes."
"I thought you said that she 'definitely' has pneumonia? What is the purpose of the x-ray?" Miranda asked. Andrea had returned to the room and was quietly standing by the doorway, watching Miranda do her thing.
"W-well, you know, it's common procedure to—"
"To what? To put my baby under unnecessary tests? Like she's some experiment so you can show a group of interns what they can find in any textbook or on the internet?"
"I-it's not just that," he said quickly. "It would help us to rule out any other potential problems, as well."
"Oh, then by all means, take scans of her entire body—to rule out other problems," Miranda snapped. She took a deep breath and pressed a kiss down to her daughter's nose. "Catherine is not having the x-ray. That's all."
Dr. Stevens nodded, then whispered something to his nurse. "She's giving her antibiotics now. I'll write a prescription for a suspension for you to administer at home, as well as an inhaler with nebulizer. I'd like her to stay until her O2 saturation can hold its own in the nineties. The nurse will also show you how to do some chest physiotherapy to help loosen the mucous and encourage her to cough it up."
"What about a cough syrup or tylenol for her fever?" Miranda asked.
"Her fever should go down with the antibiotics. If she needs a cough suppressant so she can sleep at night, you can give her up to 4 cc of something like Delsym for children—not the adult version. It's important that she coughs and spits out any mucous."
"One last question," Andrea said, finally speaking up. "How long is she going to be contagious for? Should we keep her sister away from her?"
"Actually, the incubation period will be over by the time she returns home. Of course, practice good hand washing, don't share bottles or teething toys, you know. But if she sneezes on Callista, it's not like she's spreading pneumonia."
"Thank you, doctor. We'll be sure to call if we have any additional questions," Andrea said, opening the door for him to leave.
After giving Catherine the antibiotics, the nurse checked her oxygen. "It's going to take an hour for these fluids and antibiotics to get through her system, and by that time I think her oxygen will be doing much better, too. Can I get you anything to make you more comfortable?" When there was no response, she shrugged. "Okay then, I'll be in to check on her later."
Once the nurse left, Andrea walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, gently taking Catherine's hands. Her eyes were droopy, and she would no doubt be falling asleep soon after her exhausting day. Andrea gently kissed her tummy, then looked up at Miranda.
"I can sit with her if you need to get up and stretch or anything," Andrea said.
Miranda was about to protest when a young man pushed a breast pump into the room on a wheeled cart. She sighed and kissed Catherine, then got up and took a seat in the chair so she could pump. Between being back at work and Callie cutting teeth, the babies were given bottles more often than not, though it still meant a considerable commitment on Miranda's part. As she situated herself, she watched Andrea snuggle up with Catherine and it warmed her heart.
Later that night, around nine o'clock, the doctor signed the discharge papers. Catherine's oxygen was back to normal and her fever went down. The nurse demonstrated the chest physiotherapy for the women, but advised that they let Cate get some rest before trying it.
At ten o'clock, Andrea was pulling their SUV to a stop in front of the house to let Miranda and Catherine out before pulling it into the garage. Catherine fell asleep during the car ride, so Miranda quietly carried her upstairs and laid her in her crib without starting a commotion. In the nursery, she peeked over at Callie who must have woken when she opened the door, as her eyes were open and she was looking up at the glow-in-the-dark stars painted on her ceiling.
"Hi love bug," Miranda whispered, gently resting her hand on Callie's chest. "I missed you today. Go back to sleep, baby," she said.
Closing the nursery door, she could hardly make it to her own bedroom before collapsing to the floor. It was as if all the emotions of the day suddenly erupted, and it was too much to bear.
Andrea came in the back door, and saw Emily, Serena, Caroline, Cassidy, and Nigel sitting around the table. "Hey," she said, walking over to the fridge and adding a few bottles of milk from her bag. "Thanks guys, you can head home now."
"How's Catherine?" Emily asked.
"Where's Miranda?" Nigel said.
"Uh, she came in the front door about ten minutes ago—maybe she went upstairs since Cate was asleep?" Andrea said. "Anyway, Cate has pneumonia. They gave her some oxygen and antibiotics, and sent us home with some medicine, too."
"Poor baby!" Serena said.
"What's pneumonia?" Cassidy asked.
"It's uh, you know when you have a cold and you're blowing stuff out of your nose?" Andrea said.
"Boogers?"
Everyone chuckled. "Yeah, but it's nicer to call it mucous. Anyway, pneumonia is when that mucous forms in your lungs instead of your nose. It can make you really sick if you don't take medicine to help it."
"But Cate is taking medicine. She's going to be okay, right?" Cassidy asked.
"Yes, sweetie. She's still going to be coughing for a few days, but it's important so she can cough all that yucky stuff out of her lungs," Andrea said.
"Did Miranda say whether she'll be in tomorrow?" Emily asked.
"We honestly didn't talk about it. I can work from home tomorrow, but I think she'll probably want to take the day off," Andrea said. "Thank you for coming and staying with the girls—you should go get some rest though."
"Thanks." Emily and Serena got up and said goodbye to everyone before heading out the door.
"Nigel, I didn't know you were coming, too," Andrea said.
"He's got a problem," Caroline said, pointing to the pictures laid out on the table. "This dress," she said, touching the photo with her index finger, "got lost in the mail. Mr. Oscar only made one of them, and that was the one Mom wanted on the cover next month."
Andrea smiled. "Well, it's February 2nd, so I think we have some time," she said.
"No, actually. Kate will be in New Zealand for the next two weeks. Tomorrow is our only chance to shoot the cover unless we totally revamp the issue," Nigel said.
"I already asked if there wasn't something else in the closet that she could wear, but Uncle Nigel said it had to be something more special," Caroline said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Andrea looked up and could see the concern in Nigel's eyes. "This is the one that's supposed to have the hand-painted gown, right? There's going to be that piece on French Impressionism inside?" He nodded. "Can't you do something with the art itself? Like, I don't know, wrap her in those Water Lilies scarves from the art museum or something."
"It has to feature de la Renta. Literally, the entire concept of this issue hinges on the cover," he said, taking off his glasses and rubbing his brow.
"What about body paint? You were going to use it last month but ended up changing your mind," Andrea said.
"What about body paint says de la Renta?"
"Paint her to look like she's wearing the dress? Then feature it inside on someone else by the time someone can track it down? I don't know, Nigel, I don't work for Runway!" Andrea said.
"That's why I came here to see Miranda."
"Give me five minutes, let me see what's keeping her," Andrea said, running upstairs.
When Andrea walked into the bedroom, Miranda was standing in front of the dresser, wearing her grey robe. Her eyes were red-rimmed and she was fixated on the baby monitor.
"Hey, everything okay?" Andrea asked. wrapping her arm gently around her waist.
Miranda wiped her eyes and nodded. "It all kind of hit me again after I laid her down," she said.
Andrea hugged her and kissed her gently on the lips. "Nigel is downstairs. The dress for the cover shoot tomorrow hasn't arrived yet," she said.
Miranda's eyes widened as she quickly put the pieces together. "And he wants my opinion?"
"I'm pretty sure he wants you to make the decision on this one," Andrea said.
"The only other de la Renta piece we could feature is a gown that's currently in Milan and would never be here in time," Miranda said. "We'll put Kate in the most elaborate de la Renta necklace and bracelets and rings we can find and then drape some sort of blank canvas over her. If Oscar can't get us the dress, we can't put it on the cover. End of story."
Andrea smiled and kissed her. "You're so smart. Will you go tell that to Nigel and I'll start drawing us up a hot bath?"
Miranda nodded and left the room. Not ten minutes later, Miranda returned to their room and shut the door. "All four girls are in bed and Nigel has his instructions," she said. "I even went in and checked on Catherine and she's doing fine, too."
Andrea was tying her hair up in a topknot before stepping in the bathtub. "Come here. I've got the monitor all setup on the iPad right here so we can keep an eye on them," she said, pointing to the ledge just beyond the tub.
Miranda smiled and followed, slipping off her robe and climbing into the tub with the young woman. Andrea's arms were wrapped tightly around her, but tonight, it was what she needed. After the emotional toll of the last eight hours, all she could do was sit in Andrea's arms and cry.
TBC
A/N: For the guest reviewer who does not like this story, may I remind you that you have a choice whether or not to read. If it's not your thing, don't read it. (That being said, all reviews are appreciated. xo)