Sorry for the lack of updating! Sarah and I have both went back to school, but we are working hard to keep writing this story! We have a couple updates that should be coming super soon after this one :)
Logan peered up at Kendall to get his 'ok' before answering Uncle Justin.
"It's ok baby, he won't hurt you." Kendall assured.
"C-can you come with me, Kendall?" Logan questioned in a tiny voice.
"Of course." Kendall grinned, holding Logan's hand and following his Uncle into the kitchen where they sat down at the table. The man who was new to the small boy took out a bag. The raven haired child's eyes lit up, it all looked so interesting to him.
"I'm just going to take your temperature for now, Logan." Uncle Justin explained, "Is that ok?"
Logan nodded meekly, "It's ok." He said said in an almost whisper.
"Good, now can you open your mouth?" Uncle Justin tried to be as 'slow' as possible, knowing that the boy probably would get scared easily.
Logan opened up his little mouth and let the doctor slip the thermometer in, "105.6..." He sighed.
"I'm s-sorry." Logan felt as if this was his fault.
"Don't apologize, Logan. I'm not mad; I want to make you feel better."
Logan didn't have an answer for that. All you could hear were small, faint sniffles. Kendall rubbed his baby brother's back and 'shh'ed to reassure him that everything was ok. Logan hugged onto Kendall's arm.
"I-I don't feel good." Logan mumbled.
"Logan, why don't you relax for a bit, I'm going to ask Kendall some questions…" Uncle Justin explained.
"O-ok." Logan scooted over and snuggled up on Kendall's lap, feeling so safe at that moment.
"Kendall, what are Logan's symptoms" he asked the blonde, smiling at the show of affection between the two brothers. Kendall thought for a minute.
"He's got a sore throat and a bad cough. A really bad cough and whenever he does cough, he throws up immediately afterwards. He's had a fever as well that's just kept getting hover" Kendall explained as much as he could. His uncle nodded.
"Ok, and this cough, does it sound dry or wet?" He tried to get a better picture of what could be wrong.
"A bit of both" he replied honestly. Justin then brought out a tongue depressor.
"Logan, I'm going to ask you to open your mouth and then I'm going to hold this on your tongue, ok?" Logan looked at the wooden thing in the doctor's hand and concluded it wasn't a threat, so he nodded. Justin did as he said he would and then instructed Logan to "ok, and say ahhhh for me, good boy" he finished up with that and exchanged the depressor for a stethoscope.
"I'm going to need you to stand up and lift your shirt up Logan, is that alright?" The little boy seemed to be warming to the kind man and happily agreed, lifting up the pajama shirt from the front. Justin placed the end of the stethoscope onto the left side of Logan's chest, to which he jumped slightly from the coldness of it.
"Good, now take a deep breath in...and out" as he did this, a faint 'whoop' noise sounded after each breath. He went over to the right side of Logan's chest "in...and out" he switched over, turning Logan round so he couldn't listen from the back. "In...out...and final time...in...out...well done Logan" the doctor beamed at the small boy. After consulting the notes he had gathered, he called Mama Knight and Katie down to discuss the diagnosis.
Logan continued to snuggled up against his big brother. He felt so safe in the blonde boy's presence. As Logan relaxed, Kendall noticed something that caused the whole family to 'awwh'. The small child had his little thumb in his mouth. It was just absolutely adorable. Mama Knight could tell that 'stressful' situations probably provoked the thumb sucking. From being a former nurse, she could remember that the only older patients that still showed that habit usually only did so while nervous.
"I've come to the conclusion that Logan has pertussis." Uncle Justin began.
"What's that?" Katie questioned, being confused by the medical term.
"Whooping cough." He chuckled.
Katie smiled and nodded, remembering that one time she got a notice from her school claiming that someone in her class had come down with the sickness.
"I don't have it with me as of now, but I'll come by tomorrow with a medicine for Logan." Uncle Justin added, "As for his symptoms, he will have a violent cough that could trigger vomiting...as well as a fever. Cold wash cloths to the forehead will help that."
Mrs. Knight nodded and hugged her brother before he headed for the door.
"Nice meeting you, Logan." Justin said, but failed to receive an answer, because everyone noticed that Logan had fallen asleep in Kendall's arms.
Logan slept all through the day and night and didn't wake up until late morning of the next. When his eyes blinked open, he found himself in his room. The curtains were shut, but streams of light were bursting through. A glance at the clock showed it was 11:23am. Realizing he felt better than when he had last been awake, he swung his legs round to the floor and stood up on wobbly legs. He grabbed the small blue blanket with white stars on that Kendall had given him and clutched it close as he made his way downstairs. He saw no sign of Kendall or Katie and found Mama Knight in the kitchen. She turned around as she heard footsteps enter and smiled when she saw her youngest son in the doorway.
"Good morning baby" she came over and picked him up, kissing him on the forehead.
"Morning mommy" Logan grinned, happy to be high up. Then he remembered what he was going to ask.
"Where's Kenny and Katie?" He questioned. Mama Knight smiled.
"They're at school, baby. It took a lot of persuading, but they finally went. I let the school know you would be off for a few days, ok?" Logan nodded and hugged her tight.
"How I put the TV on Sprout again and you under some blankets and then I'll make you some breakfast." She set Logan down on the couch, bundling him in three blankets and set the TV up for him. She walked back into the kitchen and found out her 'kids oatmeal mix' using it to make Logan a breakfast that hopefully wouldn't come back up. She walked back in see Logan interacting with the TV programs again, this time it being Dora The Explorer.
"Swiper no swiping!" He squealed, bouncing up and down in his position. She chuckled at how adorable he was. She could never get tired of this.
Mrs. Knight sat next to Logan and held out the bowl. Once again she insisted on feeding him. Mama Knight lifted the spoon with a little bit on the oatmeal on it and fed it slowly to the small child, hoping it wouldn't upset his tummy.
"it's yummy mommy, thank you." Logan grinned as he was fed more of the breakfast.
"you're welcome." mama knight beamed, being happy that he had been holding onto the food longer than usual.
She had gotten her hopes up too soon though, because a few seconds later, Logan had wrapped his arms around his small stomach.
"M-ommy." He whimpered.
Mama Knight scooped his up and was thankful that the bathroom was only a few feet away. She placed Logan down near the toilet where he expelled the contents of his gut. Mama Knight felt bad for the poor child who was now gagging up the little amount of oatmeal he had tried eating. Once he looked up, Mrs. Knight pulled him in for a hug.
"I'm s-sorry." Logan cried.
"Don't be sweetie; I'm very proud of how strong you've been." She cooed.
"W-why?" Logan asked timidly, "N-no one has ever been proud of me." Tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Baby, I'll always be proud of you." Mama Knight said softly, yet she sensed Logan had asked her 'why' for a reason, "If you wanna talk I'm all ears."
"...my daddy says I'm worthless and...and t-that he'd b-be better off i-if I was n-never b-born 'cause i-i was an acc-accident." Logan whispered under his breath, more sadness filling his eyes.
"Logan honey, that's not true at all." Mrs. Knight assured.
"really?" Logan questioned.
Mama Knight hugged her new son and nodded.
After staying in the bathroom for a further 10 minutes, when Logan was sure he wouldn't throw up again, they re-entered the living room and Mama Knight sat down with Logan watching the last part of Dora The Explorer. She couldn't believe how intelligent the little boy on her lap was, interacting with the TV program and getting all the questions they asked right. Just as the credits came up, the doorbell rang.
"That'll be Uncle Justin" Mama Knight said to Logan as she picked him up in her arms to answer the door. She loved picking Logan up and holding him in her arms. She got to do this with Kendall and Katie when they were younger, sure, but they had grown out of it fast. By the time Kendall was 6, he didn't want to be seen in his mommy's arms. Katie only lasted a few months longer. It was different with Logan. He had never experienced this kind of love or mothering. It was something he craved and the fact he was so clingy worked out well, considering he never actually minded when he was picked up or carried. But, he was so light. Every time Mama Knight picked him up, she was always slightly taken aback by how little he weighed and how easy he was to carry in the first place. They opened the door to reveal the smiling face of Uncle Justin. Logan, who was still shy around this man, hid his face in Mama Knight's shoulder. He could hear his mommy and his new uncle chuckle at his behavior and felt himself being taken back into the living room. He didn't chance looking up until Mama Knight had sat down, even then staying tucked up against her.
"I've got Logan's medicine right here; it needs to be taken three times a day for 7 days. This will most likely clear up before then, but continue the course through to make sure he doesn't relapse back into it." he then addressed the 8 year old. "This will make you feel better, Logan. But if you feel worse you need to tell mommy, ok?" he smiled as Logan agreed. "If his fever rapidly rises again or he cannot stop throwing up, he needs to be taken to hospital. I also want to address another issue whilst here, Logan, could you stand up and take your shirt off please? It'll only take a minute." Logan slowly got up and did as the doctor said. Justin began to feel around Logan's visible ribs and his stomach, his shoulder blades and the bony spine. He sighed as he pulled back. Mama Knight looked at him expectantly.
"It's as I thought. Your theory about Logan's body not accepting the food he eats is right. I can feel each of his ribs and poke through them or wrap my hand around one. From what I can feel, his stomach has shrunk to an incredibly small size. The way his shoulder blades and spine stick out means there is no fat, muscle, cartilage...whatever there is around these areas, there is none of it to protect the bones. He could easily break them and his spine could become misshaped. I am going to give you some strong immune system medication, stomach medication and something for energy. Typically, these are what we would give children in the poorest places in Africa in the worst conditions. It has gotten to a point where Logan is just as bad as them."
We both hoped you enjoyed reading this! :)
xoxo
~EMiLY and SwagUPWindowsDOWN