Chapter 11 – Heath's death scare
(Heath 3, Brax 8)
One afternoon when Brax was playing with Heath, he noticed Heath was becoming quiet he had been waking up in the night crying. Brax saw his baby brother sweating and felt him burning up. Brax helped Heath into bed and went to get his parents.
"Mum, something's wrong with Heath." Cheryl followed Brax into Heath's room. "Ah, he's just got a case of the colds, he'll be right."
"But Mum." "Don't worry Darryl, your brother's fine."
As Brax watched his brother, his worry worsened, as he saw Heath cough and shake. It finally got too much for him and he dialed triple-0.
"Hi what's your emergency?" "My little brother is sick."
"Where are your parent's kid?" Brax didn't answer. "Please can someone help my brother"
"I'm sorry, unless I can speak with your guardian I can't send someone out."
Danny walked through the door and saw Brax on the phone. "Who are you talking to?"
He snatched the phone from Brax's hands. "Who is this?" He asked. "This is Jennifer from emergency services. Are you the boy's guardian, he says he has a sick brother? You need to know sir it is an infraction to call emergency services, with trivial circumstances."
"I'm sorry, that my son has disturbed you, everything is fine. I assure you nothing like this will ever happen again." He glared at Brax.
"Very well. Good day sir." Danny hung up the phone and watched Brax back up against the wall.
"How dare you go calling emergency services!" "I...I was worried about Heath."
"I've told you before not to go sticking your nose into business that doesn't concern you."
Danny pushed Brax against the wall. "Stay out of it Darryl". Danny shoved Brax hard and walked away.
That night Brax was just about to fall asleep near Heath's crib when he noticed Heath ceased his shaking and coughing, he was not breathing. Brax panicked and raced down the hall to his parent's room, bursting in.
"There better be a good explanation for this Darryl!" Danny yelled.
"It's Heath, he's not breathing." Brax replied, tears running down his cheeks. Danny and Cheryl quickly raced in to see Heath's lips turning blue, they placed him in the car, and grabbing Brax made their way to the hospital.
At the hospital Danny told Brax to wait outside while Cheryl and he went into the consult room with the doctor. The doctor placed Heath on Oxygen and monitored his vitals, his breathing quickly came back to a steady rhythm, but his temperature was still on 40 degrees.
"What's wrong with my baby?" Cheryl asked.
"It seems your baby is suffering from pneumonia. We will need to keep him here for close observation, his temperature is alarmingly high, and he has low oxygen levels in his system. It is not certain yet as to whether he will make it through the night. We will do everything we can and give him antibiotics and monitor him closely."
Cheryl had tears in her eyes, hearing the news about her baby boy. The two agreed to the treatment and left. Brax ran up to them as soon as they exited the room.
"What happened? Where's Heath?" Danny pushed him away. "Let's go Darryl."
"What about Heath?" "He's staying here for the night."
"What's wrong?" "That's not your concern Darryl." Cheryl added.
"But…" "Let's go." Brax was shoved towards the exit again.
"I wanna stay here with Heath. Please Dad."
"No, stop arguing, you are going home." "No!" Brax screamed. "I'm not going home!"
Danny was now getting frustrated with his son's questions and Heath's situation, he gripped his arm, "I'll give you plenty of reasons you are not staying if you don't get moving. Now move!" Danny threatened then pulled Brax towards the exit, he had tears in his eyes, he knew something wasn't right and his parents were keeping it from him.
When they arrived home, they sent Brax to bed, while Cheryl and Danny stayed out in the living room talking. Brax however could not sleep and so stayed hidden listening in on his parents talking, he was bound to find out what they weren't telling him, he was shocked when he heard Cheryl say to Danny. "What will we do if Heath doesn't improve?" Tears immediately ran down Brax's face, was he about to lose his baby brother?
Brax raced out to his parents, hysterically crying, catching them by surprise. "Darryl what are you doing out here?" Cheryl questioned. "Is Heath gonna die?" He asked.
"Man up Darryl and go back to bed." Danny replied. "No! This isn't fair! I wanna know about Heath too!"
"Darryl you are much too young to understand." Cheryl added.
Brax kicked a nearby chair, causing it to bang on the ground. "No tell me now!" Cheryl sighed and looked to her husband. Danny glared at Brax.
"Darryl. Come 'ere." Danny ordered sternly. Brax wiped his nose on his sleeve and looked at the fallen chair. "Dad…I didn't mean to" He choked. "Darryl. Here."
Brax cautiously approached his parents. "Sit down Darryl." Cheryl instructed. Brax sat down on the couch next to his parents. "Heath is very sick." Cheryl started. Upon hearing those words, Brax cried harder.
"The doctors are doing everything they can to help him." Brax looked up at his parents. "I don't want him to die."
"Enough Darryl, this is not how a tough Braxton boy behaves. Now back to bed, it's late." Danny added coldly. Brax moved away and wiped some of his tears, but instead of heading to his room, he walked into Heath's room, looking at his empty crib, he sniffed. "Please be okay Heath."
The following morning Brax walked into the kitchen to see his father sitting at the table. "Where's Mum?"
"She went to visit Heath." "I want to see him too, why can't I go?" "Not now Darryl."
"But Dad…" Danny glared at Brax. "He's my brother. It's not fair that you and Mum only get to see him!"
"Darryl sit down." Brax ignored Danny and kept ranting. Danny got up off his chair and grabbed Brax's arm, "I will not tell you again. Sit down and shut up. You are not going!"
Brax pulled out a chair, roughly and sat down, pouting. Cheryl shortly walked through the door and Brax ran up to her. "Where's Heath? I thought you said he was coming home today. He is still alive right?" Brax spoke in panic, Danny got up out of his chair.
"Enough Darryl! So?" "He'll live. Everything's back to normal." "When is he coming home?" Brax interrupted. "Don't interrupt Darryl." Danny ordered.
"He will be coming home later tonight." Cheryl added as she sat down at the table. "That kid got me worried over nothin'." Brax could see she must have had a drink as her attitude about Heath had changed since the previous night.
Danny stayed at home with Brax when Cheryl went to pick up Heath from the hospital. As soon as Cheryl walked through the door, Brax ran up to her to look at Heath, but was quickly pulled back by his father.
"Heath has been through a lot boy, he doesn't need you hovering over him." Cheryl put Heath down in his crib.
"The doctor said he needs to stay rested to manage his symptoms. So Darryl I don't want you pestering him."
"You got that boy? I don't want to see you in Heath's room, understand?" Brax looked at his parents sadly, but with the looks they gave him, he knew it was best not to argue. "Yes Dad."
A few hours passed, before Brax heard faint cries coming from his brother's room, he went in to check. Walking up to Heath's crib, he peeked over.
"Hey little guy, ssh." Brax placed his hand down gentle to comfort him. Heath grabbed onto one of Brax's fingers. Brax felt relieved his baby brother was okay and back home. Brax startled when he heard his father's voice.
"What are you doing in here? I told you to leave your brother alone Darryl." "But Dad, he was crying, I just came to check on him."
"I don't want to hear your excuses. Get out of here now before I give you something to cry about." Brax let go of Heath and rushed out of the room.
During the night Brax could still hear Heath stirring in his sleep, crying occasionally. Looking at his stuffed dog under his bed, he pulled it out. Brax got up and crept into Heath's room. Brax placed his old favorite toy next to his sleeping baby brother.
"Here I think you need this more than me. I hope it gives you the same comfort it gave me. Get well baby brother." Brax gently stroked Heath's hair before running back to his bedroom before he got into trouble.
The following morning Brax woke to his mothers exclaims of "what is this doing in Heath's cot?" Brax saw she was holding the stuffed dog.
"Did you put that in there?" "I only did it to comfort Heath. Please let him keep it Mum."
"This old thing could make him sick Darryl." Heath raised his arms up to get the toy. "He wants it Mum."
"Do not tell me what my baby wants Darryl." "Sorry." Cheryl looked at Heath trying to grab for the toy.
"Arg, fine have it your way. He can keep the stupid stuffed toy." Cheryl gave the toy back to Heath, who immediately latched onto it and cuddled it. Brax couldn't help but smile. Cheryl picked up Heath.
"Go and get yourself ready will ya Darryl. You don't have time to stand around here yapping, you got school." Brax ran back to his room and got ready for school.