Chapter 12 – Another bump in the road…
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"Are you sure you're okay?" Edward asked, his tone equal parts worried and curious. The glass of water in his hand clanked against the table as he set it down.
"Yes, I'm fine," Bella replied, scooting back to prop herself against the wall, legs stretched out in front of her. "The smell of blood that made me woozy, that's all," she shrugged, hoping her nonchalance sounded convincing.
In her mind she was racking her brain trying to remember where she had put the number to her obstetrician.
"What blood?" his brows furrowed uncomprehendingly, but then he followed her gaze to the sleeping child on the couch. "Oh, that! It stopped bleeding hours ago, but I guess those band aids are quite nasty."
"I know it looks worse than it is," Bella grimaced. "It's the eyebrow thing… A split eyebrow bleeds like a faucet. I don't particularly like the smell of blood, as I'm sure you remember."
"I remember," he nodded. "I just figured that it was something you'd outgrown considering your chosen profession and all."
"It doesn't affect me as much when it comes to dealing with total strangers and over the years I've learned to shield myself against it," she explained with an exasperated sigh, before adding, "Can I have that water now?" in an attempt to distract him from the subject.
It worked for all about ten seconds, which was the amount of the time it took for him to retrieve the water glass from the table.
"You seemed fine with it this morning when Alice helped me clean the cut," he commented, as he turned back to her, glass in hand.
She downed it in three quick swallows. "Like I said, I can shield myself pretty good against it if I know it's coming. And with all the crying this morning it was pretty hard to miss that the kiddo had hurt himself."
"Oh.." he nodded. "I didn't think of that. So it's not so much about the amount of blood, it's more about the situation?"
"Yes, " she answered simply and then somewhat awkwardly began pushing herself off the floor.
"Ah, wait, let me help you." Slipping his a hand under her elbow, he quickly hauled her to her feet.
She swayed at the unexpected movement. He tried to wrap an arm round her waist for support, but she brushed him off with the nastiest look she could muster.
"I swear, if you don't stop hovering I'm gonna deck you!"
"I've heard that before," his face broke into a wide smirk. "In fact I believe that's the exact same thing you told me after you passed out in Bio. You remember that? We did blood typing; it must have been our junior year."
"You were like two seconds away from carrying me off to the school nurse... bridal style... across the schoolyard for the entire student body to see... "
"Someone had to take you. It was either me or that grabby blond kid who was leering at your ass."
"That was Jasper, you doofus, and he was only trying to be helpful."
"That's not how I remember it… Are you sure you didn't hit your head in the fall, your memory seem to have taken a hit."
She slapped his chest hard, eliciting a wince. "You should go wake Anthony, he needs your attention more than I do."
She waited until she saw the boy awake and lucid. Like most toddlers he didn't much like being forced awake from his nap; a dislike he expressed loud and clear every. Knowing Edward would be preoccupied for a while she took the opportunity to sneak off and make a few phone calls.
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Alice, foreseeing as always, had left behind a note with a hand-drawn map with directions to the Lakeside Garden Resort along with a phone number to a medical advice line.
Bella couldn't remember ever having the chickenpox as a child and she most definitely did not feel like consulting Renee about it.
Fortunately though, it appeared as though she had nothing to worry about… well as far as the VZV virus was concerned anyway...
After having spoken to a nurse, specialist in infection prevention, she was assured that it was very unlikely that she would have contracted the disease from the Cullen's. She also learned that that there was a blood test called a varicella titer that could determine whether or not she had antibodies and immunity to the disease.
She made a mental note to ask her doctor about it at her next appointment.
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The phone number to the medical advice line came in handy more than once that afternoon…
The first call had resulted in a purchase of baby Tylenol for Anthony. The second call, the one Bella had locked herself inside the bathroom to make, had been regarding the VZV virus.
Now it looked like Bella would have to make a third call, because instead of improving the poor child was looking more miserable with every passing minute. He had a shiner and bump to on his forehead the size of a small egg cut in half lengthwise, but on top of that it also appeared as though he was suffering from a bout of motion sickness.
Relocating to the resort had turned out to be quite the task. Bella was utterly baffled at how such a small child could generate such a large amount of kiddy stuff in such a short time. There were mountains of diapers, toys and laundry to sort out and oceans preparations to make. The day had worn into the late afternoon, before they had even made it out of the hotel room and into the rental car.
The first fifteen minutes of the drive had been uneventful, but then something went wrong with the transmission, causing the car to jolt and jerk between gears, which in turn caused Anthony's face to take on a greenish tint.
Edward's feeble attempts to care for the young boy had been a source of amusement at first, but now it was getting old real fast.
Geez could he not see that the Anthony was on verge of emptying the content of his stomach all over himself and the backseat of the car? …Apparently not… Apparently he was blind and deaf to everything, but some stupid guitar chords app on his phone. It would suit him right if the child puked all over his precious guitar case which took up the better part of the left hand back seat.
When she finally found a safe place to pull the car off the road, the transmission protested loudly, as did Edward.
"What the he-… ck?" he grumbled as he had to grab on to the dashboard because it of the sudden turn. "Has anyone ever told you that your driving sucks."
"There is nothing wrong with my driving, thank you very much..." Bella replied, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Maybe if you weren't so self absorbed and lost in your own little bubble you would have realized that we have a sick child in the backseat."
"He's not sick, he's just cranky because his head hurts."
"Allright, if you say so. Just remember that he's your responsibility. You're the one dealing with the mess if he throws up."
"Well, thank you for pointing that out. Now what do you suggest I do? Enlighten me, because I've no idea what it is you think I should be doing differently."
Bella took a deep breath and closed her eyes, counting to ten in her head. "How about you get back there and check on him for starters! Get him out in the fresh air, give him water, check his pupils… "
"Check his pupils?"
"I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure that repeated vomiting and dilated pupils are red flags to look out for with head injuries."
He actually had the decency to look a bit taken aback. "Great! What's next; seizures and froth chewing?"
Bella would have scoffed at his response if she hadn't detected a note of anxiety in his voice.
"He's probably just car sick, Edward. He'll be alright, I promise. Now get him out of the car before we have another stinky mess on our hands!"
In hindsight maybe they should have known placing a two year old in the backseat without a car seat wasn't such a good idea… not to mention dangerous and against the law in most states. Something they were informed about by the operator as Bella placed yet another call to the medical advice line.
Just as she had predicted the verdict was 'motion sickness and lingering post-concussion effects'. They sat in the grass alongside the road for 45 minutes until the child was well enough to eat a few crackers and drink some water without it coming back up.
Edward's Cabin Trolley Bag made perfect makeshift car seat and the rest of the drive was slightly less eventful…
When they arrived to the 'Lakeside Garden' resort check in time had long since passed. The reception was closed and they had to wait in the car outside the gates for another fifteen minutes before they were allowed to check in.
The 'small secluded cottage' turned out to be… well, small and secluded - two rooms and a kitchenette, no neighbors in sight and lots and lots of privacy. Bella wasn't exactly thrilled with the arrangement. From a security perspective, the resort was perfect; gated with 24 hour security and controlled access, but with the cottage being so small… well, let's just say her and Edward living in such tight quarters, if only for a few days, was going to be a challenge…