Callie POV
Dr. Irwin put the image of my chest x-ray up. After mom squeezed my hand, she left my side and walked closer to Dr. Irwin. She crossed her hands on her chest, when she started to examine the image of my chest x-ray more closely.
"As you can see-" Dr. Irwin circled some spots on the image with the end of his pen "this and this small spot - is the pneumonia. Callie's blood work confirmed it as well. She has Varicella Pneumonia"
"Oh my…gosh" Mom gasped. A moment later she asked sounding very concerned and a bit freaked out as well "It's in both lungs?"
"As you can see in the image - yes. It's a good think your friend brought here as soon as she did. Untreated - it can cause very serious complications." Dr. Irwin said to mom, who was still looking at the image "It is rare that chickenpox virus infects lungs as well. It is more common in adults, but it appears Callie is the unlucky one." Doctor turned to me and offered a smile and console me "But don't worry Callie. It is treatable. You will be just fine!"
"What do we do know?" Mom uncrossed her arms as she came back to me, to the table, where I was sitting
"I will prescribe an antiviral drugs called Acyclovir. It is an oral drug. Make sure Callie drinks a lot of fluids and that she has enough rest." He said as he started to write a note "Does anyone in the family smoke?" He asked mom, when he looked up from the paper
"No, no one in our family smokes" Mom replies quickly and looks down to me briefly to smile at me. I weakly smile up to her, but then look back down to my left wrist, to my leather bracelet, that had mom's name on it.I run my index finger over the engraving, just to pass time.
"Good. Make sure she doesn't inhale smoke. Don't over force the coughing medicine. Coughing is one way for the body to get rid of the infection. So be careful with that," Mom was listening very closely to every word that he was saying, time by time nodding her head.
"For the fever, you can continue to give Tylenol. And for the itching I will prescribe Zyrtec. But that is optional, if the itching is too much. Home treatment for chickenpox included taking oatmeal baths. You can use Calamine lotion as well or try cooling comperes. Make sure you don't scratch the blisters. Callie should cut her nails short. Wear lose clothing."
"I think we will have to stop quickly at the pharmacy" Mom says while she rubs my shoulder gently. Once I look up to her, she moves her hand away from my shoulder and caress my cheek fondly
"There is a pharmacy in the hospital. On the West wing. Down the hallway from the cafeteria" Doctor says as he continues to write the prescriptions and instructions on how to take the medicine
"Thank you" Mom replies. I close my eyes, as my eyelids started to feel too heavy. This was taking too long. I want to go home and fall in my bed.
"Here you go" I am guessing he handed mom the prescriptions "I would like to see Callie back in a week, for a check up. If her fever doesn't go down or the cough doesn't start to ease up in some 4 days, come back to hospital."
"Of course, thank you doctor" Mom said and poked my nose softly. My eyes fly open at once "Let's go munchkin. Let's get you home to your bed"
When I followed mom out of the exam room, I was surprised to see Lena waiting around. The part where our car is still at school, had totally slipped through my mind. We walked up Lena and when we stopped, I instantly used mom's side to lean against. She moved her hand around my shoulder and held me close to her side.
"I need to run to the pharmacy real quick, can you sit with her till I am back?" Mom said and I felt her eyes on me
"Of will wait for you at the exit in that case" Lena replies almost instantly
"I will be back as soon as possible" I wasn't sure if she said it to me or Lena, but the next second I felt her arm letting go of my shoulder and lips press to my temple. She was walking away as fast as her leg allowed her to, the next moment.
We had to drive back to the school to to our car. Only after some 30 minutes we were finally at home. I was walking like a zombie. There was barely any energy left in me. I was struggling to keep my eyes open.
"I will make you oatmeal bath at first" Mom said as she walked behind me. I felt her hand on my lower back, while I walked upstairs "Then I will put the lotion on your blisters and rash. After that, the medicine and then finally bed...okay?"
"Mm-hmm" I hum back when I walk to my bedroom, while mom walks to bathroom to make me a bath. The moment I am up to my bed, I fall down in it. My shoes are still on. It felt mom shook my shoulder gently some while later. I had no idea how much time had passed since I fell in the bed.
"The bath is ready, Callie" She woke me up mildly
"Don't wanna" I mumble back, my eyes closes, face in my pillow
"Come here baby" Mom rolled me around and pulled me up by my hands. While I was sitting on the bed side, mom took off my shoes and and pulled off the sweater. All I had to do, was lift my arms up.
"Up" Mom mumbled and pulled me once again up by my hands. Like a zombie, holding mom's hand, I followed her to the bathroom. She closed the toilet seat lid and sat me down.
Mom hurried out of the bathroom, but I just sat there, with my eyes closed, my arms wrapped around my stomach to keep warm. When I hear the doors creak open, I open my eyes. Mom walks in with a pile of clean clothes.
"Unless you want me to see you completely naked, I suggest you start to undress yourself" Mom warned me as she placed a pile of clean clothes by the sink
"I'm going, I'm going" I said trying to sound more energetic, but I think my effort failed. Slowly I started to undo my belt for the jeans.
"How long do I have to soak in the bath?" I asked mom as I started to take my jeans off
"Some 10-15 minutes"
"What if I fall asleep?" I ash her when I finally pull my jeans off. Mom takes the jeans from my hands and holds on for them for now.
"Then I will see you completely naked while I pull you out of it" She said casually when I pulled off my tank top off
"Is there a solution, where you don't see me completely naked?" I had no problem with her seeing me in my underwear. But I do not want her to see me naked.
"I, being your mom, have no problem with seeing you naked. I know you feel differently...so, it is all up to you my dear" Mom replied and walked out of the bathroom with the jeans and my tank top in her hands "I will be back in 15!"
When she walks out, I get rid of the rest of the clothes and lower myself in the warm bath. The bath was so soothing, that when I closed my eyes, I did drift asleep almost instantly.
I was woken up when mom knocked on the doors "Callie! I hope you are not asleep in there. Your 15 minutes are up. If I don't hear you walking or talking in a minute - I am coming in!" She warned me before she entered
"I am up! Don't come in!" I call back and hurry to get out of the bath, wrap a towel around me and get my underwear back on
"Don't slip!" Mom called in a worry tone when she heard me moving around "the tiles are slippery-"
"Oooh!" a small scream leaves my mouth, when my left feet slips once I step out of the bath. Thankfully I manage to get my balance back and did not fall.
"Don't say I didn't warn you!" Mom called from the other side of the doors teasingly
Once I am dressed, at least in my underwear I call mom that she can come in. She has the lotion in her hand.
"Okay, let's get to work" Mom started to put the lotion all over me. After some 5 minutes she stopped and looked up to me "Do you have any on your..."
"I will take care of those myself" I say cutting her off and taking the bottle out of her hand "Turn around" I tell her and wait till she stands with her back to me. I turn around as well and put the lotion on the spots that were on my breasts.
"You know I have those as well" Mom says while I am covering myself in the lotion "Breasts I mean. And the other thing as well"
"Yes, I am aware!" I say slightly annoyed. I turn around and hold the bottle out "I'm done."
Mom turns around and takes the bottle from me. I reach for the PJ and the shirt and pull them on.
"Okay, to bed" Mom places her hands on my shoulders and guides me out
I see a big bottle of water on my nightstand, along with a cup, box of napkins and three small boxes of medicine. I sit on the bed, while mom pops one of the pill out of the plate.
"Swallow" She hands me the medicine. While I look at the pill in my hand, mom pours some water in the glass. I toss the pill in my mouth and take the glass of water "Drink all. You heard the doctor, you need to drink a lot of water"
I empty the glass and place it down. Mom pulls the corner of the blanket up. I move and lay down on the bed. Finally, I could rest. I have waited for this moment for quite some while now. Mom places the blanket over me. I shiver even when under a blanket. I pull my legs up to my chest, to be as small as possible. To stay as
Mom walks to the end of the bed and picks up another blanket. Once she had put it on me as well, she sat on the bed side and stroked my hair. It was such a small gesture, but it felt so good. I felt loved.
"Rest honey. If you need anything, call me. I will be upstairs" Mom said in a hushed voice, while she continued to stroke my hair gently
I only have the energy for a hum "Mm-hmm," before I fall asleep.
Jude POV
When I walked in the house, I heard the TV running. It sounded like Frankie was watching some cartoons. Walking pass the living room, I greet Frankie, who was sitting on the couch under a blanket. Her face was covered in rash.
I remember when the twins and I had chickenpox. Brandon had already had had chickenpox, he was the only one who had to go to school. Safe to say, Brandon didn't like that. He wanted to stay home with us as well. Two weeks free of school. What more can a kid wish. It was heaven. We didn't have any other symptoms than the rash and itching. Because of that, we were playing all the day long. The only con to us having chickenpox was the itching. But the baths mama gave us and the lotion mom covered us in helped a lot. The two weeks flew by almost too fast.
"Jude is that you?" Lena called me from the kitchen
"Yeah, it's me" I call back and head to the stairs
"Can you come here for a sec?" Lena asked me when she appeared in my sight, standing in the middle of the kitchen
"Sure" I drop my bag by the stairs and make my way to the kitchen. Mom was sitting at the kitchen table, with a cup of tea in front of her. She smiled at me the moment we made eye contact.
"Mom and I need to talk to you about something" mama said and gestured me to sit on the other side of the table. She herself walked to the seat next to mom.
"Everything okay?" I ask warily when I sit down at the table. They look to one another for a brief moment, before they both turned back to me.
"It seems that" mom spoke up when she stopped to stir her tea "Callie won't be able to go with you to go-kart driving, bud. I'm sorry. We know you were looking forward to it."
"But we already had everything planned" I say saddened by the news
"Callie is sick Jude," mama informed me "There is nothing she can do about that"
"I saw her today at school. We talked. Callie didn't say anything about canceling our plans. She looked okay to me" I reasoned back looking between my moms, I still did not fully believe what the just say. Or at least, I didn't want to believe it.
"Callie has chickenpox, just like Frankie does," Lena informed me "And it appears that she has a fever and pneumonia as well. She will have to stay home for few weeks and rest."
"But…but she was fine. How can she get sick so all of a sudden?" I as not understanding how some 6 hours can change a person health so much
"Callie was sick for the last two days. She just hadn't told anyone that she was feeling sick," Stef explained. I was sitting stunned for a moment. This morning when I saw her she looked perfectly okay. She was smiling and we laughed. She didn't look grumpy, sleepy or weak.
"Why would she not tell anyone?" I ask back confused, after I remember the words mom had used "When we are sick, we always tell you right away. You always know how to help us and make us feel better. Why would she not tell Amy that she wasn't feeling well? Why would she hide it?"
Moms share another look "Well, we aren't really sure Jude" Lena told me honestly "Amy was upset about it as well"
"I guess she just didn't want to bother her mom or anyone for that matter" Stef wondered out loud
"Am I bothering you when I come to you when I am sick?" I ask now suddenly worried about it
"No, of course not" Lena said not missing a beat "You are not bothering us. Don't ever think that, okay?"
I don't answer to Lena. Instead I look over to Stef, because she was the one who said it. Stef's words worried me. Callie always used to go to mom when she was feeling sick. Why was she different now?
"So, why does Callie think she would bother Amy if she did ask her for help?"
Stef leans back a bit. She leaves her cup on the table and places her hands in her lap. It wasn't exactly concern, the way how Lena and Stef were looking at one another. It was more like they were trying to figure out how to tell me, what ever they are about to tell me. They were looking for the right words, for the right way to explain it to me.
Stef leaned back to the table. She pressed her elbows to the table, her palms facing down. Her eyes, for the time being, were on her hands. Lena, on the other hand, was watching Stef.
"It's um..." Stef looked up to me "It's not that simple bud. Things didn't exactly work out for Callie as well as they did for you"
That's wasn't much of an answer. It didn't explain what I wanted to know. It didn't answer my question at all. There had to be more to it, but moms simply aren't telling me that. That's when I realize, that maybe moms aren't the people I should be asking that question to. I was asking the right question, but I was asking it to the wrong people.
"Can I go see her?" I ask them back
"Callie is probably sleeping. She needs her rest, honey." Lena said softly trying not to hurt my feelings by saying no
I rephrase my question "Can I go talk to Amy then? I won't disturb Callie, I promise, I will let her rest. I just want to talk to Amy"