Dwight and Marsha drove to SFCH in silence. They were both terrified. They knew they had to be strong for Trudy and Adrian.
Trudy and Adrian met them at the entrance to the hospital.
"What's going on with Hope," Marsha asked, hugging first her daughter than her son-in-law.
Trudy burst into tears.
"She has pneumonia," Adrian said, putting an arm around Trudy.
Trudy had pneumonia as a baby. It was horrible.
"Come on," Marsha said, "Let's go see her."
They walked in together. Hope was in the PICU. She had a central line in her. She looked so tiny and helpless.
Dr. White came up to them. She had a solemn look on her face.
"How is our daughter," Trudy asked Dr. White.
"Well, according to the bloodwork-"
"You took blood," Marsha exclaimed.
She was horrified that they would take blood without someone being with Hope. Dr. White smiled.
"We took it from the Central Line," she said, "Hope is very sick. She's on IV antibiotics to fight the infection. We have to get the fever down. We're going to give her a cold bath after she's done with the antibiotics."
"I want to be there with her," Trudy insisted.
"You can all stay with her," Dr. White replied.
The treatment lasted ½ an hour.
Hope screamed when her body hit the tub. It was a baby tub.
"I know it's really cold," Dwight said soothingly to Hope.
Marsha could see Trudy was holding back tears.
"Hey," she said soothingly, "Hope is going to be fine."
"How do you know that," Trudy asked.
"She takes after her mother," Marsha replied, "and her mother survived leukemia and a car bomb."
Trudy couldn't help but smile.
"I don't know what I'd do if we lost her," Trudy said.
"You won't," Marsha replied firmly.
Day by day Hope started improving. She was still far from better, but she was making progress every day. Hope was in the hospital for six months until she was released. The day she came back home was the best day of her parents' lives.