Page 56 of Defending A Promise
“I’ve got it. Go!” Eli waves me off and looks at Kowalski. “I’ll tell you what you need to know.” He smirks at me as I drive away.
Chapter 23
Riley
The entire ride in the rescue unit, I kept whispering to Nicholas to just stay with me while at the same time I kept praying to River to please protect my son. Kane bounced around the rescue unit while starting an IV, putting Nicholas on a heart monitor, giving him some drugs to stop the seizures, and putting oxygen on him.
His ability to balance standing up while doing all of these things is impressive – but what I was most grateful for was that he kept telling me what he was doing to Nicholas and why. That gave me something to focus on instead of all the ‘whatifs’ floating around in my head.
“We’re here,” Kane says to me as he starts collecting all the machinery that my son is attached to. “When Hudson opens the door, we’ll pull the stretcher out and then you can follow us into the ER. The nurses will ask you to stand aside, but they’ll let you stay in the room as they start working on him. Okay? Any questions?”
I look at Nicholas, covered in someone else’s blood as he lies motionless on the stretcher, “Is he going to be okay?”
Kane waits until I look up at him. “He’s going to be fine, Riley. Just fine.”
Hudson opens the door. “Ready?”
“Yep.” Kane answers as he climbs out of the truck, and they pull my little boy out of the rescue unit and into the emergency room.
I run behind the stretcher to keep up as the medics burst through multiple doors. A few nurses meet the stretcher along the way, but I’m relieved when I see Sunni, our kickball captain and emergency room nurse, enter the room where they placed Nicholas. Another reason I miss living in a small town… familiar faces are everywhere and that’s what I need right now.
“Riley, I need you to stand over here so we can work on him. Okay?” Sunni says as she maneuvers me to the corner of the room.
I nod as I watch all the nurses hook Nicholas up to more machines.
“Is he on any routine medications?” Sunni asks as she stands behind a rolling cart with a computer on it.
“No, but I did give him some medication the other day because he had a small fever.”
“Does he have any allergies?”
“No, no allergies.”
“Has Nicholas had seizures before?”
Just as Sunni asks me that question, both Declan and Dr. Reid Larson come running into the room together talking. Declan searches the room for me and when he finds me, the relief on his face is immediate.
“How’s he doing?” he asks me.
I just shrug my shoulders as he pulls me into his arms.
“Riley, I need to know if he’s had seizures before,” Sunni asks in a firm tone.
“Oh, sorry. Yes, he was diagnosed with febrile seizures a few years ago. The doctor told me that he would grow out of them, but he hasn’t yet.”
“But he’s not on any medications for them, right?” she confirms.
“Right. Only when he gets a fever.” I look up at Declan, “He didn’t have one this morning when I took him to school.”
“I know, baby.” Declan kisses the top of my head as we watch Dr. Larson call out orders in all kinds of medical jargon that I don’t understand.
“Riley, Declan. Can you come with me?” Dr. Larson waves us out from behind the curtain, but he doesn’t close it behind us so that we can still see Nicholas. He understands I need to see my son.
“Is he going to be okay Reid?” Declan asks.
“I’m going to be honest here and say that I’m hopeful. His fever is quite high, but we’ve already been able to bring it down a bit. I’m giving him high doses of medication and a lot of fluids.”
“Why is he not waking up? Is he in a coma?” I ask.
