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I figured I could rock her back to sleep in the chair, keeping the bedroom light off for that reason, but when my lips touched her forehead, I jerked back to peer into her face and remained on my feet. Her skin was on fire.
Panic quickened the pace of my heart. I forced myself to breathe. She definitely had a fever. Fuck! When was the last time she felt bad and what the hell did I do? My mind went blank.
I began aimlessly pacing in front of the crib as I tried to soothe my daughter with back rubs, which seemed to be doing absolutely nothing for her.
“Okay…shh, it’s okay,” I chanted.
Marley screamed and rubbed her face against my shirt. I began to feel nauseous.
“Baby, what do I do? What do you need?” I asked.
Jenna rushed into the room, staggering a little when she noticed me. “H-hey!” Her whisper was startled. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I heard her crying on the monitor in the kitchen.”
Relief dipped my shoulders. Thank God she was here.
“She’s burning up,” I said.
“Oh no. Is she?”
Jenna walked over and felt Marley’s face with her palms, and it was incredible how quickly her presence comforted me. Nearly half the worry I had been feeling slipped away.
“God, she is. She’s been fine all day…Sweet girl, what’s wrong?” Jenna frowned and rubbed Marley’s back.
“What do we do?” I asked. “Should I take her to the hospital?”
The nearest one was twenty-five minutes away. I didn’t know if I could stand her screaming like this for that long. I needed to do something for Marley now. She was obviously in pain.
“I don’t know what’s bothering her. She won’t tell me,” I said.
“Let’s take her temperature and see how high it is first. We can get her cooled down.”
“How?”
“Cold compresses. Or a bath if we need to.” Jenna peered up at me. “Where’s your thermometer?”
“I think it’s in the bathroom.”
Jenna followed me into the hallway bath. While I searched for the thermometer, she gathered washcloths out of the small linen closet while reassuring me everything was going to be okay.
How did she know I needed to hear that?
“Here.” I pulled a basket out from underneath the sink and fished through wads of gauze and a collection of various sizes of Band-Aids. I pulled out the thermometer and passed it to her.
“Ooh, you have the good kind,” Jenna said.
“I do?” Fuck yes, I had the good kind. Whatever the hell that meant.
“Yep. This one reads fast. Watch.”
Jenna held down a button, waiting for it to beep. Then she swiped the rubber head of the thermometer just below Marley’s hairline down to her temple while my daughter continued to wail. When the device beeped a second time, Jenna held it out so we both could read it.
My eyes jumped to her face. “A hundred and one is bad, right? That’s high.”
“It could be worse,” she was quick to say. “My kids have had higher temperatures.”
That news was oddly comforting.
“I wouldn’t rush her to the hospital unless it keeps getting higher. Let’s see if we can bring it down.”
“Just tell me what to do. I’ll do anything.” I wiped tears from Marley’s flushed cheeks. She wouldn’t stop screaming.
Jesus Christ, what was worse than this? I felt completely helpless here.
Jenna put the thermometer away and moved the basket, freeing up room on the counter. “Okay. Is her medicine in here? Do you have children’s Tylenol or ibuprofen?”
I opened the cabinet on the wall and scanned the row of bottles and toiletries. “I have both.” I grabbed them with one hand.
“Let’s do Motrin first. It’s a little more powerful,” Jenna said.
“Can you…?” I held out the bottles, my other arm clutching Marley.
“Yep.” Jenna checked the dosage, then measured out some of the thick pink liquid into the tiny cup provided and brought it to Marley’s mouth. “It’s cherry flavored. She should take it okay.”
I held my breath. Marley kept crying until she got a taste of the medicine. Then she quieted down, only whimpers escaping her while she drank. Her little tongue licked at the plastic.
My shoulders dropped. “I was worried she wouldn’t take it,” I said, rubbing Marley’s back and pulling her against me when she started crying again. “It’s okay, baby. You did so good.”
Jenna set the medicine aside, pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her shorts, and checked the time. “In four hours, she can get Tylenol if she needs it. You can alternate the two.”
“Okay.”
Jenna shoved her phone away. Then she grabbed the washcloths and separated them. “Get her shirt off. I’m going to get these wet. Let’s try to get her body temperature down.”
I did as instructed, getting Marley undressed from the waist up.
Jenna wrung out the rags, telling me, “You don’t want them to be too cold. Cool is better. We don’t want her to shiver.”
