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“Can we get two babies, Mummy?” Sophie asked, hugging my neck. “Don’t you want two babies, Mummy?”
“Oh, Sophie you are all I need, and you know what else? I’m starving. Should we get Macca’s now?” I lifted Sophie onto my hip and then carefully sat us both down into the wheelchair and waited until Trey was finished speaking.
“Excuse me, chauffer, but Princess Sophie would like her McDonald’s now, please,” I said with a snap of my fingers in Trey’s direction, trying to not laugh.
“As you wish, Princess.” Trey knelt down and kissed Sophie’s hand, leaving her giggling until she started coughing.
“Dr. Trey, look what you’ve done. Now she can’t stop coughing,”I worried over my daughter. “What should we do?”
He pulled his stethoscope off from around his neck and listened to her breathing. “Let’s get back to your room for a quick breathing treatment while we wait for our McDonald’s to get delivered.”
Trey patted me on the shoulder, I could only assume to let me know it was okay. Sophie began coughing more.
I went quiet for a moment, my throat tightening with emotion. “She can barely catch her breath.”
“Pat her back until we get to the room,” he whispered in my ear. “We need to distract her so she doesn’t get herself too upset.”
Trey stopped to pick up a hall phone to alert the nurses to have the breathing treatment ready. “Now, Princess Sophie, can you tell me if you want a small French fry or a really big French fry?”
“Is that fair dinkum, Dr. Trey?” Sophie asked on a few coughs. “Oliver always says that but never gets me what I want.”
“I don’t know what fair dinkum is, nor do I know who Oliver is.” Trey stopped walking and went around to look at Sophie’s face. “I’ll get you anything you ask me for.”
Sophie broke out in a fit of coughing, so I sped up our trip back to her room. She looked back at me with worry all over her face, but stopped gagging and coughing for a moment to let Trey know she not only wanted a really big fry, but she also wanted chicken nuggets and a girl toy.
“Wow, you think you can eat all of that food all by yourself?” Trey asked. “I want a Big Mac, and just like you and your mommy, I want a really big fry.”
“I like you way better than Oliver, Dr. Trey.” Sophie coughed a few more times and laid her head on me.
We arrived back at her room just as another round of coughing began. Betty was in the room and ready. She quickly slipped the mask with albuterol over Sophie’s face. I crawled into the bed with Sophie and pulled the blankets over us both. I could feel the rumble in Sophie’s back subsiding as she slowly laid her head against me and her eyes fluttered closed.
Mia hadn’t left the room yet. She’d taken a chair across the room and took files out of her purse and spread them across a tray table in front of her. I watched Mia looking at the pictures, then look at me, and back again.
“Why are you staring at me?” I asked quietly over the top of my daughter’s sleeping head. “What’s wrong? Do you know something I don’t know? Did Parker say something?”
“Whoa!” Mia said, laughing. “I was just thinking, let’s not get crazy.”
“Thinking about what?” I chewed on my fingernails. “I know that face, and you’re not just casually thinking, so let’s have it.”
“You’ve always been so nosey. You do remember I’m the oldest, right?” Mia asked.
The door opened before I could respond.
Victoria breezed in carrying a huge bouquet of balloons. “How’s our little angel?”
“She had a bit of a coughing fit when we went upstairs, but she’s sleeping now,” I said.
“And why the disappointed face when I walked through the door?” Victoria walked over to the corner of the room to place the huge balloons on the floor.
I laughed. “I didn’t realize it showed on my face. I was hoping you were Trey.”
“I guess I can live with that.” Victoria sat in a chair, pulled it up next to Mia, and took out her glasses.
“Victoria, I’m always very happy to see you. Trey was bringing us lunch, so…” I shrugged.
“Ah, what’s for lunch?” Victoria asked. “I hope not hospital food.”
“Macca’s, and Sophie was very excited before she fell asleep.” I pushed the covers off and sat on the edge of the bed.
