Another One

"Well you can't think negatively. Come on, Allison is one tough little girl, she is all you. She can take it." he chuckled a bit. "I believe she'll be okay, that's how you have to think about it."

"I want to. Believe me, I want to." She sighed heavily.

--

Few Hours Later

She had just gotten back from one of the vending machines, getting Brandon something to snack on while they waited. He had just woken up and was starting to get cranky because he was hungry, and lord knows no one wanted a cranky Lacy AND a cranky Brandon. Poor Phil.

She opened the bag for him and handed it over to him, turning her attention back to the tv that had been playing the same informational video for the entire time they had been there. "I wish these bastards would hurry up." She grumbled.

"I'll go check." he said. "Stay here with Brandon."

As if they were heard, a doctor came out. "Allison Brooks?"

Lacy stood up. "Yes."

The doctor walked over to them and noticed Brandon before saying carefully. "You are lucky you got her here in time," he told them and Lacy immediately understood what he was saying. "If you would have waited any longer then her throat would have closed completely, and there wouldn't have been much that we could do."

Lacy let out a shaky breath, trying to maintain her composure. "Okay... what's wrong?"

"We did some tests, she just had a horrible allergic reaction. We've gotten the swelling in her throat down and gave her meds to get rid of the hives. Chances are, she'll feel out of it for a while. She told us she had fruit earlier today?"

"Yeah, her grandmother gave her a fruit cup today. Canned pears."

"We thought so. She's allergic to pears. It's unusual, because people are generally not allergic to them, but there are always exceptions, like your daughter. Allison is a small girl, and that cup was a lot for her, which is why the reaction was so severe. Being honest with you, I have no idea how she stayed conscious for so long." Nice way of saying: she should have died.

Lacy resisted the urge to punch this guy in the face for being such a dick (in her mind).

Phil listened to what the doctor said and was happy Allison was saved in time. He was surprised to hear that she was allergic to pears. Strange. "Well she did and the good thing is that she's doing much better and you all saved her." he told the doctor.

"She's asleep right now." The doctor told them. "We gave her an anti-inflammatory for the swelling in her throat and we gave her some pain medicine so she could rest from her sore throat. We gave her something to eat intravenously so it wouldn't hurt her stomach, but the medicine put her out."

Lacy raised a brow. "You drugged up a one year old?"

"Ma'am, I understand your frustration but--"

"No, you don't understand my frustration. I don't want my kid on such harsh drugs, she's a baby."

"We're closing monitoring the medicine, Mrs. Brooks."

"I don't give a hell!" She was starting to become irrational. Don't blame it on hormones just yet. Her nerves were just bad from the information that she'd just received. "You're an id--"

Phil did kind of agree with Lacy on that one. "Look uh, I feel as though you should have asked us for consent before giving her anything.' he told the doctor. "If it's helping by taking away her pain for a bit, fine...but we should have been notified. Besides, I'm sure there had to be some other type of medicine you could have given her."

The doctor looked visibly relieved to see that this man was apparently more rational than his wife, but that didn't change the fact that Allison was on some strong shit right now. "We had to do what was necessary. The medicine, when monitored carefully, should have no effects on your daughter. We want to monitor her overnight and release her tomorrow afternoon."

"Do what you've got to do, just make sure we're notified and informed next time."

"Visiting hours don't start for another few hours. I don't know if you wanted to stay here and go home."

"Thank you." Lacy rolled her eyes and the doctor nodded as he walked away.

"That's some bull, we should be allowed to stay. We're her parents."

"We can stay." She sighed and sat back down. "Just won't be able to see her until visiting hours start."

"Which is retarded." he sighed as he sat down.

Brandon finished his food and settled closer into Phil's chest, rubbing his arms. "Cold," he said lowly, closing his eyes again.

Lacy sighed and leaned back against the seat, resting an arm over her stomach. "Maybe we should go."

"You wanna go with Brandon and I'll stay until visiting hours start?" he asked as he took off his sweater and put it over Brandon.

"You always do this." She shook her head. "Sitting here by yourself for hours is not going to do anything."

"I just feel like I should wait." he shrugged.

"Do what you want." She gave up and grabbed Brandon from his lap, handing Phil his jacket back. "I'm going to drop him off at your mom's and I have to go pick up a few things anyway."

He nodded a bit. "I'll call you and keep you updated."

Lacy nodded and left.

*Few Hours Later*

The doctor walked out, looking for Lacy but only saw Phil, still sitting in that uncomfortable chair. "Mr. Brooks? Visiting hours have started and Allison has woken up."

Phil stood up from his seat and stretch a bit, cracking his back a little. "Great." he nodded. "Thanks." he said as he sent Lacy a text message to let her know.

be there in a bit. Was Lacy's reply.

--

"She's been asking for you or her mother, so I guess it's vital that you get back there."

"Will do." he said. "Which room is it?"

"318, in the intensive care of the pediatrics department. I'll lead you." The doctor started to walk away.

"Thanks." he nodded as he followed him.