Adopted by Falsettos

Chapter 9

"Hey, Josie, are you gonna be okay during the show?" Stephanie asked. I nodded and said, "Yeah, just fine."

Stephanie's been paranoid about me running away again, so she left me a bunch of stuff to distract me backstage. So maybe two hours stuck here wouldn't be so bad after all.

Brandon came by before the show started and ruffled my hair. I grinned as he pulled a bunch of candy and treats behind his back and handed them all to me.

"Your mom wanted you to have something healthy with all the candy I'm giving you and I kinda agree with her, so have a banana."

"Good luck Brandon!" I said to him before he went out on stage.

After eating all the candy and the cookies and the yummy stuff, I found myself forced to eat the healthy banana. Gross.

I unpeeled the banana and took a small bite of it. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I usually hate healthy food, but this was good.

Until my throat started to close up.

"Crap." I said to myself the best I could. I couldn't get anyone in my family's attention in the middle of a show. I stood in the wings and gestured to my throat, hoping someone would notice.

Then I noticed Anthony nudge Stephanie, in character, and Stephanie looked wide-eyed. Before I could see what was happening, I ran to my own phone and dialed 911, explaining the situation the best I could, before I ran out of breath.

That phone call is what did it for me. Then I passed out.

__________

Stephanie's POV

Thank God for Anthony, that's for sure.

He was the one who told me that something was seriously wrong with Josie. Well, he didn't tell me. He just nudged me and pointed to a scared-looking Josie. And before I got the chance to do anything, she ran off.

The show ended early, and I came back to find my foster daughter passed out. And I heard sirens outside the window.

"Who called 911?" Brandon whispered to me.

I found Josie's phone on the floor and punched in the passcode. I looked through her call history, then dropped the phone on the floor.

"She did." I choked out.

"What the heck happened in here?" Andrew screamed.

"She probably had an allergic reaction to something." Betsy said. That's when I noticed the trash can.

"Do you think she's allergic to chocolate?" Brandon said, picking up an M&M wrapper.

"No." I said. I picked up a half-eaten banana from the floor. "Okay, who gave Josie a banana?"

Silence.

"It was me." Brandon piped up after five minutes. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"We should've asked her if she was allergic to anything!" Anthony screamed.

"Well, how was I supposed to know?" Brandon screamed back.

"ASK HER!" Andrew and I yelled at the same time.

"Well, there's no time to waste, we better get to the hospital. And now that we know that Josie had an anaphylactic reaction, we can let her school know and stuff." I said.

"How has Josie never had a banana before? She's nine." Christian said.

"Not everyone is born with allergies. Some people develop them later in life." I said.

"Okay, Stephanie, stop being a know-it-all and let's go!" Andrew yelled.

AN: This has been in my drafts for a while, sheesh. And I'm sorry for hurting the child. Hope you enjoyed and catch ya later! Love you all!