Family is Forever (Sequel to Running on Insulin)

Chapter 59

Jenna came upstairs a little while later looking for me.

"What are you doing up here?" She whispered as she checked on Samantha.

"That doctor got me freaked out about secondary drowning. I'm afraid to leave her alone," I whispered back. Jenna nodded.

"Just don't wake her up. Let her sleep," she whispered.

"I will," I said.

Jenna went back downstairs.

Sam slept for about an hour. She stretched when she woke up, kicking me in the leg softly. Not expecting it, she shot up.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Just making sure you're okay. The doctor freaked me out with that secondary drowning stuff and I was afraid to leave you alone."

She smiled at me and then gave me a hug.

"Thanks, Dad."

We went back downstairs where everyone had moved to the backyard. Pete was over with Meagan and Josh and Debby had come over. Zack and Kala were practically furniture, so of course they were there.

"There she is!" Pete said as we went outside. He came over and gave her a huge hug.

"I hear you tried to take the Pacific Ocean home with you and that did not go well," he joked.

Samantha smiled.

"Yeah. Turned out to be a bad idea. Plus, it tastes really bad," she said.

Jenna went and got an infusion kit and a new sensor and transmitter from our room for Sam. We'd had to order a new transmitter for her CGM since she wasn't technically due for a new one for a while. But they'd sent it straight away and it had been delivered in about a day.

Jenna helped Sam put in her pump and then they put on the new sensor and transmitter and calibrated everything. I watched in awe. It still amazed me how quickly Sam had adapted to the pump and the CGM.

Everyone fussed over Samantha and I could tell she was starting to get uncomfortable, so I rescued her by changing the subject to what we were going to do with our remaining time on holiday.

We decided tomorrow we'd do some sightseeing and then take it from there.  We also said we'd go to the Santa Monica pier and do all the touristy things there.

We all sat outside and had dinner, Brendon and Sarah had ordered a bunch of pizzas. Samantha started getting tired early, so I took her upstairs to bed. Jenna followed and saw she was basically falling asleep on her feet, so she helped Samantha change into pyjamas and while Sam brushed her teeth, I pulled down the covers of her bed, checked her phone got plugged in, checked her blood sugar levels and tucked her in when she came in and got into bed.

"You know I'll probably come in and check on you all night, right?" I said.

"I figured," Samantha said, smiling. "It's okay Dad."

I kissed her on the head and we left her to sleep.

Back downstairs the topic of conversation had reverted to Samantha's drowning. Everyone felt terrible it had happened and were being really kind.

"What freaks me out," I said. "Is that the doctor says we need to watch out for secondary drowning. And she's been super tired since she got out of the hospital. Which is one of the signs."

"She also just got out of the hospital after drowning," Brendon said.

"I'm still worried," I said.

"Because you're a dad. That's what dad's do. Worry about their kids." Josh said. 

I got a bad feeling in my stomach.

"Excuse me a second," I said. I had to go check on Samantha. Something wasn't right.

I ran up the stairs.

"Ty!" Jenna called following me. "What are you doing?"

"Something's wrong with Samantha," I said.

"What? How do you know?" She asked, running behind me.

I opened the door and Samantha was struggling to breathe.

"I just did," I said, running over to Samantha and trying to wake her up.

"Call an ambulance, Jen. She's having trouble breathing!"

Jenna pulled out her phone and called 911. She explained what had happened to Samantha Ana what was happening now. I had her sitting up and she seemed to be awake but she was scared and still struggling to breathe. 

"It's okay,  it's okay baby," it's okay. Just try to breathe. Cough if you can," I tried reassuring her.

She tried coughing.

By now Brendon and Sarah had come upstairs. Jenna was explaining what happened and that we'd called for an ambulance. I picked Sam up to meet the ambulance when they got there.

I ran her downstairs and out onto the driveway while Brendon opened the gate for the ambulance.

The paramedics hopped out and took Samantha from my arms. She was still trying so hard to draw in a breath, but she was tiring. They put an oxygen mask on her and started treating her immediately. I hopped in the back and Jenna and Sarah got into Sarah's car. I held Samantha's hand as she stared up at me with fear in her eyes.

"You're going to be okay. You're going to be fine," I said, trying to reassure her.

She coughed some, but the paramedics were still trying to help her get more air.

They were peppering me with questions and I answered them as best as I could.

We pulled into the hospital and Samantha was taken to the back straight away.  Jenna and Sarah came running in just after us.

"Where is she? What did they say? Is she okay?"

"They just took her back and made me stay out here." 

I hugged Jenna while we waited.

A doctor came out a few minutes later. He looked solemn.

"Mr and Mrs. Joseph?" He asked looking around the waiting room.

"That's us," Jenna said.

"Oh. Okay. So, Samantha suffered what's known as secondary drowning. It's not technically a medical term, but it's a fair one anyway,"

"Is she okay?"

"We did everything we could," he said. Jenna dropped to the floor and wailed. That phrase was never good.

"Is- is she - gone?" I asked, trying to stay upright. Sarah grabbed my arm.

"No, no, not at all. She's responding to treatment. We did everything we could to treat her, but our usual treatments weren't working. So we tried something unconventional. And we got the fluid out of her lungs. She's breathing just fine on her own now, though she did fall asleep. I don't think we need to admit her, but she should have some rest before you take her home. Also let us observe her for a few hours. You can come back and see her now."