Maggie was unconscious, or slept, through the night. In the morning, there was no change that Debby or Josh could see. Maggie's eyes were closed. Her breathing was fine, though.
Josh had called Tyler and asked him to get Jim and take him at least overnight. He agreed, concerned, again, that Maggie was in the hospital with no real explanation.
"Mama?" A small voice said.
"Maggie?!" Debby cried, looking up at her tiny daughter, who looked even smaller in the hospital bed. "Hi, Bug."
Debby smiled at her little girl.
"Where am I?" Maggie asked.
"You're in the hospital, my sweet girl. Do you remember anything?"
"I 'member I was reading and then it got dark and the monsters came," Maggie started crying. Debby sat up on the bed and pulled Maggie into her lap.
"Oh sweet Bug. You're okay now. Mama and Papa are here."
Josh, having gone to grab himself and Debby some coffee and something to eat, was pleasantly surprised to see his daughter sitting up and snuggling with the other female in his life that mattered the most.
"Hey there, Bug," he said, sitting beside Debby and putting his hand on Maggie's head.
"Hi, Papa," Maggie said. "I'm sorry."
"What for?" Her papa asked.
"Getting sick again," Maggie said.
"It's okay, Bug," Papa Josh smiled. "Mrs. Donovan got you help as fast as anything and you've just been asleep all night. And most of yesterday afternoon."
"The monsters came while I was reading at school," Maggie said sadly. "They said you were going to throw me away and that they were making sure of it."
"Maggie May," Papa said with a serious, but funny, tone. "Mama and I will never throw you away. You are our daughter forever and always."
"Foreber and eber?" Maggie asked.
"Well, one day, when you're a grown up, you might want to live in your own place. But we will always be your Mama and Papa. And you'll always be able to come live with Mama and Papa."
Maggie hugged her papa. He always made her feel better. The monsters kept saying they hated her and Mama and Papa hated her and that everyone hated her and they were going to make sure no one ever liked her. It confused Maggie because no one acted like they didn't like Maggie.
Maggie sighed.
"What's up, my little Bug?" Mama asked.
"Why do the monsters hate me so much?" She asked, crying just a little.
"Oh, Bug. I can't answer that. But I can remind you how much Mama and Papa love you. And Uncle Tyler, and Aunt Jenna. And Rosie. We all love you so much."
"I lub you too," Maggie smiled up at her Mama.
"Well, good morning, young lady!" A smiling doctor came into Maggie's room. It was a lady doctor and she looked really nice.
"Hi," Maggie said, quietly, snuggling tighter into Mama just in case the doctor wasn't as nice as she seemed.
"So, Miss Maggie. Your mom and dad said you've never had a seizure before?"
Maggie shrugged. She didn't know what a 'see sure' was.
"Well, I am happy to see you awake. I bet your Mama and Papa are, too." Maggie felt Mama nod.
"I'm Dr. Wilson. I'm a neurologist which is a big word for a doctor who looks at people's brains and nerves."
"Do you hab to cut my head open?" Maggie asked, because her brain was inside her head!
The doctor smiled, but her smile was nice and made her eyes smile. Like her eyes were laughing.
"No, no, sweetheart. We have machines that can look into your head and see what your brain looks like. And we have machines that can see what your brain does when you do things like open and close your eyes, or if we flash lights at you."
Maggie frowned. How could the doctor look into her head with machines? It didn't make any sense.
"So, here's what we want to do, okay?"
The doctor explained the test she wanted to do.
"Will the things on my head hurt?" Maggie asked.
"Oh. No. We'll glue them down with a special glue."
"Like the sleep place glue?" Maggie asked. The doctor looked at Debby, unsure what Maggie meant.
"Yep, Bug," her mama said. "Just like the sleep place."
"Okay," Maggie said. "That glue was gross but it washed out okay but the shampoo there didn't smell like strawberries."
"Ours doesn't really, either. But if your mom or dad want to get you strawberry shampoo for after, that's okay," the doctor smiled. Maggie looked at her mama and papa.
"I will go get your strawberry shampoo while you're having your test," Papa smiled. Maggie smiled back. The sleep place's shampoo smelled a little like coconuts and mint, but Maggie liked smelling like strawberries.
"Okay," Maggie said.
"So, a little later today, after you've had breakfast, one of my friends will come and get you and your mom, and bring you to a room where they'll stick the wires to your head, like at the sleep place. And then you'll lie there and the technician will ask you to do a few things, like open and close your eyes, move your eyes around and then he'll flash some lights and we can see what your brain thinks of all that."
"Do I hab to hab a needle?" Maggie asked.
"Nope," the doctor said. "No needles. And even if we needed to give you a needle, you have an I.V. in. We could put the medicine in there.l
Maggie looked at her hand.
"Mama?" Maggie asked.
"Yeah, Bug?" Mama said.
"Could the monsters put something in my I B?" She asked, suddenly worried that the monsters could come and hurt her that way.
"Oh, no, Bug. No. They can't."
Maggie wasn't sure Mama was telling the truth. But she didn't want Mama to get mad at her, so she nodded.
"Okay," the doctor said. "So, Miss Maggie, I will come and talk to you and your mom and dad after your test. Okay?"
"Okay," Maggie said.
Maggie stayed curled up into her mama. A lady came in and brought a tray.
"Breakfast is here, Bug. Are you hungry?" Mama asked.
Maggie shook her head. The monsters had put another rock in her tummy.
"Not at all?" Mama asked.
"No, Mama. I'm not hungry."
Debby sighed. They were going to have to figure out what was going on with Maggie's appetite.
YOU ARE READING
Magnolia Blooms
FanfictionMagnolia (known to family and friends as Maggie) is seven years old. Two years ago, her life was changed when she was tossed out of her parents car, in a garbage bag. She was found by none other than Josh Dun of the band twentyone pilots. She was a...
