The Ghost Of You

Chapter Eighteen

James

She called, she actually called. 
She called from an anonymous number which meant I couldn't call her back but she freaking called
They are okay. As okay as they can be at least..

I walked into the kitchen to see Dad sat behind his desk while Mum and Piper stood in the Kitchen cooking breakfast
"James" Dad called the moment he heard my footsteps
"Yo" I said making him roll his eyes, he always hated that I picked up that sort of jargon. He wanted us all to be perfectly spoken like he was most of the time

"I've had a look deeper into this. The CCTV was wiped an after Riley arrived at the office" He said making me look at him confused
"So whoever wiped the footage, is most likely the person who talked to Ri?" I asked making him nod 

"Okay so who is it?" I asked making Dad glare ever so slightly 
"Do you think if I already knew that, we would be having this discussion?" He asked and I shook my head
"I would be beating who ever it was to a fucking pulp" He said underneath his breath making me smile

"Do you know growing up, Riley thought you didn't like her" I chuckled making Dad look at me confused
"Why on earth?" He asked 
"You were business orientated and Riley thought she was distracting me. You had a snappy attitude back then so I guess when Riley saw that side of you she blamed herself" I shrugged making him sigh
"It was quite the opposite" He said smiling

"I liked how Riley was with you and how you were with her. It reminded me a lot of your mother and I. She was never a distraction for you James, in fact I'm pretty sure that girl is the only reason your graduated high school" He chuckled
"You couldn't be apart from her for too long but it meant that you had to study so it was a win win really" he smiled
"Ah so you approved because Riley made me work. Gotcha" I teased making Dad roll his eyes

"No I approved because Riley made you happy, so happy in fact it was infectious" He explained
"There wasn't a part of her time with us where wasn't making at least one of us smile" He said making me nod
"She's good at that" I said thinking back to all of the family functions Riley came to. All the holidays we spent together. All the memories from the past and then all the memories to come

"We'll bring her back James" Dad said making me zone back into the room with a nod
"Oh I know we will" I said confidently smiling 

Hold tight Riley. We are coming for you..

--

Riley

"Mum why is Sienna crying?" Harrison asked covering his ears
Sienna has been crying nonstop since she woke up this morning. I haven't been able to console her, neither has Harrison which is not like Sienna at all
"I don't know honey. I'm trying I swear" I said getting flustered at the situation
"Can we go for a walk? Maybe that would help?" he offered 

We had already tried that this morning, I had strapped Sienna in the baby carrier and we walked and walked but it didn't help 
But I guess it couldn't hurt to help again 

"Sure thing, get your shoes on honey" I sighed before attempting to get Sienna into the baby carrier but it was not happening easily with her thrashing about like this 
"Please Sienna" I whispered to her, she looked up at me her usual big brown eyes tainted red and full of tears
She was fighting me and herself.. But I don't know why

We had been walking for over an hour and there was still no sign of Sienna settling. Harrison was on the brink of insanity and I didn't know what to do
I didn't know how to fix this, I didn't understand what was even going on 

"Why are we here Mum?" Harrison asked as we arrived at the hospital. This was the last peace of mind I could think of. If they can't find something wrong with Sienna then I didn't know what else to do
"I just want them to have a look at Sienna baby. I just want to-_" I started before Harrison cut me off
"You just want to make sure she is okay?" He asked and I nodded
"I just want you both to be okay" I said making Harrison smile and nod as he walked over to the chairs in the waiting room while I checked us in

"Hi there - Oh someone is not happy" The nurse said at the front desk. Sienna being unhappy is an understatement
"I know it seems silly me coming here but she's been like this since she woke up this morning. I've tried everything and I mean everything but nothing is working" I explained and she nodded
"Let's start by taking some details then we can get a doctor to take a look at her. Sometimes this is how babies can tell us something is wrong" She explained - At least I'm not crazy

"How old is she?" Another nurse said
"18 months old" I answered
"Alrighty, what was her name?" The original nurse asked
"Sienna Faith Phillips" I said before looking over at my shoulder to see Harrison playing with some of the toys

How did we get here, how did I get into this position where I needed a hospital to tell me what was wrong with my kids 

--

We had been checked in for an hour, to my surprise they took us back instantly letting us into a room. Harrison was sat on the chair colouring in while I continued to soothe Sienna but it was still not helping
They have come in and taken blood from her, a throat swab. The whole nine yards to cover everything 
I had no objections, if they can find something then great
If they can't then I'm at the end of my road 

"Mum it's okay" Harrison said making me look up to meet his eyes
He'd been watching me for a while. I knew that 
But I didn't expect him to be paying such close attention

"She's just little, she doesn't mean to be so loud remember" He said coming over to us
I remember I used to tell him this all the time when he was little. When Sienna was first born she was a vocal baby. The opposite of Harrison so it took him a little longer to adapt to it

"Miss Phillips?" The doctor said walking into the room with two nurses behind him
"Did you find out what is wrong with Sienna?" Harrison asked making the doctor smile in his direction before turning to look at Sienna
"I think so buddy" He said before turning back to me

"Sienna is 18 months, has she transitioned over to regular milk?" He asked making me nod
"It's something I'd been working on recently. She hadn't been wanting her formula to sleep anymore so I give her milk to get her to sleep" I explained and he nodded 

"From the tests that we ran today, we believe that Miss Sienna here is allergic to cow's milk. More specifically the protein in the milk" He explained
"She's crying like this because her stomach is hurting her. Sort of how you would be in pain if you were allergic to gluten and then ate bread" He explained making me nod

"So if I stop her drinking milk she'll be okay?" I asked and he nod
"Long story short yes but you would need to look to add extra protein into her diet another way. She can still drink milk but it would need to be things like oat milk, almond milk ectara" he explained making me sigh in relief

"The nurse is going to give Sienna some medication to calm her down for the night. We'll keep her here for observation through the night then she should be good to go in the morning" He said making me take a big sigh of relief
"Thankyou so much" I said trying to hold back tears
"I thought I was going crazy" I mumbled to myself

"As far as I can see Miss Phillips, you have two beautiful healthy children. Doing this on your own isn't easy and I applaud you for that but don't feel like you can't reach out for help from time to time" He explained 

I didn't realise how much I needed to hear that until that moment..