I Love You More

11

"Hey," Maddy whispered, getting up to hand Charley over for him to hold her, "You're back early,"

"I fell asleep at my desk," he sighed, taking Charley as she slept.

"You did?"

"Yeah. Tyler rescheduled everything," he said as he sat in the rocking chair and got his phone out.

The first thing that popped up was the statement from Team Penske's Twitter, explaining Ryan's absence from scheduled interviews that fans were expecting.

"What's up?"

"Penskes post," he said as he nodded toward his phone reading the post off, "Due to a medical emergency in Ryan's family. He will not be interviewing on Sirius XM this evening. They will all be rescheduled to a later date,"

"Let the speculation begin," she chuckled slightly, pulling up the post on her own Twitter feed.

They didn't want to outright say what was going on but they also didn't want all the speculation, so Maddy put out the vaguest statement she could.

@MaddyBlaney: Ryan and I don't want to leave you guys in the dark so here's what's going on.

Our daughter has been sick since Daytona. And after multiple visits and tests, she was diagnosed with pneumonia. So we're taking care of her with the best team of doctors and nurses.

We appreciate any good thoughts and prayers for our girl.

-Maddy and Ryan

After posting that, she leaned back and went on other apps that didn't have 2 thousand notifications coming her way.

The baby slept a little longer and they FaceTimed Luke who was now staying with Ryan's parents while she and Ryan took care of Charley.

Charley seemed to really turn a corner overnight with the medicine as well as the comfort of sleeping with her parents. Mostly Ryan. She was a daddy's girl for sure.

Ryan held her close as she slept, knowing the rest was helping most of all. Their only obstacle was that Ryan would be leaving for Atlanta within the next few days. Maddy was just hoping they'd be able to join him like normal.

"I think you'll be able to go. Maybe my parents can watch her?" Ryan suggested, holding Charley as she stood on his legs.

"I would feel like an awful mother leaving my child with her grandparents after this," Maddy gestured to the hospital room and equipment around them. "We all go, or just you, so let's hope you get better by Thursday,"

——————

2 days later, they were released from the hospital and told that Charley could travel but to make sure they have her take it easy and stay in as much as possible. Which meant watching from the bus, only being there for the opening ceremonies and the finish.

They packed everything up, because they were planning to go, got the bus all set up and packed, and sent their driver off to the track.

Another day after that, they headed to Charley and Luke's pediatrician to check on Charley's lungs and make sure they were improving and ready for travel. After that, they planned on leaving.

"Good morning. Who are we here for today?" The receptionist asked, looking up from her computer.

"Charlotte Blaney. Should be a follow-up at 10?"

"I see her right here," she nodded, going through the check-in process while Maddy held her little one. Luke and Ryan were already at the Lego table, building something as they waited.

"Alright, you're all set,"

"Thank you,"

"I pay egos?" Charley asked as she pointed to her dad who was with Lukas.

"Go ahead baby," Maddy said as she set her down by the Lego table and sat in a nearby chair. Ryan soon came and joined her.

"You nervous?" Ryan asked, putting a hand on her knee that was anxiously bouncing.

"A little," she nodded, "I just want them to tell us that she's fine and we can fly out tonight with you. Or at all,"

"The hospital already said she'd be good to go, this is just a follow-up," Ryan assured her, calming the anxiety with one simple sentence.

"Charlotte?" A nurse asked as she came out, holding the door open as they all went through.

"Daddy?" Luke asked as soon as they got in the room and got Charley's vitals started.

"What's up bud?" He asked, lifting him off the floor to sit on his knee.

"Do I have to get a shot?"

"No buddy. We're here to make sure Charley could go to the race. We didn't have anyone to watch you for a bit so we just brought you with us," he explained with a small chuckle. Luke was always worried about shots.

"Hi guys," the doctor said with a smile as he came into the room, "How are we doing?"

"Much better," Maddy smiled, holding Charley as she grabbed onto her.

"Well you look much better little miss," he smiled as Charley sat on Maddy's knee.

"Any concerns for Charley?" The doctor asked, looking between the parents as he went over her vitals.

"Just whether she can travel. We're supposed to fly to Atlanta tonight and we just wanted to be sure with her recent illness that it was still okay to go," Maddy explained, watching as the doctor listened to her heart and lungs.

"She sounds great to me. I would just say to take it easy with her, lots of rest, lots of fluids, and stay away from crowds as much as you can,"

"Okay," she nodded, smiling as she looked at Charey.

After setting another appointment for later in the year, they checked out and headed to the airfield, ready for Atlanta.