Leave The City (Book 8 of Adopted by the Josephs)

89. Tyler

"Mama?" I heard Rosie's little voice.

"Go back to bed, Rosie," Jenna muttered. "It's still sleepy time."

"But, Mama, Sammy," she said.

I sat bolt upright. Jenna did too.

"What to you mean?" Jenna said, pulling Rosie onto her lap.

"I want Sammy," Rosie said.

"You know Sammy is away for school. She'll be home in a few more weeks," I said.

"But I want Sammy now," she whined.

"What's the matter, Rosie?" Jenna asked. "Why do you want Sammy right now?"

"I want Sammy not to be sick," she said.

"Is Sammy sick?" Jenna asked. Rosie shrugged.

We looked at each other.

"Do we call now, or wait until morning? Do we wait to see if Brendon or Sarah call? If it's really bed, they'd have called by now, right? Like, after the accident?" Jenna asked me.

"It's what, midnight there? Eleven thirty? Let's wait. They'd call us if it was serious. And if they take Sam to the hospital, they'll call in the morning unless it's really bad," I said.

"This is what I don't like about Sam being away from home," Jenna said. "I can't be with her when she gets sick."

I smiled at my wife as I brought Rosie onto my lap before settling her down between us.

"Want to stay with Mama and Daddy?" I asked her. She nodded as she cuddled up to Jenna.

"I want Sammy," she whispered.

"I know, sweetheart. Let's try to get some sleep and if Sammy needs us, Uncle Brendon or Aunt Sarah will call us, okay? Otherwise we'll call them at breakfast and find out what's happening, okay?"

She nodded and we settled back down to try to sleep. I knew Jenna was upset with Sam being so far away right now, but if she was upset, I was freaking out. If Rosie feels that Sam is sick, how bad is it? All that was running through my mind was that after the accident, it had been hours before Brendon and Sarah called to tell us what had happened. And that was because they'd been trying to find out what had happened and what was happening with Sam.

Part of me wanted to call. I doubted they'd be surprised if I did. But the rational part of me, the part that often has to fight against my anxiety, said if it were that bad, they'd have called by now.

I did manage to fall into a fitful sleep.

I was woken by the sound of my cell phone ringing. I opened my eyes and saw that it was sunny. It was full morning. I looked at my phone. It was Brendon. Okay, probably serious enough Sam was probably in the hospital, but not so serious they had to call in the middle of the night to get us to get there fast.

"Morning, Brendon," I said, yawning. "What's happening?"

"Hey, Tyler. Why am I not surprised that you don't sound surprised to hear from me?"

"Rosie woke us up around 3 saying she wanted Sam, so we figured something was going on. What's happening? Is Sam okay?"

"Well, obviously not really. She went to the Lakers game with Dylan last night and I already thought that maybe she wasn't feeling great. She seemed a little warm in the morning but I let her convince me she was okay.

At the end of the game, or nearly, anyway, Dylan said, Sam passed out. She had a really high fever,"

"Okay," I said. I had the phone on speaker so Jenna could hear, too. Rosie was leaning against Jenna and listening.