Mommy's little Business-Man

28: painful sunburns and painful talks

I lied. I can make drama last longer.

Lydia's POV:

I rocked Colton until his cries tapered down to soft hiccups, without wiping my own tears away.

"Are you okay?" Martha asked, and I shook my head.

"No. I'm- I have no idea what just happened, and I was so scared that he wouldn't- that I'd never get to hold him again," I stuttered, and I immediately held the little boy a bit tighter.

"Sometimes you're just as stupid as he is in terms of emotions, you know?" Martha said while putting her head on the shoulder that Colton's didn't occupy.

"Everyone could see that this is just a hiccup. I know that these fights are more uncommon for specialized doms and subs, but us vanillas have them all the time, and believe me, you'll get out of it stronger once he's in the mindset to talk it out again. You have to realize that you've only known each other for a very turbulent six months, and that you're still very much getting settled. I know that little- p-dom relationships go really fast, I know you are very committed, and that's why you're going to make it through," the vanilla said, and I sighed, trying to calm my own ragged breaths.

"You're right, thank you. I have no idea what I'd do without you," I said gratefully, and right when Martha seemed to start replying, Colton shivered and let out a sad, tiny whimper.

"Is he going to be okay?" Martha asked, and I felt his forehead, which emitted a dry heat. I gently tapped his foot, and when he didn't respond I paled.

"I think he has a heat stroke," I realized in sudden horror.

"You don't see those symptoms until after a few hours, and he's not sweating. I need to get him to the emergency room. Get me a cool towel to wrap him in," I said, and Neill, who'd arrived with a bottle of water, quickly rushed back to the bathroom.

Martha tried to hand me the bottle, but I shook my head.

"If it's really heat stroke, he definitely can't have anything to drink. Colton, can you talk to mommy?" I said, but the man just gave a half-hearted whine.

"Fuck. Your car has the car seat, I'm taking it," I exclaimed, not even noticing the cuss word while I yanked the damp towel out of Neill's hand and rushed downstairs.

"Allright baby, hang in there," I said as I drove to the hospital in a dangerous speed.

"I think my little has a heat stroke," I exclaimed as I walked into the emergency room with a lethargic Colton in my arms, and I was immediately rushed into the examination room, past all the other waiting patients.

"How long has he been out in the sun unprotected?" A doctor asked while stripping Colton down to his diaper and tipping the boy's head up once he was seated on the examination table.

"About two and a half hours. He was in his adult headspace, and walked off from his therapist's office without any form of protection," I said, and the doctor nodded.

"Has he been vomiting? Shown any sign of confusion or erratic behavior?" The doctor asked, and I immediately thought of our fight, and Colton's behavior after his nightmare.

"He has, all of those things. He also has a fever, and he isn't sweating," I said, emitting some ragged breaths myself.

"I will take his temperature and test him for responsiveness," the doctor said, and when he pressed the thermometer in Colton's ear, I was immensely relieved by what the little boy did next.

He started crying again, and he reached for me, snapping out of his lethargy.

"His temperature is 102. It's high, but I think right now he is still at heat exhaustion, seeing his response. I would like to keep him here overnight anyway, to make sure his temperature doesn't rise any more, but I think you caught it in time. You did well in bringing him here," the doctor said reassuringly, and I started crying again, out of relief this time.