Settling in Seattle

Chapter 25- Detour

"This has been amazing." Rachel watched as Mike walked out of the shower room, a towel wrapped around his lower half.

"I know. It makes me upset that we have to leave, I'm happy we're driving back though, you?"

"Happy we don't have to fly, yes, however it's quite a way to go!" Rachel pulled the duvet off and followed Mike out of the room, Rosalie was still sleeping.

"Right, everything is packed up, we'll just have a quick breakfast and then I think we can get going." Mike pushed the luggage more towards the front door.

"Yep!" Rachel watched whilst sitting down at the breakfast bar.

"Is she still asleep?" Mike asked, his eyes still on the road.

'Yeah, I think so." Rachel looked back to the mirror, to see her baby girl with her eyes shut, smiling weakly, she looked adorable.

"She should wake up soon, it's been quite a long time, we only have three hours left, the next place we can stop, okay?"

"Okay." Rachel seemed a little displaced, but Mike put it down to the stress of travel.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yes." She was very abrupt, not meaning it to sound half as sharp as it did.

"Woah. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just a little on edge."

"About what?" Mike was trying his best to sound soft, not wanting to push too hard.

"Uh, the past couple of days Rosalie hasn't been eating the most she ever has. I know she's only three weeks old, and it hasn't been a huge drop, so I haven't really taken any notice of it. Once I saw it I tried to rule it out of my head, just assumed because she was tired. But she has been sleeping for very long periods of time, do you think it's anything serious?"

"Uh, no, I don't think it's anything serious. This morning she took a pretty big meal. And you record whenever she's fed, so maybe it's just a phase." He didn't seem too concerned about it but the truth was he was petrified that something was wrong. Mike was trying to relax himself into believing it was just a phase.

"Okay, when we stop I'll give her a once over, just check everything is good?" Rachel's cheeks were flushed, she couldn't hide the fact she was worried, her knee twitching became more prominent.

"Hey," Mike placed his hand onto Rachel's, that was resting on her thigh, "It's okay, look, she's okay. She's snoring away back there, she's fine. You're doing a great job as a mother, I promise."

"What if I'm not?"

"Oh, Rach, you are. You're doing so wonderfully." Rachel stared out the dashboard, watching the cars in front of her, she felt tears prick at her eyes, but pushed them back. There was silence for a while until they arrived at a small service station.

"Right, I'll get the changing mat." Mike opened his door and walked to the back of the car.

"Okay, baby girl, let's have a look and see if you're all okay." Rachel unclipped the infant and pulled her out, setting her on her thighs. Rachel placed two fingers on her cheek to check her temperature, and it seemed pretty okay, maybe raised a little bit, they were slightly reddened too. "Mike, can you come check this?" Rachel noticed Rosalie's chest rising and falling, her eyes slowly widened, and her face crumpled. She began to cry.

She seemed serious, "Is everything okay?" Mike peered in the backseat, Rachel was unbuttoning the sleeper quickly, to reveal a ferocious rash on her chest. She rubbed the girls cheeks in an attempt to calm her.

"Oh my god. It must've turned up whilst in the car. It wasn't there this morning when I dressed her." Rachel was short of breath, and scooped the child up into her arms, beginning to rock her.

"Rachel don't panic. It could be anything..."

"Yes, that's just it Mike, it could be anything." Rachel was getting a little snappy, but Mike couldn't blame her. She was observing the redness.

"Hey, calm down, it looks pretty nasty, how about we put her in some cooler clothes, let the air get to it, you can sit in the back the rest of the way. I'll call her doctor, and we'll see where we go from there. Rachel, it could just be a heat rash or something."

"Okay, just pass me the onesie in her changing bag. It doesn't look like heat rash to me." Rachel caught the onesie that was thrown, and Mike placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Rachel, it'll be okay." She looked up at him, her face still frowning and worried, but somehow the situation felt slightly better. Rosalie took some milk, but not much, which only worried Rachel more. She changed Rosalie and Mike climbed back into the driver's seat. Whilst he was finding the doctor's contact, Rachel placed Rosalie back into the car seat.

The doctor asked them to describe the rash, to which they did. Rachel couldn't help but realise he sounded worried. It wasn't like anything she'd seen before, and to think it could be harmful made Rachel's heart skip a beat. He told them to drive to the hospital instead of going home, just in case. They could run tests, rule out anything it wasn't, get to the bottom of it.

As soon as the line was cut, Rachel sighed. "He was worried, really worried."

"Dr Fringe is one of the best children's doctors in the city. She's in good hands. The hospital is only half an hour away. Like he said, they'll assess her and then we can solve the problem. He also said he had his suspicions, and it wasn't serious."

"Yes, but he can't see it yet. I can. And that looks painful. There are blisters forming Mike."

"Rachel just try to keep in mind that it'll be okay. She's a strong ass baby. You're her mother," She sighed and kept her eye firmly on her daughter, knee still ferociously twitching, "I love you, we'll be alright."

They pulled into the hospital and took Rosalie in. They'd arranged to see Dr Fringe first, just so if he knew what it was they wouldn't have to put her through any uncomfortable tests.

"Rosalie Ross, to see Dr Fringe?" Mike asked the receptionist.

"Ah yes, please sit down, the doctor will be with you soon."

They took a seat and stared at each other for a moment, riddled with worry. Mike's eyes had fear in them, Rachel could see it. They were scared, but they knew they'd get through it, after all, it could be something pretty harmless.