Maddy was sitting in the car on the way home from the hospital when she first felt a tingling in her right foot. She shook it, thinking it was just asleep, but the tingling did not subside. I am definitely overreacting this time. She thought to herself. The tingling subsided a bit, and later in the evening it came back. She attributed it to a random occurrence and ignored it, continuing to organize the mail sitting on the counter.
"Look at how cute she is, this is ridiculous" David said, walking over to Maddy holding Cecelia.
Maddy smiled and looked down at the little baby.
"I mean, we're pretty cute" Maddy said. "It is genetic"
"I can't believe she's ours" David said, admiring the baby asleep in his arms.
Maddy kissed David, and the movement caused Cecelia to stir a bit.
"Oops" He whispered, walking back to the couch and sitting down before Cecelia could fully wake up.
The night went as planned, taking care of Cecelia before putting her in the temporary crib next to their bed to sleep. Maddy woke up in the middle of the night to Cecelia crying and got up to pick her up. Her legs felt weak, as if she had done a lot of running the day before. She attributed this to waking up in the middle of the night, changed Cecelia's diaper, and went back to bed. The next morning, the weakness was still there. Even after getting up and walking around the house a little, Maddy still struggled a bit to get her legs to cooperate with her brain. It was almost as if she had stood up on her legs after they had fallen asleep.
"David, I don't want to freak you out..." Maddy started.
"What?" He asked, looking down at Cecelia, who was sleeping in his arms.
"My legs have been getting kind of numb in the past like, 18 hours and this also happened when I had Guillain Barre"
David called their primary care doctor, who suggested that Maddy go to the hospital. David packed up Cecelia and her things and got in the car.
"I'm sure it's fine" David said.
"Yeah, hopefully it's something from the epidural" Maddy said.
"That would make sense" David smiled.
Someone honked at the red light they were sitting at. David winced and looked in the rearview mirror at Cecelia sleeping.
"She really sleeps through anything, huh?" David asked in an attempt to make small talk.
"Yeah" Maddy said, looking out the window.
David frowned slightly and put his hand on Maddy's. They first reached Jason's house where they dropped Cecelia off (with the logic that Cecelia shouldn't be exposed to anything in the hospital for her own safety). They then arrived at the hospital and checked in, waiting about 45 minutes before being called back. Maddy explained the situation to the ED physician, who ordered a spinal tap and an electrode test. After 5 hours and a painful procedure, Maddy was admitted to the hospital and suspected to be in relapse of Guillain Barre syndrome.
"I knew it" Maddy said, wiping a tear away from under her eye.
"Hey, they said it's diagnosed pretty early compared to a lot of other people, and they're getting your records from the hospital in New York because they know what works now. It's gonna be ok" David assured her, knowing fully well this may not be true.
Maddy's parents flew out the same night, promising to stay with Maddy overnight so David could bring Cecelia to sleep at home. When David got home, Jason, Alex, Josh, and Natalie were waiting for him. Jason passed Cecelia to Natalie and hugged David as he began to cry, explaining everything going on.
"Listen, we're going to help you in any way we can, ok? I know Maddy's parents are also here, but I don't know how long they're planning on staying." Jason assured David.
"Thank you" He said. "I don't even know what happens next"
"Just take it one day at a time"
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Remember that oddly misplaced chapter in More where Maddy told David that she had Guillain Barre a few years earlier? Yeah, this was why
