Destiny- Byron Miller

~9~

The next week and a half was hell. We were in the hospital for a total of 9 days.

The second day we were there I told no one to visit. Maisie was still crying most of the day and was very very sick. So it just made me feel better if our family and friends didn't have to see her like this.

Halfway through day 3 Maisie wasn't doing horrible. I texted my mom and told her that now would be a good time to come. To my surprise, my mother wasn't drunk when she arrived. She actually spent around 2 hours with us. I'm not going to lie, it felt good to have the company.

On day 4 Amanda came to visit. She didn't bring Gwen though because she didn't want her daughter to be around all the illnesses of the hospital. She spent a long time with us. Probably 4 hours. Maisie also seemed to take a step back. Her fever spiked again but we made sure to lower it before she had another seizure. She was so tired all the time. Just pure exhaustion. But later that night when it was just me and Maisie, I got her to laugh for the first time in what seemed like forever so all the struggles of the day seemed worth it.

Day 6 nothing very exciting happened medically. But it was Christmas. I couldn't bring any of her presents to the hospital but we did get news that she improved enough to a stable condition so she would be transferred to a regular room, out of the ICU, the following day. That was more of a Christmas present than anything we could have asked for.

And then on day 7 she switched rooms. Lots of people came to visit. Our maternal grandparents and Maisie's paternal grandparents came to visit. Aunts and uncles and cousins. Daniel came to visit. Even some of my friends from school who know Maisie came to visit. Everyone was gone by 6, but that's when she started to get bad again. She started throwing up again and shaking. She wasn't transferred to the ICU or anything but her nurses came in more often than before.

On day 8 she was doing much better again. Her temperature was back to normal and she didn't throw up at all. Also we got the news that she could be discharged the following day as long as she stayed consistent all day long.

And then on day 9 we were sent home.

Maisie was so excited to be back at home and be able to sleep in our bed again.

Bailey was now back with me again too. Amanda and Hadley took turns watching her while I couldn't. I felt really really bad about it but I had to other options. There's no way I would have been able to take care of them both while Maisie was in that condition. I also didn't want Bailey around the hospital.

The following day Maisie told me that she wants to see her friends again. She told me that she wanted Gwen to meet Sienna and Elowen. I told her that I'll try my best to make that happen.

I made some phone calls and Amanda said that she would be more than happy to have them sleepover her house this weekend.

We all decided it was best to have it there so that I could watch Bailey and Daniel could watch Henry and Lana.

After me and Daniel dropped the girls off, we decided to grab something to eat.

We decided on Crusty's Creamery so that Henry could go on the indoor playground and get ice cream after.

I learned a lot that night.

I learned that Daniels parents died in the same plane crash as Maisie's dad. What are the odds of that?! Talking to someone else who has gone through the same situation as you is a special experience. You realize that you're not really alone. I never really thought about the other people on that airplane. I just knew that my father figure was gone. I didn't think about the fact that someone else out there lost their mom, dad, sister, brother, daughter, son, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, cousin, and so many more. That was a plane with 142 people on it. 142 people who had families. That's a lot of impact. And I thought I was alone when really so many people out there went through something similar.

But, I also learned that Henry did in fact go home and tell Daniel about the incident at the park. That really made me proud of him. Daniel said that Henry was crying and that he said he wouldn't be hanging out with them anymore. I had a feeling Henry wasn't the kind of boy to go and do that kind of stuff. And him actually telling Daniel what he had done really made me want to buy him an ice cream cone.

One big thing that I learned was that Lana has Down Syndrome and was deaf. Although, if you get past the way her appearance is and really just focus on her personality, then she is just like any other human on this earth. Except that she is always smiling and happy about everything. what an inspiration. It was like Lana had this power over me and I just couldn't stop smiling at the girl. She was one of the cutest little things I've seen.

I learned that Henry's 10 birthday is coming up and Daniel is excited to see what his symbol will be. Daniel is convinced that it will be a birthmark. But you never really know. No one knows. Except the NAAS. Sometimes I wish you could choose what you get. But then I realized that if I could choose, then I probably wouldn't have ended up with Maisie. And that would be a tragedy.

At 7:00 we decided to start heading home. After we picked up all our trash and threw it away, Daniel said to Henry, "Here. Take Lana and go get both of you buckled into the car. I'll be there in a minute. I just want to talk to Byron for one more minute." Then Henry did exactly as he was told.

I just stood there waiting for Daniel to speak. He was looking at me like he was scared of me. This made me nervous.

"Are you alright?" I asked anxiously.

"Oh, yeah. Ummm. Okay so here's the thing. You're gay, I'm gay, and I've never met anyone with the name Byron except for you. And well, the name of my soulmate is Byron. So I was wondering if you had my name on your wrist?" he said as he lifted up his sleeve to reveal my name on his wrist.

I had no words. I didn't know what to say. This is it. Daniel is meant to be mine. Daniel is my soulmate.

By this time Daniel was visibly getting nervous, but I still had no words. All I could think to do was lift my sleeve to show him his name.

"We're soulmates," he said.

So yeah. I also learned that tonight too.