Destiny- Byron Miller

~12~

Maisie spent the rest of the afternoon with Daniel and all the kids until I got out of work.

According to her, she had lots of fun with them.

She even went to sleep with a smile on her face. All cozy in her bed and stuffed animals surrounding her. She looked incredibly peaceful.

That made it easy for me to fall asleep, knowing that she was doing good.

But that only lasted a little while because in the middle of the night I woke up to her screaming.

And when I say screaming, I mean a blood-curdling, extreme, top-of-her-lungs scream.

When I ran into her room she looked like she was still asleep.

Nightmare.

This isn't the first time this has happened. She had a couple while we were at the hospital and a few since then. But nothing like this.

I grabbed onto her shoulders and started shaking her awake.

When it appeared that she woke up she was still scared. She got out of bed and left the room. As she started walking down the hallway, she kept looking around corners or inside of rooms like she was trying to avoid something.

I was beyond confused at this point.

"Maisie!" I yelled to get her attention.

"Byron, I'm trying to get away from her."

"Who are you trying to get away from?"

"Mom."

"Maisie, mom isn't here. You can go back to bed."

"No she's right there. She's trying to get rid of me. Byron! Help! Help! Byron I'm scared!" she yelled over and over.

I made my way over to her and grabbed her into my arms. I carried her back to her room before I tried again to wake her up.

"Byron, I'm not sleeping. I saw her. She grabbed me. You saw it didn't you?"

"It was a dream. It was fake. You don't need to worry."

"No it wasn't. I felt her grab me. I saw her face."

"Do you want to come sleep with me tonight?"

"Yeah."

I picked her up again and held her close to my chest.

"Try to get some sleep. You're safe. I'm right next to you." I said once we were under the covers.

"Byron, why doesn't mom love us?" she said snuggling closer to me.

"What do you mean? Mom loves us. She loved you so much."

"Then why did she leave us?"

"Mom knew that she had issues. And she loved you so much that she had to leave in order to keep you safe. She knew that she wasn't good for you."

"Are we ever going to see her again?"

"I don't know. Do you want to?"

"Never. I never want to see her again."

"Then you don't have to. If you change your mind all you have to do is let me know. I want to give you whatever you want."

"Even a puppy?" she said hopefully.

"Maybe one day, but not right now."

"Okay. Goodnight, Byron"

"Goodnight, Maisie"

At 3:30 I woke up to Maisie screaming again. This time she jumped out of bed and started running out of the room.

I quickly got up and tried to follow her.

She started heading down the stairs and towards the front door, still screaming.

"Maisie!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

She continued running as she left through the front door. She went into the street and across onto the neighbors property.

"Maisie I'm here! Maisie please stop! Maisie it's Byron!"

She dropped to her knees and started sobbing.

"Make it stop!!" she yelled.

I grabbed her into my arms and held her so close, so tight.

"What happened, Maisie?"

"Mom was trying to take me so I ran away. Didn't you see her?!"

"There was no one here except for you and me."

"But I saw her, Byron."

"Let's just go back to bed, okay?"

"Okay."

Soon we were back in my bed. I couldn't sleep after that. I decided I was going to take her to the doctors tomorrow because this is not normal. Especially now that it has happened more than once. I guess my English grade is just going to have to suffer a little bit more.

When I got out of bed that morning I made an appointment for 1:00. That way we both can spend time at school and I don't have to miss work.

Maisie was really tired because she didn't get much sleep last night either. Luckily, Bailey slept through most of the night.

I picked up Maisie from school at 12:40 so that we could get to the appointment on time.

"Do you know why we're going to the doctors today?" i asked her as we pulled out of the elementary school parking lot.

"No"

"Today I want you to talk to the doctor about what's been happening at night. Your nightmares and how they carry into after you wake up. Okay?"

"Okay."

When we arrived I took her out of her car seat and she held onto my hand as she skipped next to me up to the entrance.

After waiting about 5 minutes "Maisie Harrison" was called from the side door by a nice looking woman with short curly blonde hair.

After she lead us to the room she took Maisie to measure her weight, height, and blood pressure.

When the doctor arrived she said, "So what's been going on?"

I answered her with, "Last night she woke up from nightmares twice and both times it had carried on after she woke up," I turned to Maisie and said, "Can you tell her exactly what happens."

"In my dreams my mom tries to steal me. At some point I wake up because of Byron but I don't ever see him there. So I keep running, but when Byron yells to me that's when I don't see her anymore. All I see is him. But I still feel like I saw her. It feels so real."

After everything was said at the doctors appointment, the doctor finally gave a diagnosis.

She believes that she is having nightmares and hallucinations because of sepsis. She said that it is common for things like this to happen after having it. Maisie could either have this forever or she could grow out of it. There's no way to know right now.

For now Maisie was put on medication that will hopefully stop the nightmares.

For the next hour or so, we spent it at Daniels house. The girls always have so much fun playing with each other. And I really enjoy my time with Daniel because our situations are so similar.

When I left their house to go to work I felt great seeing a smile on Maisie's face and knowing that she'll end up just fine.