Your Name

The Call

Two Weeks Later
~
I was watching TV when my phone rang. I checked the ID and noticed that it was the school. I muted it.

A little bit worried I answered. "Hello?"

"Hi, Ms.Lovato." It was the school nurse. My heart immedietely dropped. She probably just scraped her knee again, Demi, don't worry.

"Hi, Cheryl! How are you?" I asked.

"I'm okay thanks. Sorry to bother you but I'm calling because I've got Jaden here. Ms. Smith sent her down after she complained that she didn't feel well. She's been quite thristy and has very little energy which, as you know, is quite uncharacterstic of her. Now, I can keep her here if you can't make it to the school until later or you can come and get her now if that works for your schedule."

"No, no I'll come and get her. Tell Jaden that I'm on my way now and that I'll be there soon. Thanks so much Cheryl," I said.

"Okay great! I'll tell her, thank-you very much Ms.Lovato, bye now," She said.

"Bye," I replied.

When I got off the phone, I grabbed my purse, keys and a water bottle and ran to my car. My poor baby. I knew I shouldn't have sent her this morning. She was complaining that she wasn't feeling well. I should've listened. It's done now Dem. Just go and pick her up. She won't go tomorrow, that's all.

I turned onto Sunset Boulevard and then into the school parking lot. I parked and quickly hopped out of my Range Rover. I walked into the school and over to the nurses office. I knocked on the door and I was let in by an older student.

She led me over to where Jaden was sitting down in a chair. As I walked over to her and squatted down next to her, I realized how sick she really did look. I noticed that she seemed to have lost a lot of weight too.

"Hey baby," I said, brushing stray hairs out of her eyes and putting my hand on her forehead. She was extremely hot. "Oh my, let's get you out of here, okay?"

Jade nodded and slowly stood up. I grabbed her backpack and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. After I signed her out, we walked over to the car. As we walked, I noticed how slugish Jade was. She had no energy, it wasn't like her at all.

I picked her up and her head fell onto my chest. I looked at her face. She was white as a ghost and she was struggling to keep her eyes open. I put my hand on the back of her head and kept it close to my chest.

When we finally reached the car, I set her down and put her backpack in the back seat. I opened Jade's door, picked her up and placed her inside. I put her seatbelt on and walked around to my side.

After I buckled myself in, I turned my body sideways to face Jade. "I'm sorry Jade. I should've listened to you when you said that you wanted to stay home today. You definietely gonna stay..."

"Momma?" She interuppted, weakness apparent in her voice

"What's wrong baby?" I said, rubbing her tummy.

"Can I have water please?" She asked.

I handed her the water bottle. "Here baby. Let's go home okay? You need some Tylenol and rest. You can lay on the couch and watch TV with me. How does that sound?"

She was guzzling down the water bottle. She took a breather and nodded.

Just focus on getting this kid home, I thought to myself.

Within ten minutes we were back at the house. I parked in the drive way and walked around to Jade. I opened the back door and grabbed her backpack. I put it on my back and opened up Jade's door. I picked her up and locked the car. I walked inside and put Jade down on her feet.

"You wanna go and put some pajamas on and then we can watch TV?" I asked.

Jade nodded and slowly made her way up the stairs. I followed her upstairs and changed into pajamas too. Hey, if baby gets to be in PJs, Momma does too.

I went over to Jade's room to find her lying on her bed in her pajamas, holding Echo.

"Hey, you wanna come downstairs or lay up here?"

She turned her head. "I'll come down with you. I just feel really bleh right now. I needed to lie down."

"Aww Jadey. C'mere, I'll carry you down," I pouted, outstretching my arms.

She sat up and stretched up her arms. I picked her up and she layed her head on my chest. I grabbed her duvet and and pillow and handed it to her. When we got downstairs I laid her down on the couch and put her pillow underneath her head and then her duvet on top of her. I squatted down and put my hand on her forehead once again. She was still extremely warm. I walked over to the bathroom and brought back the thermomator and the bottle of Tylenol. I stuck the thermomator under her tounge. It read 110 degrees. My eyes popped out of my head when I read the number.

"Jaden, you have a really high fever, so I'm going to give you some Tylenol and we'll see if it works, okay?"

She nodded. "Momma, can I have more water please?"

I brushed the stray hair out of her face and nodded. "Of course baby. I'll be right back, okay?"

She nodded. I went to the pantry and came back with a whole case of water, placing it next to the couch. I handed her a half-open bottle and one pill of Tylenol. She sat up, popped the pill in her mouth and chugged back the water. She sat up and stared at me for a bit. I sat next to her on the couch and put her pillow on my lap. I patted her pillow and she laid her head down. I turned on the TV and put Mean Girls on. I rubbed Jade's tummy and held my hand on her head. She looked as if she was getting worse by the minute.

I kissed her forehead. "How ya feeling baby?" I asked.

She shook her head. "My head hurts. I feel like a Coldplay song with an extra dose of melancholy."

I chuckled. "That's an interesting way of saying you feel like shit," I said. I rubbed her forehead, "But I know what you mean. Maybe you should just close your eyes and try to sleep," I suggested, tickling her tummy, "It will probably make you feel a little less Coldplay."

She nodded and closed her eyes. I continued to rub her tummy and sang her song to her. She soon fell asleep and I continued to watch the movie.

I still couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with her. She had ZERO energy and was so thirsty. And I still couldn't fathom how much weight she had lost. It was so strange. It's like overnight she had suddenly become so sick and... skinny. I hope that it's nothing major. Hopefully she'll be okay in a couple of days.