Always been you//Jolex

Chapter 24

"Jo, Alex, Sadie's biopsy came back positive for rejection."
"Oh, god." I say, and Alex takes my hand.
"So, what now?" Alex asks.
"I'm going to adjust her meds and start her on IV antibiotics, which means she's going to need to be hospitalized for the remainder of the cycle." Maggie tells us.
"Which is what, 2 weeks?" I ask.
"Yes. I want the two of you to know that I'm going to be monitoring Sadie extremely closely, and I'm hopeful that she'll be back to her normal self by the end of that duration."
As I look through the glass at my little girl lying in a hospital bed, a tear rolls down my cheek. But I don't have it in me to break down again, so I wipe my cheek and with every ounce of fight I have left, I will myself to keep it together.
"Thank you, Maggie. Can we go in now?" I ask.
"Of course. She's still under sedation from the procedure, but it should wear off soon."
I walk inside, Alex behind me, and take a seat in the chair beside her bed. I hold her little hand, her fingernails painted pink, and watch her chest rise and fall as she breaths in and out. Every once and a while someone looks through the window to see how she's doing, but no one enters. Alex and I sit quietly, leaving us no choice to think about the current situation.
"What do you think about Athena for the baby?" I ask, breaking the silence.
"What?"
"I can't think about this right now. I want to think about something...happy. So, do you like Athena? Or Riley?"
"Yeah, Riley is cute." He responds.
Sadie begins to stir, and she opens her eyes a moment later. She looks around and frowns when she sees where she is.
"What...happened?" She mutters, clearly a bit groggy.
"Your new heart is sick, baby. Doctor Maggie is giving you some medicine to help you get better, but you're gonna have to stay here for a while." I say.
"Oh." Is all she says, trying to sit herself up. Alex grabs another pillow from beside the bed and helps her to prop herself up.
"Come here." I say, sitting beside her in bed and putting my arm around her. She leans on my chest and stares blankly.
"Am I gonna be home in time to meet my baby sister?"
"You'll be back home way before the baby gets here. Mommy is at 25 weeks and she has to get to about 4o. You'll have to stay here for about 2 weeks, but after that you're gonna be back at home with all your toys and clothes and friends. And while you are here, your teachers will send over school work, you're gonna get to watch TV all day, and mommy and I are gonna be here right here whenever we can. It's gonna be okay, I promise." Alex says.
A week later, everything was going to plan and she was showing signs of improvement. We were by her side between every consult, surgery and patient. We stayed at the hospital with her most nights, but sometimes we snuck back home to shower and whatnot before returning early in the morning.
"Hey, Sadie." I say, strolling into her room with a smile on my face. I have 15 minutes before surgery, and I want to spend them with her.
"Hi, mama." She says with a grin. "Is my heart getting better?"
"It sure is, sweetie. Just one more week and you'll be outta here before you know it."
"Okay. Can you help me with my worksheet? Mrs.Dulcey visited me this morning and brought me some work to do."
"Sure! What do you got?"
"It's math. I'm solving for x." She says.
"Jeez, I didn't learn that until, like, middle school."
"Mrs. D says I have a gifted mind and I need some more advanced work to give me a challenge."
"Well, lucky for you, I'm kind of a math whiz myself." I tease, reading over the question.
She got better each day, and just as Alex had told her, Sadie was at Grey Sloan for 14 days total, and she made an amazing recovery. The most amazing part is she stayed strong with a smile on her face while she did it. By the time she had finished the meds, she was stable and we were able to take her back home.
We opted to keep her home from school for another week, and by the time she was cleared to go back, she was ecstatic to return to school.
It's the Sunday before everything is scheduled to return to normal, I decide to spend the day with her before she goes from only child to big sister. Alex is still at work, and it's just the two of us. I'm taking her shopping at the mall and then out to dinner. Alex and I both want her to feel as loved as she is, and not like we forgot about her now that we're having a baby.
We look through a few different stores, and she marvels at all of the clothes. Even though she's been shopping with me before, I think she's still not used to being able to get whatever she wants. When she was in the system, she was given a few clothes and toys and that was that. She gets so excited by all of the dresses and leggings and headbands with different colors and patterns, and even more excited when she gets to buy them for herself.
"Should I get the one with the unicorn or the one with the sparkles?" She asks, holding up two different shirts.
"How about both?" I ask.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Put em in the cart." I say, moving through the rows of clothes.
We get dinner at a little place in the mall, she has chicken tenders and I get a salad. By the time we leave, I have 2 huge bags of clothes and a very happy Sadie. She falls asleep in the car on the drive home, and Alex is back from the hospital and helps to carry her into bed.
"Night night, Sadiebug. Sleep tight." I say, giving her a kiss on the cheek before closing the door behind me.
Alex is waiting for me in bed, already laying under the blankets in his pajamas.
"Jo, you're an amazing mom. I'm so lucky to have you. We all are." He says, giving me kiss.