Chapter 1
Thirteen years earlier…
It
was a Saturday in early February, and Jackie Littrell was puttering around in
the kitchen, making lunch for her two sons, nine year old Harry, and five year
old Brian.
Her
walk was more of a waddle, for she was almost nine months pregnant and was
nearing her due date. Her stomach had
grown huge, and with her short frame, getting around had gotten to be much of a
struggle.
“Mommy!”
a weak voice called.
Jackie
sighed. It was the voice of her oldest
son, Harry. He was lying on the couch
in the living room, sick. He had missed
school the day before, and he seemed to be getting no better.
“What,
sweetheart?” Jackie called back.
“I
really don’t feel good,” he called back, his voice sounding hoarse and
raspy.
“I’ll
be there in a minute, hun,” Jackie said, hastily smearing some jelly across the
peanut butter of Brian’s sandwich. She
slapped a piece of bread over it and set it down on a paper plate.
“Brian!”
she called. “Lunchtime!”
She
heard the pattering of Brian’s little feet as he came scurrying into the
kitchen. Jackie settled him down at the
table and put the paper plate with the peanut butter and jelly sandwich and
some potato chips on it and set a glass of milk down next to it.
“I’ll
be right back, honey,” she said, carrying Harry’s lunch into the living room.
“I’m
not hungry,” Harry moaned when he saw her enter the room. “I feel horrible.”
“Aw,
sweetie,” Jackie said sympathetically, leaning over to feel his forehead. When her palm touched his head, she drew it
back in surprise. His temperature had
gotten much higher since she had last checked.
“My
chest hurts, Mom,” Harry said, coughing deeply.
Jackie’s
eyes widened in alarm. That did not
sound good. And after all they had been
through lately, she knew she couldn’t take any chances.
It
had been Brian, not Harry, who had last been sick. It was the summer before, when they had
brought him to the hospital after he hit his head outside, thinking he might
have a concussion. As it turns out,
Brian had a serious staph infection that had entered his bloodstream and spread
to his heart. The infection was almost
always fatal, and he had been given a zero percent chance of living. By some miracle though, he had rallied and
fought off the infection, proving the doctors wrong.
That
summer had been the hardest of Jackie’s life.
She had almost lost her son.
Since then, she had been much more protective with both of her
boys. She didn’t want to go through
anything so horrible ever again.
“Harry,
you sit tight. I’m going to call your
Dad,” Jackie said, heading back into the kitchen, where Brian sat, quietly
eating his sandwich.
Jackie
picked up the phone and dialed the number of her husband Harold’s office at
IBM, where he worked.
When
she had him on the phone, she hastily explained, “Harry’s gotten worse. His fever has gotten higher, and his cough
sounds horrible. Plus, he says his chest
hurts. What should I do?”
“Well…
that sounds like it could be pneumonia,” Harold said, worriedly. “Maybe you should take him to the doctor.”
“Okay,”
Jackie said. “Right now?”
“The
sooner the better. If it’s serious,
he’ll need medicine as soon as possible,” Harold replied.
“Okay,”
Jackie said. “Thanks, honey.”
“Call
me to let me know how he’s doing later, okay?”
“Okay,
hun,” Jackie said. “Bye.”
They
hung up the phone, and Jackie turned to Brian.
“Sweetheart, go upstairs and get your coat and your shoes. We have to take Harry to the doctor.”
“But,
what about my lunch?” Brian asked, eyeing his half eaten sandwich.
“I’ll
get you something to eat later. Right
now, we have to take your brother to the doctor. He’s sick,” Jackie said.
“Okay,”
Brian said, scooching off his chair and taking off up the stairs to his
bedroom.
Jackie
headed into the living room. “Baby, I’m
taking you to the doctor,” she said to Harry.
“No…”
Harry protested. “I don’t wanna go!”
“I’m
sorry, honey, but you’re sick. You
don’t have a choice,” Jackie said.
“I’ll be right back.”
She
climbed slowly up the stairs and got a pair of sweats, along with shoes and a
coat for Harold.
By
the time she got back downstairs, Brian was standing by the back door, his blue
winter coat on, and his Sesame Street velcro tennis shoes on his feet. “I’m ready, Mommy,” he announced.
“Good,
honey,” Jackie said, smiling at him.
“We’ll leave in just a few minutes.”
She
headed back into the living room and helped Harry change out of his pajamas and
into the sweats. Once he had his coat
and shoes on, she grabbed her car keys and led Harry and Brian out into the
garage to the car.
“Buckle
up, boys,” she reminded as she squeezed into the driver’s seat. From the backseat, she heard two clicks as
Harry and Brian buckled their seatbelts.
Satisfied, she started the car.
On
the way to the local pediatrician’s office, she glanced repeatedly back at
Harry, who had his head resting against the cold glass of the window. “We’re almost there, honey,” she said
softly. Harry just moaned in
response.
In
the parking lot of the doctor’s office, Jackie whipped into an empty space and
shut off the car. She grunted as she
struggled to climb out of the car and get her sons out.
Once
they were all out of the car, Jackie took Brian’s small hand in hers, putting
her other arm around Harry’s shoulders, and led them both into the building.
***
