Chapter 21

That same night, Sarah and Richie sat in bed together before going to sleep.

Sarah wore one of her short, flimsy nightgowns that Richie liked so much before they'd strip down to sleep. For once, Richie was still partially dressed, tight boxers were all he was wearing as he sat close to his wife. He was still scrolling through stuff on his phone.

Sarah was holding the baby monitor, the sound had already been raised so she could hear Daniel breath as he slept in his own room. She still couldn't shake the worried feeling.

"Listen." Sarah said, holding the baby monitor closer to hear Daniel.
Richie looked up at his wife. She shouldn't worry so much. "He's fine."
"No, listen. His breathing sounds raspy."
He listened for a few seconds. "The doctor said he'd sound raspy for a while, he's still recovering."
"But it sounds like he's struggling to breathe, it's rapid again and wheezy."

Richie sighed, he didn't want his wife to worry this much about their son. He'd been very ill but he was recovering and it would still take a while to get back to normal, they both knew that.

"That's normal." He tried to reassure again.
"It's not." Sarah insisted. "I'm taking him back to the hospital in the morning."
"Fine." He gave in, at least that would give Sarah peace of mind. "We'll go in the morning."

With a sigh, Sarah placed the baby monitor back on the night stand next to the bed. Then she turned around to her husband, snuggling into his side, laying her head on his shoulder.

Putting away his phone, he wrapped his arms around his wife and cuddled her back.



In the morning Sarah woke up alone, she felt it without opening her eyes, Richie's presence wasn't there. Which disappointed her, waking up next to him was one of the best things in her life. Waking up in his arms was even better.

Opening her eyes, she noticed the room was empty, Richie wasn't there. She also didn't hear him in the bathroom or dressing room. What she did hear was Daniel on the baby monitor. He'd been a great baby and had learned to sleep through the nights quite quickly which all of them were very grateful for.

After getting up and putting on a matching housecoat that wouldn't reveal how flimsy her nightgown was, Sarah walked to Daniel's room.

Once she stood next to him, she became more worried about his breathing. Richie had been right, she knew that, Daniel still needed to recover but he hadn't been recovering. He'd been home for over a week but not progress. A mother's instinct told her that it wasn't right and that there was something more that needed to be checked out.

Daniel was still sleeping and believing sleep was one of the best ways to recover, Sarah left him to sleep some more while she went to look for Richie.

In the hallway she turned left and walked to his office. The door was slightly open and a light was turned on, she could hear Richie talk but nobody answered. He was obviously on the phone talking to somebody.

As she heard him end his call, Sarah gently knocked on the door and pushed it open.

"Everything okay?'
Richie sighed as he put the phone back in it's docking station and looked up at his wife. "Fine."
"What's wrong?" Sarah asked as she walked over to him.
"Nothing really, just phoned Jon to say I won't be on tour."
Sarah looked up at her husband, searching his eyes. "Do you regret that now?"
"Not at all but it makes me feel I'm letting everyone down."
Sarah understood and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head on his chest. "Who are the most important people in your life?" She asked him.
"You, Ava, Daniel and Caleb and Noah." He didn't need to think about it.
"You're not letting any of us down. We're all very happy to have you home for a few more months."
"Yeah." Richie agreed and wrapped his arms around Sarah too. Remembering just how important his family was to him. "Lets go get dressed so we can get Daniel checked out by a doctor." He suggested before reaching down to kiss Sarah. How glad he was to be able to go on doctor visits with Daniel, even though he didn't want to hear any more bad news.