Chapter 4

They stayed with Daniel the entire day.

Around noon Richie had gone to get lunch for them from the cafeteria. Walking around the hospital, it was obvious the decorations tried their best to cheer up children and distract them from being sick. He walked pas an entire wall painted like an aquarium, or a sea. Maybe an ocean? He spotted Nemo in four different places.

"I think I'll go home for a little bit." Richie said around 2 o' clock in the afternoon.
Sarah looked up at him, worried. "Why?"
"To see how our other kids are. Maybe they want to come visit Daniel." He explained.
"Oh." Sarah said, as if she just remembered they had more children.
"And I can get us some clothes so we can stay the night."
Sarah nodded, relieved her husband had thought of it, because she hadn't. All she could think about was Daniel. "Okay, but don't be gone too long."
"Daniel's alright here." Richie tried to assure her.
She nodded again. "Yes, but I need you too."

Richie stood up from his own chair and walked over to his wife. He gently wrapped his arms around her.

After a few minutes he let her go. "Don't worry too much. Like Dr. Daniel said."
Sarah sighed. "I can't. I'm worried. How aren't you worried?"
Richie frowned and sat down next to her. "I am worried about Daniel, but I think he needs the positive vibes. He will get better. I'm also worried about you."
"About me?"
Nodding gently, he answered. "You hardly slept last night, you hardly ate. Of course we're worried but be positive, okay?"
"What about the other thing Dr. Daniel said? That he doesn't react to his name?"
"We're not worrying about that now." Richie reminded his wife.
"What if he can't hear?"
"Honey, if the doctor was really worried about that, he'd be doing tests right now." He tried to assure her.

A second later, he stood up and held his hand out for Sarah. "Come on, let's sit on the couch." He helped her up when Sarah took his hand and together they walked to the couch where they sat together. Sarah cuddled into his side, her legs pulled up on the couch. Richie had his arm around her, stroking her back as they listened to their son breathing.

The exact minute school was out, Richie received a text.

He swyped his phone screen and the message popped up.

How's Daniel doing??

He knew his daughter was sweet and caring, that's exactly why he wanted to go home and pick them all up to visit their baby brother. In a text, he told Ava that.


The hospital was only a 15 minute drive and he was back with his son in less than an hour.

All three teenagers stood around Daniel's crib, all with worried faces.

As he sat back down next to his wife to comfort her, he tried to use the exact words the doctor had to describe whooping cough and how Daniel was doing.

A knock at the door destracted him from his explanation, making him look up. Daniel's nurse, Nurse Jenny, holding a teddy bear. He frowned til she spoke.

"This just got delivered for Daniel. I signed off for it, somebody named David Bryan sent it. There's a card." She held the envelope out to Richie along with the bear.
Richie smiled. "Thank you." He sat down with Sarah to show her while the nurse check on Daniel.
"That's cute." Sarah said. "Put it with him, we didn't bring any of his stuffed animals."
Richie handed her the envelope for her to open and went to put a dressed up Winnie The Pooh bear in Daniel's crib.
Nurse Jenny made sure it was safe for Daniel.

Before leaving she said, "My shift is over. I think nurse Megane will be looking after your son until 10 tonight."

The card Sarah was holding had well wishes from David and the rest of the band.

Chapter 3

They were roused from sleep by a gentle knock on the door.

Richie looked up, as he was facing the door, another doctor but the same nurse from earlier had walked into the room.

"Hi." The nurse said, "Sorry to wake you up."
"No problem." Richie said, looking at Sarah, noticing she was awake now too.

Both got up from the bed, the doctor and nurse waited patiently for them to join around Daniel's hospital crib.

"Hi, I'm doctor Daniel Smillie." He smiled as if pointing out his surname was perfect for him.
Richie held back a chuckle.
The doctor noticed it anyway. "I know, it's great for the kids, they love it. It creates a little bond." He opened a chart and started reading. "I also love when I share a name with a patient, just hate seeing them so sick." He looked over at Daniel in his crib. When he looked back at Sarah and Richie, he added, "I specialize in lung diseases in newborns and infants, he's in the best care for this. You've already gotten the result of the x-rays. Blood tests just got back and we can confirm it's Pertussis, also known as whooping cough."
Both Sarah and Richie sighed, they had been warned about it but had hoped it wasn't true.
"We'll be starting on antibiotics straightaway."
"How long will he have to stay in the hospital?" Sarah asked worried about her youngest son.
Dr. Smillie sighed. "It depends on how fast he heals but usually it can take up to four weeks, especially when they're this young."
Sarah looked even more worried when she head the diagnosis.
"He'll get better." Dr. Smillie reassured them. "You can always call the nurse when you need them or even have me paged."

After the doctor gave the nurse instructions about the antibiotics, he continued explaining about whooping cough.

"The bacterium, Bordetella pertussis mainly infects the lining of the trachea and bronchi. As soon as Bordetella pertussis reaches the lining of the airways it multiplies, causing an accumulation of mucus. It builds up and that's why he coughs so badly, to try to expel it. The coughing becomes more intense because there is so much mucus. As the inflammation of the airways gets worse, they swell up and become narrower, which makes it harder for Daniel to breathe."

Sarah sat down during the entire medical explanation. It was too hard to hear how sick her little boy was. At barely six months old, this wasn't where he should be.

Richie moved closer to Sarah, stroking her back as the doctor took a look at Daniel.

"Look who just woke up." He said, looking up at Sarah and Richie. "Sleep is a good way for him to get better and you can always put the oxygen mask on if you think he needs it, or call his nurse." He looked back in the crib. "Hi Daniel."

A few seconds later, the nurse returned.

Sarah and Richie watched how they attached an IV to Daniel's cannula.

The doctor frowned when he looked up at them again.

"What's wrong?" Sarah asked immediately.
"He's alright. Six months old, right?"
Sarah nodded. "October 18th last fall."
He frowned again. "Does he usually react when you call his name?"
Sarah's eyes went wide with panic, softly she shook her head. "No."
"What about sounds?" The doctor continued. "Is he making any sounds when you talk to him?"
"No. What are you saying?"
Richie wrapped his arm around his wife, feeling the same way she was.
"Nothing to worry about. It might just be because he's sick and doesn't want to. At about 3 months, he should react to his name and now he should start making sounds so maybe he's just not there yet. They're all different and take a different amount of time to develop."
"You think he can't hear us?"
Dr. Smillie shrugged. "I'm not sure, like I said, he might just not be in the mood. Since he's here, we'll keep an eye on it and if needed, we'll find a hearing specialist. Don't worry more than you have to."

After making sure everything with Daniel was alright, the doctor had to visit another patient. He shook both parent's hand.
"Thanks doctor Smillie." Sarah said.
Richie couldn't help himself and chuckled again.
"Dr. Daniel." The doctor corrected, "We all go by first names here, easier for the children."
"Same for the nurses." The nurse pitched in. "I'll also be his nurse the entire time he's here, along with another nurse, depending on our shifts."

They had left and now Sarah and Richie were sitting in comfortable chairs on each side of Daniel's crib. Their baby boy had gone back to sleep after another coughing spell. He looked fragile in the large bed. A nasal cannula was taped to his cheeks so he had continuous help to breathe. On the back of his tiny hand, was a cannula with IV, wrapped up in a bandage and splint.

Chapter 2

A dial tone was what he heard, nervousness and worriedness was what he felt.
"Richie? Where are you?"
Just as he expected, Jon sounded angry.
"We already did sound check and you're not even here. Are you on your way? Where are you?" His questions came so fast, there was no pause between them.
"The hospital." He was finally able to put in a word between Jon's questions.
"What? The hospital? Why?" His angry voice made way for worriedness.
"Daniel was admitted this morning. They did some test but don't have results yet." Richie explained, trying to think through the fogginess in his head that was caused by how scared he was for his son.
"He had a cold. He's in the hospital for a cold?!"
He tried to stay calm despite Jon's stupid question. "It's not a cold. The doctor is pretty sure it's whooping cough."
"What's that?" Jon asked confused but didn't wait for an explanation. "So you won't make it for tonight, what about tomorrow?"
Richie almost growled in annoyance. His son was seriously ill. "No I won't make it for tonight and most likely not tomorrow either or the week after!"
"What the fuck man? What's your deal?"
"Learn some sympathy! My six month old son stopped breathing twice today and you ask when I'll be there? When my son's life isn't in danger anymore!" It came out a lot angrier than he had meant to but the stress and tension that had built up all day needed to be relieved somehow and he wasn't sorry about it. He should have ended it decently with hanging up.
"He stopped breathing?" Jon sounded worried again.
"Yes. Twice, they gave him one of those masks with airflow, you know, but that doesn't stop the coughing." Richie explained. "I should get back to Sarah." He thought out loud.
"Okay." He didn't know what to say.
"I'll probably call David later or tomorrow." Richie informed him.
"Why David?"
"'Cause he's godfather and might want to know what's happening to his godson right now."
"Maybe I want to know too?"
"Sympathy? That fast? I'll let you know how long it will take for him to get better so you'll know when I'll be there."
Jon sighed. "Fine, be that way."

Annoyed, Richie hung. Playing concerts was the least of his worries right now. His son being so sick and trying to get him better was much more important.

After a few deep breaths, he walked back into the children's hospital. It was cute how they decorated the hospital but the fact that Daniel's crib was painted red and yellow, didn't make him feel any better.

He easily found the room, on the door was a Winnie The Pooh picture, Daniel's name underneath it. His own room, it made him worry about how long he'd be here.

He knocked before entering. Sarah was sitting exactly where he had left her.

"Did you call everyone?"
Richie nodded. "Phoned the doctor, everyone had shots so should be immune. We can stay with him without getting it."
Sarah nodded too. "Work?"
He shrugged. "Not so great but Danny is much more important than that. You look tired." He walked over and wrapped his arms around her
.
The hospital room was just like the rest of the hospital. The same boring white walls but large decals on the walls with popular cartoon figures.

Daniel's baby room was decorated with pictures of Winnie the Pooh.

Somehow his parents thought he might not notice so much that he wasn't home because his own bedroom had some decorations of the bear and his friends too. They also knew Daniel wouldn't be fooled by that.
For now all they could do was wait for the test results.

Richie finally pulled out of the hug with his wife.

"We got a bed here, Daniel's sleeping, you should rest too. You need it."
"But Daniel-"
"Will be right next to you. Come on." He took her hand and walked the few steps to the bed.

Because Daniel was a child, they were allowed to stay with him at all times but Sarah hadn't slept all night either, she needed to rest. Especially while Daniel was sleeping. He needed them when he was awake.

Along with Sarah he got in bed. They faced each other as they laid down.

Noticing how worried his beautiful wife looked, he said, "He'll be alright."

As he said the words, tears appeared in Sarah's green eyes. The eyes he loved to see sprakling with happiness. He pulled her close and hugged her once again as Sarah started crying. "A little while and we'll know the test results."

Chapter 1

"Richie!"

Waking up from his dream, he heard Sarah's voice from two directions. The baby monitor and the open door of the bedroom. Throwing the blankets back, he jumped out of bed, almost tripping over his the sheets.

"Richie!"

He heard Daniel coughing loudly again. The past few days Daniel's cold was getting even worse. A cough had developed rapidly and was only getting worse each day.

The coughing stopped and Richie was relieved that his son had caught his breath.

"Daniel?" Sarah sounded worried, which made Richieh hurry again. "Daniel?!"

As he finally reached Daniel's crib, he could hear his son gasping air into his lungs.

"He stopped breathing." Sarah said panicked, picking him up and holding him straight up so it was easier for his lungs to fill with air completely.
"What?" Richie asked confused worried. "Stopped breathing?"
"Yes, he stopped coughing but he stopped breathing!" Sarah held her son close, making sure she could hear him breathe even though it sounded raspy.
"We have to take him to the hospital. Now." Richie walked out of the room, making sure Sarah was following him.

By the stairs, Sarah stopped him. "You should put some clothes on first honey."
Richie looked down at himself, only wearing boxer shorts. "Yes. You go get ready and take him to the car, I'll be right there."

Sarah went downstairs as Richie went back to get dressed more appropriately. He put on the pair of pajama pants that were laying by the bed and grabbed a t-shirt to pull on.

A few minutes later he found Sarah in the back seat of the car with Daniel, he didn't say anything and got in to start to drive.

"Got everything you need?" He asked.
"Yeah, health insurance, pediatrician's info. Go". She urged him.

The early morning traffic hadn't started yet, the road was calm as they drove to the hospital without too many stops.

"Why aren't you going to the Critical Center?"
"Doesn't open til 9 am." Richie answered.
"Woodland Hills?"
"They're slow. The children's hospital only takes 5 more minutes and they specialize in children." He explained as he continued driving.

15 minutes later, he parked at the emergency entrance of the children's hospital.

Sarah was faster than he was and was already getting out of the car with Daniel.

They were shown to an emergency cubicle almost immediately but Sarah didn't put Daniel down on the bed. Instead she sat down with him as the nurse put a mask with airflow over his face. As any small child, Daniel didn't like what was happening to him and started crying again.

She held him tight so he wasn't able to pull at the mask.

"A doctor will be here right away." The nurse said as a doctor walked in.
"What seems to be the problem?" The doctor asked, looking at Daniel.
"He had a cold but then he developed a cough last week and it just keeps getting worse. Like he can't breathe. He stopped breathing after his last coughing fit."
The doctor nodded. "Lets do a quick examination and see if we need to do more tests."

Richie watched the doctor. There wasn't anything he could do and he didn't like that feeling, he wanted to help his son. The only way he could help him now was being here, with the best care.

"Alright," the doctor looked up at them, then at the nurse, "lets take nose and throat mucus samples, x-rays and maybe blood tests." He instructed the nurse, then turned back to Sarah and Richie. "It's definitely more than just a cough. We'll have to wait for test results to make diagnosis." He explained. "In the mean time he should be admitted to the hospital, I'll get one of the nurses to arrange that."

Any parent's fear of their young child being admitted to hospital had just become reality.

A new start

Another new start. I bet everyone is annoyed that I'm starting over again but it's a new part of the story and I think that needs a new start. Just like how a book series works.

No worries though, it will continue from All That Really Matters, you'll hardly notice a difference.