12. Tyler

                                    

                                          
The ringing of the phone at five in the morning would normally have woken me up. Except at three in the morning, Rosie woke us up crying about Samantha.  
"What's the matter, RosieRo?" I asked her, after taking her back to her bed when she'd come to wake us up, crying. I sat on her rocking chair with her in my lap, curled into me and sniffling. 
"It's Sammy," she said, her voice hitching. 
"I know you miss her. She'll be home again soon. And she'll be staying a little longer," I said. 
"But Sammy is sick and Sammy isn't home," she said. 
"Sammy's not sick," I said. "She was okay when she left."
"No. Sammy has a sick."
I hugged my daughter and tried to assure her that her sister was fine and we'd call in the morning to check. 
But then the phone rang at five and Rosie was proven right. Again. 
Jenna and I spoke to Brendon getting as much information as we could, which admittedly wasn't much since they had t seen a doctor yet.  
Jenna and I weren't sure if we should start packing in case Samantha was really sick and we'd need to be there, or hope things would start to resolve and she'd just spiked a fever that would start to come down soon. 
We had the littles to consider, too. If we had to rush to California, do we take them with us?  
Jenna and I sat in the kitchen drinking coffee while Rosie tried to distract herself with a colouring book and chocolate milk. 
"What do you think?" Jenna asked. "Should we book tickets? Should we just go?"
"Not that I don't want to do exactly that, I know she's in good hands with Brendon and Sarah. Let's hold off until we hear back from Brendon," I said. Kind of surprising myself.  Jenna nodded, then went to make another cup of coffee.
We sat and waited and finally, the phone rang. 
"Hello?" I said, answering on speaker phone.
"Good morning. And I speaking with Mr. and Mrs. Joesph? The voice was neither Brendon nor Sarah. 
"Yes. We're Samantha's parents," I answered. 
"Hi. So, I'm here with Samantha and your friends," he said. 
"Hi Mom, hi Dad," Samantha's weak voice came over the line.  
"Hi baby!" Jenna cried out. "How are you feeling?" 
"Okay, I guess," Samantha said. 
"Doc, what's going on?" I asked. 
"So, we've done some blood work and an x-ray. Samantha's going to be just fine. We might not even have to admit her to a unit. Her fever is coming back down, she's awake and conversant."
"But what happened?" I asked.
"Samantha has the flu. Just a regular flu but she's going to be okay. Her lungs are a little congested so we'll prescribe an inhaler for now. It's a virus, so there's not much more we can do but make sure she stays hydrated, rested and I've prescribed no school for at least this week,"
I heard Samantha laugh in the background. It was a great sound.
"That sounds like it's mostly good news?" I said. 
"It is. Samantha is going to be alright. She's an incredible young lady. And your friends did the right thing bringing her in.  Her fever was very high but she's on the mend."