Forever Country (24 page)

“
Good idea.”

I pay everyone the same amount in cash and
I’m pleasantly surprised to see they are all planning on helping
out until this project is finished. They are also hesitant about
taking the money, although I know they need it. Johnny thanks me
and says, “This will help Momma pay the light bill.”

I nod and it makes me a little sad because a
16-year-old boy is working to pay the electric bill. Hopefully,
with the money he earns tomorrow he’ll be able to buy something for
himself. His school lessons come first, but he can work on the
weekends.

When everyone leaves, I get the wheelbarrow
from the shed at Savannah Mae’s, and I start hauling the firewood
we cut down earlier. She’s over at Mia’s helping with dinner while
Sawyer Jackson’s with his dad. I didn’t get all of the wood hauled
the short distance to her house, but I did get most of it. This
will be a nice stockpile for next year.

Savannah Mae

Mia and I fix dinner together at her house,
and Nelly even came over to help us. It’s nice havin’ a girls’ day
while the guys are at work. It’s the first time Mia has opened up
about the concerns of her baby havin’ Down syndrome.

“
My biggest fear is the
baby will be born with a severe form of the syndrome. I’m praying
every day that if she has it at all, it’ll be very mild, but
honestly, she could be born with a very severe case.”

“
Have you talked to Levi
and your doctor about this?” I ask.

“
All the time. The research
is frightening to us. If the baby does have Down syndrome, she can
have other health issues such as heart problems and seizures, she
can be mentally delayed, and she can even have muscular problems.
What if Levi and I are selfish? What if our decision to continue
with the pregnancy is the wrong decision?” she cries.

My eyes well up with tears. I know her
concern is real. Abel Lee and I have been doin’ our own research.
The severity level is alarming.

“
What does your heart tell
you, Mia?” Nelly asks.

Mia looks at Nelly and wipes away her tears,
“That my baby will be fine. I can see her smilin’ and laughin’;
she’s happy and healthy.”

“
Then hold on to that
thought, Mia. I also can see my future little grandbaby runnin’
around and laughin’. Believe that he or she will be okay. Don’t
give up hope on that.”

The front door opens and in walks Levi. Mia
wipes away her tears before he can see them. He enters the kitchen
with a smile.

“
Hi,” he says before he
walks over to kiss Mia. “So, my baby was kickin’ today.”

“
She
was,” Mia says, proudly.

“
He
missed
his
daddy,” Levi corrects the gender of the baby.

“
He
might be a
girl,”
Mia says.

“
And
she
might be a
boy
,” Levi laughs. We all laugh and
soon forget the unhappy thoughts of the baby’s future. I personally
think the baby will be okay. I don’t want to think anything
different.

“
I need to shower before
dinner. If
he
kicks again, come get me.”

“
Yeah, I’ll do that. Get up
there and shower before your Pops and brother show up.”

“
I’m goin’, little
Momma.”

It makes me smile to hear Levi call her
“little Momma.” It is such a sweet gesture.

Bud and Abel Lee show up and we have a
sit-down dinner in the eat-in kitchen. We had to use extra chairs
from the card table to accommodate everyone at the table. The baby
kicks and Levi, Nelly, and Abel Lee are able to feel it. They are
all excited and thrilled. This is the first child in their family,
and I know how excited they are.

I decide I need to make plans to throw Mia a
baby shower. I remember how little I had when Sawyer Jackson was
born, and how much I needed. Havin’ a first-born baby, you really
don’t know what to expect or what you’ll need. I’ll need to get
with Nelly and talk to her about a date and time.

After dinner, I get a text from Ethan asking
me to pick up Sawyer Jackson. He said he hasn’t been feelin’ well.
Abel Lee watches me from across the room and I try to smile. I’m
worried, but I try not to show it. Anytime my son is sick, I worry.
It’s all part of bein’ a parent. I stand and say, “I need to get
Sawyer Jackson from his dad. I’m sorry, I hate to rush off.”

“
Is everything all right?”
Nelly asks.

“
He’ll be fine. Ethan said
that Sawyer Jackson’s not feelin’ well.”

Abel Lee stands and says, “I’ll take you.” He
doesn’t wait for an answer as he kisses his momma and Mia and
shakes his Pops’ and Levi’s hands.

I also kiss and hug everyone before
leavin’.

“
Is he all right?” Abel Lee
asks as I get into his truck.

“
I hope so. He’s been
complaining of a headache the last few days. I wish he had called
me earlier, I could have taken him to the doctor today.”

“
Call and get him in to see
his doctor first thing in the morning.”

“
My car. I should take my
car home. I’ll need it for tomorrow.”

Abel Lee says, “You can use my truck,” before
he shuts my door.

We rush over to Ethan’s apartment and I’m
surprised when Abel Lee goes to the door with me, but he stands
back while I knock.

“
How is he?” I ask when
Heather Sue answers the door. I hear someone throwing up and I walk
past her into the apartment. Sawyer Jackson is on the couch and
Ethan is holdin’ a bucket up for him to throw up in.

“
Please come in,” she says
after I’m already in.

I ignore her and focus my attention on my
sick boy. I have a lot I want to say to her, but this isn’t the
time or the place.

“
He just started throwin’
up,” Ethan says. I kneel down to be closer to my son and feel his
forehead. “He said his head and his belly’s been
hurtin’.”

“
He has a fever,” I
say.

“
We’ll take him to the
hospital,” Abel Lee says. “Do you have a blanket we can wrap him up
in? The truck’s already warm.”

“
That’s my good blanket,”
Heather Sue says, looking at the blanket fallin’ half off the couch
onto the floor.

Abel Lee walks up and wraps Sawyer Jackson in
the blanket and says, “We’ll see you get it back.” He lifts Sawyer
Jackson up and cradles him like a newborn baby.

Heather Sue says, “Ethan, you can stay here.
I doubt that it’s anything serious.” 

“
You might need this,”
Ethan says as he hands me the vomit bucket. “Call me when you find
out what’s wrong,” Ethan yells out the door to us.

I sit in the backseat with Sawyer Jackson as
Abel Lee drives us to Bethesda Hospital in Zanesville. Rose Farm,
Roseville, and Crooksville are too small to have a hospital. Sawyer
Jackson throws up on Heather Sue’s good blanket; if I didn’t feel
so sorry for my son, I might have gotten a little enjoyment from
that.

“
We’re almost there. Hang
on, Buddy,” Abel Lee says. It’s the first time I ever heard Abel
Lee call my son by his nickname. It almost sounds unnatural comin’
from his mouth.

When Sawyer Jackson vomits again, I get
worried. I repeat Abel Lee’s words: “Hang on, Buddy.”

I ask Abel Lee, “Can you hurry?” It’s all I
can say. My son has never thrown up this much or this often
before.

“
Almost there,” he says as
he picks up speed.

He pulls up at the emergency entrance and
parks. He rushes out of the truck and I scoop Sawyer Jackson up in
my arms. Abel Lee opens my door and takes Sawyer Jackson from me.
Usually, he waits and closes the door after me, but today, he
rushes inside the hospital, leavin’ me to close the door. I love
that he is lookin’ out for my son. I wonder why Ethan didn’t think
it was urgent when Sawyer Jackson was sick and vomitin’ with a
fever?

We are led to a room right away.

Abel Lee says, “I have to park the truck,
I’ll be right back.”

“
Hurry,” I say as I watch
the nurse attending to my sick son.

“
I will. It’ll be all
right, Savannah Mae.”

Within minutes, the doctor is in the room
orderin’ the nurse to give my son a shot of Phenergan for his
vomitin’, some Tylenol for his fever, and an IV of fluids for
dehydration. I’ve never seen my son get an IV before. I hold Sawyer
Jackson’s hand as he dozes off to sleep. I’m thankful that
Phenergan causes drowsiness. The doctor orders blood work and we
wait. Sawyer Jackson’s fever comes down, but he moans in his sleep
from pain.

Abe Lee walks into the room and sits beside
me. “How is he?”

I tell him what the nurse and doctors are
goin’ to do for him. “He’s dehydrated.”

“
It’s because he’s thrown
up so much. I called Momma when I parked the car, I didn’t want
them to wonder where we are.”

I nod and Abel Lee holds me close; I let him.
I continue to hold Sawyer Jackson’s hand as he sleeps. I pray and
Abel Lee looks fearful. It dawns on me that Abel Lee doesn’t have
children and although I’m scared, I still kind of know what to
expect during a hospital visit.

“
Are you okay?” I ask,
looking at Abel Lee.

He tries to smile, but the smile doesn’t
reach his eyes. “He looks so tiny lying there.”

“
He does. He always seems
so much smaller when he’s sick.”

“
I feel so helpless. I
don’t think I ever felt this way before.”

I look away and watch my sick son lie
helpless on the hospital bed. “It sucks. Feeling useless is the
worst part of parenthood.” We sit quietly and stare at the IV
dripping fluids into Sawyer Jackson’s tiny hand. I wonder if I
should call his daddy or my parents. I decide to wait until I know
something.

The doctor comes in and tells us someone is
in the waitin’ room.

“
I’ll go talk to them.”
Abel Lee stands and walks out the door to give the doctor and me
some privacy.

“
Your son’s white blood
count is elevated. We’re going to admit him overnight.”

“
What does that mean?” I
ask as I watch Sawyer Jackson sleep.

“
It means he has an
infection. We’re just not sure what kind. We’ll run some more tests
and hopefully, we’ll get an answer soon.”

I look from Sawyer Jackson to the doctor. “It
isn’t anything serious, is it? He’s gonna be all right, isn’t
he?”

“
Mrs.
Dickerson…”

“
It’s Miss, I’m
divorced.”

The doctor nods. “Miss Dickerson, it’s
probably nothing serious. We’ll know more tomorrow.”

Abel Lee

I walk out into the waiting
room, expecting to see Sawyer Jackson’s dad, Ethan. I know if my
son were in the hospital, I would want to be there.
I’m surprised that he didn’t come. To my surprise,
I see Momma, Pops, Levi, and Mia. Momma stands and she looks
concerned. “How is he?”

“
I’m not sure, the doctor’s
in there now.” I look around the room and everyone looks sad. “He’s
dehydrated. They gave him something for his fever and his
nausea.”

“
Can we see him?” Mia asks.
“We’ve been so worried about him that we needed to see him for
ourselves to make sure he’s all right.”

“
I don’t know, he’s so
sick.” I look at Mia and say, “He’s so small and helpless lying
there.”

Pops says, “You feel like you want to do
something for him and you can’t.”

“
Yes.”

Pops says seriously
to Levi, “Welcome to fatherhood.”

“
Is that what fatherhood
feels like?” Levi asks.

“
Sometimes, yes,” Momma
agrees.

The doctor comes out and Mia asks him if she
can go back and see Sawyer Jackson. He informs us they are
admitting him and will be moving him upstairs. I go back with
Savannah Mae while Pops, Momma, Mia, and Levi go up to the
pediatric floor to wait for us.

We all visit while Sawyer Jackson sleeps.
Thankfully, the medication causes drowsiness. I decide to leave
when everyone else does.

“
Do you need anything for
tomorrow?” I ask before leaving Savannah Mae there to attend to her
sick son.

“
Clean clothes and a
toothbrush would be nice.” She thinks for a moment and says,
“You’ll be at work tomorrow on the old schoolhouse, so I’ll have my
sister bring my things up when she comes.
It’s better that way. I don’t mind if she looks in my
underwear drawer.”

“
Do you have your cell
phone to call her?”

“
Yep,” she
smiles.

“
Is it charged?”

I watch as she reaches into her purse for her
cell phone. “Abel Lee, you treat me like a child,” she says as she
looks at her phone. Her smile fades and I don’t need to ask.

“
Here, take mine and I’ll
charge yours,” I say, handing her my cell phone for the night. I
take hers and kiss her goodnight.

“
Thank you, you know me so
well.”

“
It’s my job.” I kiss her
again and I lean down and kiss Sawyer Jackson on his forehead. He’s
asleep and doesn’t move. I wait at the door for everyone to say
their goodbyes. “Call me if you need me, and I’ll be up right after
work.”