Kept From You // L.H (completed)

twenty-seven

{ Taylor }

Petunia's barking shot Luke and me up from our sleep. Luke and I didn't even have to be fully awake to know that somethings wrong. Petunia never barks- so that's how we knew.

We both jumped out of bed and scrambled down the hall to Carter's room. Luke flung the door open and turned on the light as we ran to our son's bed. Carter was wheezing and coughing horrifically. It was like when he had pneumonia when he was two.

"Sit up for me buddy" I helped him, getting him upright. He just kept coughing. It sounds really bad. It was worst than when he had pneumonia.

"I-It hurts" Carter wheezed out between coughs and cries. I looked at Luke,

"It sounds bad" he mouthed. I nodded and watched as Carter coughed into his hands.

"You wanna go downstairs? We can go watch tv" I asked. Carter nodded and all but flopped into my arms. Luke grabbed his baby blanket and giraffe and followed me downstairs.

Carter and I cuddled on the couch while Luke went and grabbed Carter a sippy cup. He came back and cuddled up with Carter and me.

Carter just kept coughing,

"He's got a fever" Luke used the back of his hand to feel his head,

"I know" I sighed, "Why's he always getting so sick? I mean he takes vitamins and we eat pretty healthily"

"I don't know baby" Luke whispered as Carter moved to lay against him.

Carter fell back asleep but Luke and I were not ready to go back to sleep ourselves. Carter was sounding very concerning,

"Maybe we need to get like his immune system checked" Luke shrugged,

"It seems like it's always his breathing though. Maybe he's got asthma or something" I sighed,

"Then we will schedule an appointment and have the doctor check everything" he assured.

****

Luke and I dozed off but woke up again with Carter coughing and crying,

"Does your chest hurt?" I asked, patting his back. He nodded,

"Does anything else hurt?" Luke questioned. Carter nodded and pointed to his throat. Luke glanced at me,

"As soon as the doctor opens I'll call and make an appointment" I spoke, looking at the time on my phone. It was 6:00 am and they open at 9:00,

"Do you want something to eat buddy?" Luke stood and passed Carter to me. He nodded and let his head fall against my chest,

"Just get him like yogurt or apple sauce" I called as Luke headed for the kitchen.

****

I managed to get Carter an appointment for noon so now we were in the car and on our way there. Thankfully he fell asleep for a bit. He hasn't slept a whole lot, just a couple of hours here and there,

"I'm nervous" Luke spoke up, giving my hand a squeeze,

"Me too" I sighed, "I just don't understand why he always gets so sick like this. It's scary"

"I know. Hopefully, we will get some answers"

We pulled up and got checked in as Carter had another coughing fit. The nurse heard him and took us back pretty fast.

"He's not sounding good" the doctor walked in,

"He gets sick so easy" I spoke,

"Yeah he does" the doctor sighed and started listening to his chest,

"I'm going to take him to get pictures of his lungs. He may have pneumonia again but I'm not completely sure about that. I'll take him and bring him back. Then when we get back, I will take some blood so we can run some test"

Luke and I nodded and Carter went willingly with the doctor,

"He must feel like absolute shit if he went with no complaints" Luke sighed,

"I just want to know what's wrong" I leaned my head on Luke's shoulder.

****

Carter and the doctor came back and Carter got up on the table. Carter didn't fight at all. He just simply held his hand out for me to hold. The doctor got some blood then left for a minute.

As soon as the doctor left, Carter laid on the table and closed his eyes. Luke got up and sat up on the table, letting Carter's head rest on his leg.

The doctor came back and sat in the chair,

"So, it's pneumonia again. But it's at the beginning. So I'll be sending antibiotics home with you. Now, with the other tests, I found that his Vitamin E and Selenium are low. So is his calcium. He needs to be taking supplements or something. Keep him eating fruits and stuff but also try vitamins or even PediaSure so we can get this up"

"Thank you" I nodded,

"He's also got asthma which I think is also contributing to all his lung problems. So I'm going to give you an inhaler. When it runs out, call the pharmacy and we will get a new one out in"

Luke and I thanked him and he gave us the antibiotics and the inhaler.

We headed home and the whole ride Carter was coughing,

"I'll take you all home then run out and get those vitamins and stuff. I can bring home some dinner too" Luke spoke,

"Thanks"

****

As Luke said, he took Carter and me home then ran out to the store. Carter was on the couch, curled up in mounds of blankets with Monsters Inc on loop. Petunia knew something was wrong so she was curled up with him too.

"Hey bubba" I sighed, sitting down and running my hand through his hair,

"I don't like being sick" he croaked out,

"I know but we're gonna fix that" I smiled, "You're gonna have to help me and Daddy though. You're gonna have to eat lots of fruits so we can get you big and strong"

"I will Mommy" he pouted,

"When Daddy gets home we will eat then we can go cuddle in bed"

"I like that" Carter smiled

****

It took three hours for Luke and me to get Carter to sleep. He wasn't feeling good but he also had medicine to take that he didn't like. Then he couldn't fall asleep. But as soon as Luke whipped out the guitar and sang, Carter was sound asleep.

Luke and I sighed with relief then entered our bathroom. Luke groaned and leaned forward with his arms on the counter,

"You okay" I wrapped my arms around him from behind,

"I hate that he's got these issues"

"Me too. I don't understand how. I mean we eat healthily and he already took vitamins"

"I guess his body isn't accepting the nutrients like it should"

"I guess" I sighed, "We'll get through it"

"We always do"