Raising Madison (The third book in the 'The girl in the attic trilogy')

(5) Raising Madison

Raising Madison

Chapter 5

Made started getting restless during the night and at around three in the morning her fever picked up horrible and I had no idea what to do. I didn’t want to phone my mom and wake her so I rushed her to the closest hospital instead. Madie’s never really been sick before except for a cold here and there and my mom was always there before. This time was different and by the time I reached the hospital I was freaking out. Luckily the doctor saw us immediately or I might have started yelling or something.

After the doctor had looked her over and given her some medication Madie settled down a bit and I relaxed.

“It’s just a very bad cold,” the doctor said and my body filled with relief. Madie only has a cold, it isn’t serious, she is going to be ok.

I sighed and thanked him, trying to keep myself in control. Whenever somebody says that they are feeling bad I immediately think about Katie and how seek she was and how I was unable to do anything to save her. I would rather die than Have Madie get sick.

The doctor gave me a prescription for some antibiotics which I had filled at the pharmacy inside the hospital and then I took Madie home.

She fell asleep in the car but I had no time to go to sleep when we got home. It was already after five and I had to get ready for work so I got dressed, packed Madie’s bag and then set off to face the day.

Madie didn’t want to let go of me when we reached day care, causing me to be late for work. Luckily my boss is understanding but it still felt horrible and to make it worse, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open.

Madie’s teacher said that she was fine during the day but she kept me awake most of the night, making me feel like I was barely managing. I made it through work the next day but was way too tired to stay up another night and on top of that I was starting to feel sick myself.

I considered phoning my mom for help but then remembered Brooklyn. I wasn’t sure if she would be willing to help for the entire night but if I could get a few hours of sleep I am sure that I would be ok.

Madie was fussing as I dug my phone out of my packet and pressed dial on her name.

 She picked up on the third ring.

“Hi,” she said sounding excited.

“Hi… uhm, I was wondering if you could come over and watch Madie for a few hours. She’s got a cold and I think I’m coming down with one too,” I said, not wanting to waste any times. I was barely managing to keep my eyes open.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in about ten minutes,” she replied and then hung up.

I felt relieved knowing that I would have some help soon and lifted Madie onto my lap, trying to get her to settle down before Brooklyn arrived.

It didn’t’ work though, instead Madie just got worse and by the time Brooklyn arrived she was screaming her little lungs out.

 Brooklyn greeted me with a smile and immediately took Madie from me. She didn’t want to go but Brooklyn was confident and didn’t freak out when Madie started screaming even louder.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” I said as we made our way into the living room.

“No problem, now what do you need me to do?” she asked, sitting down and rocking Madie.

“She needs to eat and take her medicine and it’ll be really nice if you could get her to sleep,” I replied.

“Ok and how about you? Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked.

“No, I’ll be fine as soon as I get some sleep,” I answered, hoping I was right.

“Ok then, what are you waiting for? Go get some rest, we’ll be fine,” Brooklyn said, smiling sweetly and somehow I knew she was telling the truth. Madie had already calmed down a bit since she had taken her causing me to feel confident enough to leave Madie with her while I got some sleep.

I explained what medicine Madie had to take and then left them in the living room while I went to my room and fell down on the bed.

I fell asleep almost immediately and was surprised when I woke up to the sound of my alarm going off.

I sat up straight and looked around my room frantically.  The curtains were pulled closed but I could see the sun shining against them, causing me to jump out of bed and run to Madie’s room. I had somehow managed to sleep through the whole night without waking up once. What about Madie? I thought panicking but came to a sudden stop and filled with relief when I saw her lying her crib, sleeping happily.

I still had no idea what happened or why Brooklyn hadn’t woken me when she left but at least Madie is safe. I will have to phone Brooklyn and find out what the hell happened but first I had to get something to eat, I was starving.

I quietly made my way towards the kitchen but was once again stopped in my tracks. Brooklyn was lying on the couch sleeping with the baby monitor on the table next to her.

I smiled at the sight and at knowing that she would do something like this for Madie and me but I couldn’t help but feel a little bit worried at the same time.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about her spending the night even if it was only to take care of Madie. It felt wrong and as if I had somehow betrayed Katie in a way. I know it is stupid since I didn’t do anything and there was no way I was planning to but I still felt guilty. Maybe it was because I couldn’t take care of Madie by myself. Maybe I should never have asked Brooklyn to come over.

I shook the thoughts from my head and continued on my way to the kitchen. There was no use in worrying about things I can’t change, at least I got some sleep and I am definitely feeling better then I did last night.