Family Forever (Book 5 in Nemi Forever series)

Chapter 25

Demi

I've never been so scared in my life as I called Nick to tell him that Mercy was sick. I knew what was wrong with her. I just didn't want to say it out loud. Not until Nick was standing beside me. When I heard his car pull up, I sat Mercy on the bottom step of our staircase & ran to open the door. What I saw was like a punch in the gut. Nick was walking hand in hand with Skye toward the door. If my day wasn't bad enough I was watching this woman's hand in my husband's. Nick saw Mercy behind me & let go of Skye's hand to run to his baby girl. I watched him scoop her up into his arms & stand up. I went to his side, my eyes filled with fearful tears.

"She doesn't look good." Nick said to me in a whisper. He kissed Mercy's head. "Daddy's here, baby girl." Mercy lifted her head to look, blankly, at Nick's face. After a moment her head fell to Nick's shoulder. I could see the worry on Nick's face.

Mercy reached her hand out to me & I took her back in my embrace. She had been there for several hours before I had called Nick. I was crying harder now as I looked up at Nick. "Smell her breath. It's why I called you." I struggled to get the words out & the moment I said them, Nick's face froze. He knew exactly why I was freaking out. I watched him swallow a lump.

Nick leaned his face toward Mercy's. "Can Daddy have a kiss, angel?" Mercy, lifted her head slightly & puckered her tiny mouth to kiss Nick. I saw him breathe in by her mouth as she pulled away from him. His eyes darted up to mine & I saw the same fear that I had in my own eyes. "I need my bag." Nick stood up straight, looking around, absently.

Skye spoke up. "It's in the car. Want me to go get it?" She asked. As much as it hurt that I witnessed them holding hands, I was actually grateful she was here right now. She seemed, genuinely, concerned. Nick nodded, seeming in shock & Skye ran from the house. She came back in a moment later, out of breath from running, so quickly. She handed the bag to Nick & touched his arm, gently, giving it a slight squeeze of comfort. If I wasn't already sick to my stomach about my daughter, that would have done the trick.

Nick told me to sit on the steps & he knelt down in front of us, working, diligently, with quiet concern on his face. As Mercy's head rested on my shoulder, we both watched Nick. He took out an alcohol wipe & massaged Mercy's tiny finger with it. He blew on it to dry it as he got the lancing pen ready & put a blood sugar test strip into his Accu-chek device. "Mercy, you know how daddy sticks his finger? I'm going to need you to be a brave big girl, while I do it to your finger, okay?" Mercy was so out of it that she didn't acknowledge Nick. When he pricked her finger, she jumped but I think it was mostly from the noise it made. Nick squeezed a drop of blood into the test strip then pressed the button & we waited. Nick's eyes didn't leave the screen or even blink in the five seconds it took for the reading to show up. I knew it was bad when he looked at me.

"I need you to go get her dressed & throw some things in a bag. We need to get her to the ER." Nick's voice was trying to be steady, but I knew him too well. He was scared & so was I.

"How high is it?" I asked him. He ignored me & started putting everything back in his little bag. "Nick!" His head snapped up when I yelled. "How high is it?"

He swallowed, then rubbed his hand on his forehead as a tear glistened in the corner of his eye. "It's 599." He said, flatly, his worried eyes on Mercy.

I gasped, covering my mouth with my hand. "Isn't that as high as the meter will go?" I asked, barely speaking above a whisper. Nick nodded, fear in his eyes. "So it could be higher?" I held Mercy tighter as I tried to cry quietly. I didn't want to scare her.

"I'm going to call my mom & see if she can come sit with Jerry. Go get her dressed." Nick said in a firm voice as he stood.

Skye stepped forward, holding onto Nick's arm. "I can stay here with Jerry until your mom gets here if you want." She offered in a quiet voice. I was grateful for her at this moment because my baby girl was sick.