Chapter Six
"Please don't send them in here; I will be fine." Aleah begged Dr. Jacob as he sat on the side of her bed, feeling her head.
"Open your mouth honey." was the only reply he gave before he slid the thermometer into her mouth.
She did as he asked, but much to her further embarrassment, hot tears ran down her cheeks.
Dr. Jacob's face softened more- something she didn't think possible- and he gently wiped her tears away with his green and yellow hankey- which was hideous.
He waited until the beep before asking her why she was upset.
She really didn't know how to answer him. She didn't want to seem rude and say "You're son and nephew are super cute... and I just feel like an idiot around them." She really wanted her to give me an old, balding nurse, then she would feel comfortable.
"Aleah, love, why are you upset?" Dr. Jacob asked again.
"I just really... I just..." She stopped talking and quickly tried to sit up. Dr. Jacob either knew what was happening or heard the train sound coming from her belly. He lifted the trashcan to her mouth and she wretched into it.
She felt large hands pat her back- since Dr. Jacob's were holding the trashcan She knew they weren't his- and that did it for Aleah. She was done emotionally. She was in a new place. She was bad. She was sick. Her daddy was livid and now she was vomiting- very unladylike- in front of two of the hottest guys in the world- okay maybe that last part was a stretch but they were at least the cutest guys in Tennessee and one of them was patting her back with all of it's fat rolls. Aleah began to sob.
Aleah wanted to be anywhere but that room and anyone but Aleah Simmons.
"Easy 'Leah." Spencer soothed from beside the bed. Grreeeaaatttt that meant Stephyn was rubbing her back.
When she was finished being sick Stephyn gently wiped her mouth and then her tears with more ugly hankies.
"It's going to be okay 'Leah." he promised as kept wiping the tears that kept falling. She turned away from him and curled up on her side. She bit her lip and tried to control her crying. She was so embarrassed and as much as she wanted to stop crying, she couldn't. It was like the dam broke and there was no patching it back up.
"Come 'mere honey." Spencer said as he slid into the bed beside her and wrapped and turned her towards him.
"If she feels this bad I want to take her to emergency and have them run a PET scan. It could be her appendix or a blockage." he said to Spencer before kneeling down to look at Aleah. "Honey, I am going too.." he began.
"I-I don't feel that bad...I'm embarrassed." Aleah mumbled as she tried to wipe her tears away.
Dr. Jacob patted her leg. "Aleah, you don't have anything to be embarrassed about. I promise. We see this stuff all of the time with our other patients."
"and we like you more than them." Stephyn added.
"Stephyn Jackson!" Dr. Jacob scolded.
"Well it's true." he said as he winked at Aleah.
Aleah smiled and Spencer hugged her. "There's my sweet girl." he encouraged.
Aleah flinched in his arms and grabbed for the trashcan. Spencer held it to her mouth, and a few minutes later Stephyn wiped her face.
Dr. Jacob walked over and opened an alcohol wipe. "I am going to go ahead and give you a shot now Aleah. I don't want you to have to wait until your IV fluids are running."
Aleah nodded and allowed him to lift her sleep shorts a bit. He wiped her leg before uncapping the needle. Aleah tensed a bit. She wasn't scared of shots or anything, it was just a normal reaction.
She relaxed after she felt the stick. A second later he was done. She smiled as he placed a batman bandaid of her leg.
"Feel okay?" he asked.
She nodded.
"Alright, I am going to leave you in good hands okay? Spencer is a med tech and he is going to give you some meds to go with the nausea one I just gave you. Combined they will make you feel so much better and Stephyn.... Why are you here?" Dr. Jacob asked teasingly.
"I am here to protect Aleah from the floor monsters." he said seriously.
"Floor monsters?" Aleah asked, trying to keep my head up. She was so exhausted. Spencer gently guided her head back on his shoulder. She tried to lift it back up, but he guided it back down again. "Don't fight. Don't fight." he said menacingly as she struggled to hear Stephyn.
"Yeah. They're little monsters who come out from under the bed and nibble on the toes of teenage girls named Aleah, who don't wear socks on cold nights." he said.
Aleah smiled sheepishly. She didn't have on socks and it was pretty cold in the room.
"Aleah!" Spencer chided when he noticed.
Stephyn tossed him a pair from her unpacked suitcase and he quickly put them on. "You wear socks Little Miss!" he scolded.
She nodded and bit her lip. His warning hurt her heart and she felt her eyes water up. It didn't matter how hard she tried she was always going to be bad. Defeat washed over her as she tried to wipe her tears away.
"Spencer." Stephyn fussed as he walked over to her. "Spencer isn't mad Aleah and it's okay. You didn't do anything wrong. Spencer just cares about you and wanted to make sure you didn't get sick- he just didn't think to watch his words." he said as he knelt in front of her and patted her knee.
She nodded and looked away after Dr. Jacob sent her a kind smile and left.
She was shifted and suddenly was standing in front of Spencer. "'Leah I'm sorry." he said when he saw her tears. "I didn't mean to upset you." he said before he squished her in a hug.
She didn't resist his hug, but didn't embrace him either. She was uncomfortable and back to feeling worthless again. He pulled back and frowned at her before poking his lip out.
Can I please go to bed?" She asked as she still furiously wiped away tears.
He started to say something, but Stephyn placed his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her away and towards the bed. "Of course 'Leah."
She got into the bed and Stephyn helped her pull the thick covers up. "Before you go to sleep Spencer is going to start and IV okay?"
She nodded.
"Have you had one before?"
She nodded again.
"Remember it pinches just for a second, but then it's all gone." he reminded.
Another nod.
"Can I please hear your pretty voice?" Spencer asked as he poked his lip and set some stuff out on a tray.
"I remember."
Spencer checked her arm as he poked around a bit.
"Got one?" Stephyn asked.
He nodded and wiped her arm with a wipe.
"Big pinch." he said as he slid the needle in. She winced a bit, but it really wasn't that bad.
He shook his head. "I missed."
"Try again. You can do it man." Stephyn encouraged.
"One more time Aleah; I am sorry." he said as he withdrew the needle and slid it back in.
She wondered if God was hated her now. Maybe that's why she was sick and had to be stuck again.
"I didn't get it that time either." Aleah noticed his hands were shaking and his eyes were glassy.
He looked at her with tears in his own eyes. "I am going to get dad Aleah. I am sorry." he said sincerely.
You know how you get that feeling in your heart when you know you have a chance to do something good? Aleah got it then. She reached out and grabbed his arm. "Try again."
He shook his head. "I don't want to unnecessarily stick you darlin'."
"You were just nervous. Try again." She encouraged.
"You can do it man." Stephyn added to the encouragement.
He smiled and opened a fresh needle. "Ready?" he asked.
I nodded and a second later he had an IV going.
"See, you did it." Aleah praised.
He bent down and hugged her. "Thank you for believing in me, even if I hurt your feelings earlier."
Aleah smiled at him before yawning.
He and Stephyn were quiet a minute before they closed in around her bed.
"Aleah, before you go to sleep we want to pray for you. We would like to do it every night. Can we do that?" Stephyn asked.
Aleah nodded. She had always wanted to do a family altar but her parents hadn't like the idea.... really they were just too lazy.
They all held hands and Spencer began "Dear God, I thank you so much for sending Aleah to us. Lord, we already love her and know she is a might warrior for you. Please help her to see it and how much we love her, but more importantly how much you love her. In your name, Amen." he prayed before running some medications through her IV.
Aleah pondered his words in her head. Did he really think she was a mighty warrior for God? She didn't even know if she was saved. She was really bad and always messing up.
Spencer leaned over her and flipped her overhead light off. G'nite princess." he whispered.
Before she could reply Stephyn flipped on a new light in her room. It made the ceiling look like space. It was very vibrant with all of its purple and turquoise lights.
"Wow." She mumbled as she admired the lights. The boys smiled and settled into chairs in her room. Aleah fell asleep in the glow of space.
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