Mila POV:
"Come on Mila, open your mouth." I faintly hear Daddy's voice. Opening my mouth slightly, I feel the nipple of a bottle enter my mouth. I suck a little bit tasting Mommy's milk.
"There you go, good girl." Daddy pats my butt while I eat and hums softly.
My body hurts so bad. Even being moved a little bit makes me cry. My chest feels like it's on fire and my arms and legs are constantly in pain. All I want to do is cuddle with Mommy and Daddy.
I've been here for three days now. I just want to go home. I don't like the smell of the hospital and the nurses coming in and out of my room. I'm itchy and uncomfortable, which makes me whine and cry all the time.
Lifting my heavy arm up, I play with Daddy's chest hair. "Good morning, Theo. Where's your wife? I have good news!" I hear a chipper nurse ask.
"She's in the shower. What's the news?" Dada asks.
"As soon as Mila takes a couple steps by herself, she can be moved out of the ICU." The nurse chirps.
"Wow! That's amazing. Thank you." Dada responds.
"After she's done eating, we can have her walk."
"Thank you so much, I'll make sure to press the nurses button when she's done."
I snuggle closer to Daddy's warmth and open my eyes. "There she is!" Daddy coos.
I spit the nipple of the bottle out and turn my head when I hear a door open. "Hello, baby bee." Mommy says. Her hair is wet and she's dressed in a pair of sweats.
"Mama." I lift my arms towards her. Just that action takes a lot of effort.
Mommy comes over to me and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "Did she eat?" Mommy asks Daddy.
"A little bit. Not even half, I think it's because of the bottle. We got a solely breastfed baby here." Daddy chuckles.
"I do have some good news! The doctor said that Mila could be moved out of the ICU as soon as she can walk a few steps."
"Oh my god! That's so good!" Mommy almost yells her excitement.
"Come on, let's call the nurse." Daddy suggests.
Mommy presses the button and two nurses walk in the room. "You ready to take a few steps, Mila?" The nurse asks.
I grunt and move closer to Daddy. "Here's what were going to do Hazel, I'm going to have you sit on the floor by the door to encourage her. I'm going to be walking behind her to make sure she doesn't get hurt if she falls. Theo, can you place her on the floor?" The nurse says.
I'm placed on the floor and I immediately start to cry. I don't want this! I want to cuddle Daddy. My legs hurt and so does everything else. Why are they even making me do this?
"Come on baby, come to Mommy. I promise you can have some cuddles once you get over here."
I go to take a step and my legs wobble. I feel the nurses hands lightly grazing my armpits, preparing to catch me if I fall. After another step I wobble and go to fall on my butt, but the nurse catches me.
"Try again, Mila. It's okay." I hear the nurse say through my tears.
"Try again for Mommy. Just a little bit more, ladybug." Mama says. She's squatting down with outstretched arms and a smile on her face.
After a few more steps, I finally make it to Mommy. She carefully picks me up and shushes my cries. "Good job! You did so good!"
I cry into her neck while she pats my back. "You did so good! Mama and Dada are so proud."
"She can be moved out of the ICU. A person will be here to transfer her shortly." I feel the nurse pat my back as she leaves the room.
I pull on Mama's shirt trying to her to her boob. I'm thirsty and want her comfort. "Okay ladybug, give Mama a second." Mommy sits down, pulls her shirt up, and unlatches her bra. Supporting her boob so I can latch on, I begin to suck. Mama adjusts my latch a little bit, then leans back.
"There you go, all better." Mama hums and rocks me while I eat. I look out of the corner of my eye and see Dada smiling at me.
"I see you peaking at me, princess." He sticks his tongue out and I giggle.
"Is Daddy being silly?" Mama asks me in a high pitched voice.
I don't respond, just continue to drink her sweet milk. Some of it falls out of the sides of my mouth and Mama quickly wipes it up. "I'm here to bring Mila down to her new room." A man walks into the room with a wheelchair. He's wearing green scrubs and has a friendly smile.
"Can I sit in that with her in my arms? She just started nursing and I don't want to unlatch." Mama tells him.
"That's fine."
I feel Mama sit up, one hand under my butt with my head in the crook of her arm. Dada stands up, grabbing all of our bags and following behind us. Sitting down in the wheelchair, Mama starts to pat my butt again. She adjusts her shirt so it's resting over my nose and mouth to protect her modesty.
"Alright, let's go." The man says.
We enter a elevator after walking down some hallways, and the man presses the button for the fourth floor. "She's going to our toddler and baby's unit. There'll be another family in the room with you guys. The beds are divided by a curtain so everything should be okay." The man tells Mama.
The man stops at a large set of double doors and scans his badge on a sensor. I hear the locks click and the doors open. "This unit is locked from the outside. If you leave, you have to buzz in. We keep it like that because toddlers like to run away."
We walk down halls decorated with zoo animals until we come to a stop in front of a room. "Here you go. You have a nice day."
"Thank you." Daddy tells the man.
Mama stands up and walks into the room. The curtain in between the beds is open and I can see another family. There's a toddler in the bed who looks to be about four. His mom and dad are sitting with him reading a book. The boy has a cast on his left leg.
The couple look up when we enter the room. "Hi! I'm Dave and this is my wife, Angela, and our son Toby. Poor buddy broke his leg falling off his bike. He's here for surgery." The man, Dave says.
"Nice to meet y'all. I'm Theo, my wife Hazel, and our daughter, Mila. We got in a pretty bad car accident. Poor Mila took the brunt of it." Dada smiles sadly down at me.
"We saw on the TV. I'm glad to see she's doing better." Angels says.
"Thank you." Mama replies with a smile.
She walks us over to the bed and sits down. She adjusts me a little bit and moves me over to her other boob. "She's so cute! How old is she?" I hear Angela ask.
"She just turned two."
"Toby's four. I miss the days when he would nurse and cuddle."
"Look, Mama! That baby's eating from her booby!" Toby yells.
"Yes, I see Toby. Don't yell and it's not nice to stare." Dave reprimands him.
I feel a blanket being placed over my head and reach up to pull it off. "No, Mila. It has to stay there until you're done."
I unlatch from Mamas booby and sit up with Mama's help. I burp and Daddy wipes my face. "Nu! 'top. Bad Dada." I tell him.
"I know, I'm so mean. Do you want your blocks Teeta brought you?" He asks.
"Es pease!" I clap my hands and Dada brings my blocks. They're big so I can't put them in my mouth. He dumps them out on the bed in front of me and I start to play.
"Do you guys mind if Toby plays too? He loves blocks." Angela asks.
"Go ahead." Mama says.
Toby is placed on the bed in front of me so the blocks are in between us. We play for a little bit and Toby and I build a big castle. We babble to each other until Daddy interrupts our play. "Hey, babe? I'm going to go get dinner. What would you like? Mila has to eat some real food."
"Chipotle?" Mama asks.
"Sure. Steak burrito bowl with chips and quac?" He asks.
"Yeah. Coke to drink."
"What about for Mila?"
"She can share with me. You know I never eat that much anyways."
"I'll be back soon." Dada leans down and gives me a kiss on my cheek, then gives Mama a peck on her lips.
I continue to build with Toby until I become bored. I turn my body around and snuggle into Mama. "Nuk?" I ask.
"Here you go, ladybug." I suck on my paci until I fall asleep.