Lexi's POV
Collapsing onto the bench in the locker room I let out the biggest sigh, followed by my arms dropping by my sides. It's my first full week back to work after thanksgiving and after three weeks off, this is my last shift of the week, having worked 5 days in a row. I was able to sneak away for 10 minutes while both of my patients are stable. It's almost 6pm, I'm headed into the last hour of my 12 hour shift and this is my first break so far. No time for lunch today, I am enjoying my 10 minutes by resting my eyes. Playing some soft music, I am not sure I make it through 5 minutes before my work phone goes off. Ripping my eyes open I see my patients room pop up on the screen and I am out the door before I know it.
Running down the hall I make my way into room 16 to see lots of nurses surrounding the little girl. Seeing her O2 sat dropping and her BP down low, I immediately get Dr. Choi on the phone to explain what's going on. My nursing partner Emily is at my patients side pushing meds while her mom is being comforted in the corner. The chaos around me causes my head to spin, but I take one deep breath and block everything out, focusing on the moment.
"Hey Libby," I say to the girl as I race to her side. The 12 year old girls face turns toward mine and I turn up the oxygen and lay her flat. "Take those deep breaths in for me, copy me okay?"
Slowing down my breathing I get her to match my pace as her rapid breaths turn to slow ones. "Tell me, what were you doing when you started not to feel well?"
"M-my mom was gonna t-take me on a walk. Dr. C-Choi said I could try."
"Okay, keep breathing for me and keep your arm still. We gave you some medicine to help with your blood pressure, I am gonna take it again. I want you to close those eyes for me. Think about that ice cream we're gonna have for dessert."
As her blood pressure is being taken I elevate her head slightly and place a pillow under her knees. Turning the oxygen down a little to see how she does I hold her hand and ask her a few more questions.
"Did you feel dizzy? Like you were gonna fall?"
"I did, my mom caught me."
"Did your vision get blurry?"
"A little."
"Keep your eyes closed. I'm going to open them one at a time and shine a light okay?"
Taking my penlight and inspecting her eyes I then ask her a few more things.
"Squeeze my thumbs for me," I ask to check her reflexes.
"You said you started to fall, did you feel like your legs were weak or just fell because of the dizziness?"
"Just dizzy I think."
"Push down on my hands with your feet."
Checking her reflexes and strength once more her blood pressure returns to normal and so does her breathing.
"Alright open those blue eyes for me love," I say and smile toward the girl as I sit down next to her.
"I'm gonna come back in a few and we will try and walk again okay?"
"No, we can't," she says as her eyes get big. "What if I fall again."
"I will never let you fall, I'll be right by your side. This time we will take it nice and slow. I think last time you just got up way too fast which caused your blood pressure to drop. That's what caused you to get dizzy."
"I'm not sure."
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes."
"I will never force you to do something, but I think it's best we try. The faster we get up and moving the faster that ice cream is in our belly."
Giving her a smile I make my way out of the room and check on my other patient next door before sitting down at the desk to chart everything that just went on.
Grabbing a walker on my way back into Libby's room I set it down in front of her and reach my hand out for hers.
"I'm not going anywhere."
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Stepping into the apartment with pizza and wings in hand I kick the door closed with my foot before setting all my things down. Not hearing any noise I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion. I don't see anyone in the living room but looking past I see Ella and Ben are sat out on the patio.
"Hey," I say opening the sliding glass door. "What're you guys doing out here? Where is my family?"
"Pia had a rough day," Ben says as he looks to me with a small smile. "She's in her room and Kristie is with her. We helped ourselves to some wine, I hope you don't mind."
"Ben you know anything in my house is yours of course I don't mind. Come on, pizza is on the counter."
"I think we will take ours to go," Ella says as she stands to give me a hug. "Spend time with Pia and Kris, and we will see you Sunday for family dinner."
"What? No seriously guys please stay."
"Hey," Ella says before I can protest any more and Ben heads inside to fix their plates. "Just this once okay? Pia needs you, also her list for Santa is on the counter. Don't forget it's already December 5th."
The two give me one last hug before placing their wine glasses in the sink and heading out the door. Heading down the hall to change out of my scrubs I throw on an oversized tshirt and shorts before making my way to Pia's room. Opening the door quietly I see Pia laying in bed all curled up into Kristie's side who is running her fingers through her hair. The soft creak of the door makes Kristie's eyes look toward mine and she slowly peels Pia off her before making her way toward me.
She pushes me out of the room and pulls me toward the bedroom, laying the both of us down.
"What's wrong? Is she still awake? I want to go check on her."
"She's asleep so you can check on her in the morning. She had a really rough day at school. A boy in her class made her angry and she pushed him on the playground. I think the full week just caught up to her. She hasn't been this busy since before we left."
"Wait, she pushed someone? That's so not like her."
"Like I said, I think she is just over tired and trying to get back into a routine. It's a big adjustment for her. I am not saying pushing the boy was right but he was kind of rude."
"What do you mean?"
"He was telling her that having two moms is wrong and that we didn't love her. Which I reassured her that we love her more than anything and that every family is unique and different, but she still is very hurt by his words. I talked with her teacher after school."
The tears are falling down my face and I finally let out the sob that I've been holding in.
Kristie pulls me into her side and I hide my face in her neck, gripping her shirt in my hands. She runs her hands under my shirt trying to calm me down and after several minutes my tears subside.
"You mentioned how you thought she was over tired and too busy. Maybe I shouldn't have joined the national team. She wouldn't be doing as much traveling then, she would be in school more and have a normal routine."
"Lex, look at me," she says grabbing my chin and forcing me to look into her eyes. "I don't think you would've accepted the job in the first place if you didn't feel it was a good fit. I know you and Pia had a lot of miscommunication this camp but I do think she still enjoyed it and she was still in a routine. I think you're just trying to take whatever she's going through and put it on yourself. That's not healthy babe. We will all get through this together but you need to believe that too. And I think the best thing you can do right now is go to sleep and tomorrow you and Pia can sit down and talk about everything."
Looking up to her with my tear stained face she wipes them all away before kissing me softly.
"Now how about you shower and we then watch some tv. I'll have pizza waiting for when your done."
"Will you join me?" I ask pulling her toward the bathroom.
"Absolutely."
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Waking up to the sun shining through the window, I slowly stretch my arms before turning over. Expecting to see Kristie I jump a little when it's actually Pia sleeping next to me.
Her light brown hair is stuck to her skin from the nights sleep and I can't help but have tears enter my eyes thinking about my conversation with Kristie the night before.
Pushing her hair out of her eyes I run my hands through it a few times as her eyes flutter open.
"Hi mommy," she whispers.
"Hi baby. How did you sleep?"
"I had a nightmare, I woke up mama and she let me sleep in here."
"Well that was very nice of her wasn't it?"
"Yeah. Where is mama?"
"I think I smell some chocolate chip pancakes, your favorite. But before we get up to eat I want to talk to you about school yesterday. Mama said you had a rough day. Would you like to talk about it?"
"He was a meanie mommy, that's why I pushed him. I didn't want him to get hurt but he was making fun of you and mama and he made me angry. I tried to tell him to stop but he wouldn't listen. And you always tell me to stick up for myself right? And Sonnett said that if anyone is ever mean you have to give them a little shove so they know who's the boss. And I am the boss mommy."
Hearing sonnett's advice puts a smile on my face followed by a little laugh and I can't help but pull my daughter into my side.
"First of all, anything Emily says, don't take it seriously. Although I think it's very good you stuck up for yourself, it's never nice to push someone. The best thing to do is find someone like your teacher and tell them what's going on."
"I know that now, mama told me that yesterday."
"Good. Second, mama and I love you more than anything in this whole world. Just because you have two mommy's doesn't make your world any different than anyone else's. You are just as loved and just as kind. You know that right?"
"I know mommy, I love you too."
"Now before we go eat, let's brush our teeth and have a dance party."
"Yeah mommy your breath is stinky."
Picking her up and throwing her over my shoulder I tickle her all the way to the bathroom before setting her down on the counter. Playing some songs we dance around while brushing our teeth. As the song comes to an end we wash off our faces and head out toward the kitchen.
As we exit the bedroom Kristie is walking toward us with Tucker hot on her heels, the two of them in deep conversation about something. She stops short when she sees us.
"Oh good I was just coming to get you before Tucker ate another pancake," she says give the small dog a disappointed face. Pia and I laugh as our daughter and the dog run toward the kitchen. Pulling Kristie into my side I give her butt a squeeze as I kiss her on the cheek.
"Thank you for breakfast love, it's perfect."
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Hope you like the latest update!