one week later...
Solai laid on Mr. Bear while watching Spongebob, sucking her thumb. She was currently in the middle of her night feed and on the edge of falling asleep. The tube that was inserted through Solai's nose fed her every three hours, making sure she got all of her nutrients.
Solana had just gotten off the elevator, with a small bag of her clothes. Her and Ms. Georgia had a long talk, and afterwards Ms. Georgia asked Solana if she would like to spend more time with Solai after visiting hours. Of course Solana said yes. Being that she was booked from day to night every day, it was hard for Solana to visit Solai.
Once Solana got to Solai's door, she greeted the police officer and walked in. Until Solai's parents were found and put into custody, a police officer was required to guard the door. It was standard procedure for the hospital and any child in the foster care system.
Solana walked into the dimly lit room, getting the attention of Solai. Ms. Georgia smiled small, watching Solai's reaction. Ms. Georgia could tell that the little girl liked Solana because whenever Solana couldn't stop by to see her, she would be sad. She would stare at the door, hoping that Solana would come through.
Solai released her thumb from her mouth and crawled onto her knees. She held her arms out and used her hands to do the grabbing motions. Solana pouted, walking towards Solai.
"I think she missed you. She'll stare at that door, waiting to see your face. Everytime it turns out to be a nurse or one of my colleagues she'd cry." Ms. Georgia explained softly. It was a little past nine PM, and she was exhausted. Ever since she took on Solai's case, she had been tired. She would stay at the hospital twenty-four seven.
"Aw I missed her so much. My schedule has just been so busy. Luckily I don't have any more appointments until next weekend." Solana replied. She stood at the hospital bed, now in front of Solai noticing her still doing the grabbing motions.
"I think she wants you to pick her up." Ms. Georgia whispered.
Solana smiled, nervous on the inside. She carefully watched the feeding tube in Solai's nose, before gently scooping her into her arms. Solai immediately stuck her thumb back into her mouth, laying her head in Solana's neck.
Solana sat down on the hospital bed, rubbing Solai's back softly as she looked at the feeding machine. "How is her temperature?" She asked Ms. Georgia.
"It's still not where they want it to be, but it's at ninety-four. They're more worried about her weight now. They said something about diagnosing her with failure to thrive." Ms. Georgia replied.
"What's that?" Solana frowned.
"They said it's when her physical growth is arrested. So it's basically failure to grow. It's only been a week and a half though, so they told me that they'll wait it out until next month to officially diagnose her." Ms. Georgia nodded.
"How much does she weigh?" Solana asked.
"Right now she's at twenty twenty two pounds, but they want her at forty." Ms. Georgia sighed. "That's why they changed her feeding schedule. Remember it used to be every five hours, now it's every three hours."
Solana nodded, looking down at Solai, who was now sleeping. For some reason, Solana wanted to cry. Ever since she had met Solai, she had became more emotional and she couldn't figure out why.
"Is she sleeping?" Ms. Georgia wondered, from her position on the couch. Whenever Solai slept meant that it was her cue to sleep. When Solai was awake, she had to be awake.
"Yes ma'am. Should I put her back in her bed?"
"It's up to you. She looks very comfortable where she is now." Ms. Georgia chuckled. "I'm about to try and get some sleep in. Let me know when you're leaving."
"Yes ma'am." Solana nodded. She carefully laid back in Solai's hospital bed, being sure to watch the tube on Solai's face. She gently pulled the covers onto the both of them, making sure that Solai was all covered up.
~
"Can I talk to y'all?" Solana asked Heaven and Jayda, entering Jayda' kitchen. It was the next day, and she had just left the hospital from spending the night with Solai. Luckily she slipped out before Solai could wake up, but she made it her duty to go back as soon as she was freshened up.
"What's up?" Jayda replied, taking a seat at one of the bar stools.
"What's wrong? Why it look like you about to cry?" Heaven asked, already reading Solana's body language. Heaven could read Solana like a book, she knew her like the back of her hand.
"I'm scared for her." Solana replied. "I don't know, I just want her to get better." She added, with her lips trembling and voice shaking.
"What are the doctors saying?" Heaven frowned. "Come sit down." She added.
"Ms. Georgia was telling me that they wanted to diagnose her with something called failure to thrive. I don't know what that means, I just heard the word failure and automatically thought the worst." Solana sniffled.
"Failure to thrive means that she's not receiving enough calories and nutrients. Her body is basically failing to grow and gain weight. It's not a disease or disorder babe, it just basically means that she's undernourished." Jayda explained.
"Yeah, it just means that she's not gaining weight like she should. It also means that she may not grow as tall as she should. Some kids with failure to thrive have a delay with talking and learning in school." Heaven added to.
"So could that be why she's not talking?" Solana asked, wiping her face.
"It could, but I honestly doubt it. She's probably not talking from the trauma she's been through. How did Georgia say it's going with the speech therapist?" Heaven replied.
"She said Solai still doesn't say anything. She just stares at the lady. When I went yesterday she let me hold her she actually fell asleep in my arms, but she didn't say anything. She used her hands in the grabbing motions letting me know that she wanted me to pick her up." Solana responded.
"Soso, what are you going to do when she's discharged?" Jayda questioned. "Will she be thrown in the system waiting for a foster family?"
Solana played with her fingers, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "I really want her to come home with me. I want to adopt her. Is it too soon though? Will they even approve me? I'm young, but I know what I want."
"If you know what you want then go for it Lana. Start talking to Ms. Georgia about it, and ask her where should you go to start the process. Get on it before somebody else does. We don't want her getting thrown in the system and then she's bouncing around from home to home." Heaven stated. "Sign up for some of those parenting classes that they have downtown."
"Okay." Solana nodded, taking in every word that her big sisters were spewing out. "Her birthday is next month, I want to throw her a party." She said.
"We'll help. First run everything that you just said by Ms. Georgia. Start researching the adoption process and talking to her about it. Once you start the process, then we can start planning her party. How old is she turning?" Jayda spoke, watching Solana's face instantly light up.
"She's turning five. I want this birthday party to be the best day she's ever had." Solana grinned. "Ou, I have to find a theme. Okay thanks you guys. Love you." Solana said, jogging out of the kitchen.
"Our little sister really then grew up." Jayda pouted.
"I know." Heaven mumbled. "I just want everything to work out in her and Solai's favor. Trying to adopt a child is not easy Jay, and I just hope that Solana's ready to go through that field of emotions." Heaven replied.
"That's why we'll be there every step of the way Heav. If this is what she wants, she won't let anything get in her way. From the looks of it, nothing is going to stop her. They're starting to get attached to one another, and Ms. Georgia likes Solana." Jayda shrugged.
"I know Jay, I just really want everything to work out in their favor. I would hate to have to beat a judge ass." Heaven shook her head. Jayda burst out laughing at Heaven's response. Heaven had always been the fighter.
"Have you talked to Zy?" Heaven asked.
"Not really, why?" Jayda replied.
"Have you talked to Angel about the school thing?" Heaven questioned again.
"She told me that it was just a misunderstanding between her and some girl." Jayda shrugged, completely blind to the fact that her daughter was getting bullied.
Heaven sighed lowly. "Jayda it wasn't a misunderstanding, we need to have a talk. With Nevaeh and Angel right now." She stated. Jayda only frowned at the look that Heaven was giving. She was confused.
~
hello!!
let me just say this. This is my book and I'm the author! If I want to delete or unpublish a book that's what I'm going to do. I have a life outside of wattpad. Then it be the ghost readers who always want to keyboard wolf. Like go away!
anyways i just had to get that off my chest.
so Solana visited Solai after visiting hours..would y'all like longer chapters with her at the hospital?
yall think Solai developed a liking to Solana? y'all think she will say her first words soon if Solana keeps visiting? what y'all think her first words will be?
y'all think Solai will gain weight before her birthday or will she continue to fail to thrive?
Solana asked Jayda and Heaven for advice. How do y'all feel about the advice they gave her? do y'all agree with them about starting the adoption process right now?
who thinks she should wait until she's discharged?
what type of birthday theme y'all think Solana gone come up with?
last but not least, how y'all think this talk about to go with Jayda, Angel, Nevaeh, and Heaven?
vote, comment, and share!!
-Jassyout