It was hard watching your child go through so much pain and not know what to do. I didn't know what was wrong with her. I didn't know how to help her. And that made me feel like such shit, to not be able to take away her pain.
She'd woken up in the middle of the night, screaming; Zach running in our room to alert us even though we were already jumping up and stumbling out the door. I reached her first, picking her up swiftly and cradling her. She screamed out in agony, which led for Ariel and Logan to come running as well. We gave her medicine, but that wasn't working.
I had Loran fill the tub with water and stripped her down until she was in her underwear before submerging myself, wearing my shorts, and then had Loran hand her to me. I held her to me, the warmth of the water seeming to do the trick and she was calmed enough to stop screaming.
"What's the matter?" I stroked the back of her hair.
"My back hurts." She was still crying, her eyes puffy and red as she buried her face deeper into the crook of my neck.
"Hurting like how?" I looked over at Loran who was leaning against the wall, the look in his eyes was pure worry. "Like someone hit you?"
She shook her head. "Worse!"
I looked at Loran again for help. I didn't know what to do. He shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "We could take her to the hospital. I mean, that's the only option we really haven't done."
I knew he was right so I nodded at him and he grabbed a towel; I carefully lifted her up and he wrapped her up in it, much to her pleas and cries to not be separated from me. "Get her dressed. I'm gonna go tell Ariel we're leaving."
He took her to her room and I dipped into ours, taking off the wet shorts and throwing on another set of pajama pants and an old t-shrit that I think used to be Loran's before I'd claimed it. I grabbed my wallet and keys and then gone to Ariel's and Logan's room. I knocked once before opening the door.
"How is she?" Ariel sat up, clicking the light on on her nightstand.
"We're taking her to the hospital. She's not getting any better." I sighed. "Zach's in his bed, if you would just keep an ear on him. I'll call you when we get her admitted or something."
"Yeah, yeah, sure, no problem." She stood up and hugged me tightly.
Treasure fell asleep on the car ride there, but I knew that wasn't the end of this. Whether or not she was still feeling the pain, she needed to go to the hospital. This wasn't something that could keep going on. Not if it was now waking her up in the middle of the night to scream.
Loran carried her in the hospital and that's when she woke up, her fit starting all over again, which led her to being passed to me. She calmed just enough that we could get her checked in.
"I don't wanna be here, daddy," She pushed out her bottom lip and she cried harder. "I wanna go home."
"I know, baby girl," I kissed her forehead and soothed her hair back. "But the doctor can make the pain go away, okay? That's why we're here, to make the pain stop."
She continued to pout and cry, but it wasn't anything like what had happened at home. I held her hand and she looked so sad. Loran sat next to me, holding my hand and kissed the top of my head as I rested it on his shoulder, what was taking this doctor so long?
It was another fifteen minutes before a nurse and doctor came in. "Treasure Crawford?" The doctor looked up from the miniature laptop she had in her hands.
"Yes," I replied.
"You must be dad," She smiled over at me, "Dr. Romero, what seems to be the problem tonight?"
"Um," I squeezed my hands, nervously. "She's been sick lately, all having to do with her kidneys and uh, we're going through with her pediatrician to figure out what's wrong but tonight, she woke up screaming and in really bad pain in her back. Like screaming so bad she woke the whole house."
"Okay, did you give her anything for pain?"
"Children's ibuprofen, about an hour ago. Um, I gave her about a teaspoon and a half which would be her regular dosage for her weight."
"Okay, and that was about an hour ago," She typed away. "Records say she was in her about a week ago getting kidney ultrasounds? Did you get the results from those?"
I shook my head, "Not yet."
"Sid, go ahead and see if you can pull the scans, okay, Treasure," She smiled at my daughter who just looked over all miserable. "Can you lay on your stomach for me?" I helped her flip over, holding her hand and soothing her as Dr. Romero pressed on her upper back. "Does it hurt here at all?" T shook her head and she lowered her hands. It was until she was about half way down pressing that Treasure screamed out once again. "I'm sorry, sweetie," She said, sympathetically and then turned towards me and Loran. "Her kidneys are a bit swollen and she does have fever so what I'm gonna do is go ahead and admit her. What I find on the ultrasound scans are definitely gonna help me determine what's wrong." She sighed. "I'm gonna have another nurse take you to her room."
"Daddy, please," T begged, pulling on my arm. "I don't wanna be here, anymore."
"I know," I held her. "We gotta wait, though."
But like Treasure, I didn't know if I could.