A Present in Swaddling Clothes

by Andrew Grey

  The other paramedic examined Vivian and said she seemed a little congested, but otherwise seemed fine and no worse for the experience. “I do suggest that you get cleaned up, though.”

  Josh couldn’t have agreed more. Handing Vivian to his mother, he hurried upstairs. In the bathroom, he stripped out of his dirty clothes and grabbed a washcloth from the shower. Washing himself quickly, Josh changed into sweatpants and a T-shirt. He also changed into fresh socks and his gym shoes, since his other shoes were in definite need of a cleaning. As he was finishing up, he heard heavy footsteps on the stairs and saw Tom approach. “Jerry said there’s a bottle of medicine we need to see?”

  “Yes.” Josh pointed to it sitting on Vivian’s dresser. “Mom said it was full before she left. I presume that’s why Vivian stopped breathing and why she got sick.” The paramedic didn’t touch it, either, and he radioed for backup.

  “I have to report this, and the police will be here.” He seemed almost apologetic.

  “I know,” Josh said, but the thought of what Nicky might have done broke his heart. “I don’t want to think that she did it on purpose.” Tom nodded, and Josh followed him down the stairs. Jerry was already strapping Nicky onto a gurney, and Tom helped him. Nicky looked completely calm and almost relieved. The police arrived and asked their questions. Vivian woke up and fussed until Josh made up a fresh bottle for her. He only let her have so much, but she seemed to be keeping it down.

  “She couldn’t have gotten much of the medication into her because of the short amount of time,” Jerry said as he held one of Vivian’s little hands. “You’re one lucky little girl. Your uncle saved your life.” Then he looked up at Josh. “We need to transport her to the hospital. We’ve radioed for another ambulance.” Finally the police left, and the paramedics carried Nicky out of the house.

  “I should go with them,” Josh’s mother said as she stood up.

  “We’re transporting her to Howard County General,” the paramedic Tom told them before leaving the house.

  “Thank you,” Josh said, and the door closed behind them.

  “Are you really okay, Mom?” Josh asked as he sat next to her on the sofa, and she nodded as tears ran down her cheeks. “I know, Mom.”

  “What are we going to do?” She wiped her eyes with a tissue.

  “You are going to go to the hospital and be with Nicky. I’m calling Tim and he can come as well. You’ll need him to sit with you.”

  “What about Vivian?”

  Josh looked to Sammy, his eyes asking the question silently. It took Sammy a few seconds, and then he nodded. Josh got up from his chair and walked to the mantle, opening an old wooden box that had been their grandmother’s. “This is where Nicky keeps her important papers,” Josh said as he rummaged until he found what he needed. “This is her medical power of attorney. I had her make one out for both me and you, in case anything happened.” Josh handed the paper to his mother. “And this is my custodial power of attorney for Vivian.” Josh had insisted she make them out before she had the baby. Nicky had fought him, but Josh had insisted, and he’d never been so happy that he’d put his foot down about anything before.

  Josh’s mother began walking slowly toward the door as Josh called his brother, and he was surprised when Tim actually answered the phone. “Tim, it’s Josh. Sammy and I are at Nicky’s, and she’s not doing well.”

  “What happened?” Tim asked, but he didn’t sound particularly concerned.

  “She’s not herself. We aren’t sure exactly what’s happened, and I can tell you all about it at the hospital. Mom’s on her way to Howard County General, and I was wondering if you could meet her there. Both Nicky and Vivian are being transported by ambulance.”

  “I knew it. She flipped out, didn’t she? I knew she should never have had that baby.”

  “Jesus Christ, Tim. Is that all you can think of?” Josh snapped, and Vivian opened her eyes and began to cry. “She’s our sister and she needs our help and support right now.” Josh held the phone under his chin as he tried to soothe Vivian, but she wasn’t having any of it. She’d only taken a small portion of her bottle, and Josh wasn’t going to force her. He half expected what she’d eaten to come up again, and he had more important things to do than fight with Tim. “Can you meet Mom at the hospital or not?” His patience was running thin.

  “We’ll be there,” Tim snapped before hanging up the phone. Josh threw the thing onto the sofa, and Sammy snapped it up for him as Josh placed Vivian on his shoulder, rubbing her back lightly. He heard her burp loudly, and she spit up some onto his shoulder, but after Josh got a clean towel, she began to settle again.

  “I need to call her pediatrician so he can meet us at the hospital.”

  “I’ll see if I can find the number,” Sammy offered.

  “Thank you,” Josh said softly as he sank into the rocking chair in the corner. He had no idea what the hell was happening around him. Everything seemed to be falling apart, and he knew it was up to him to somehow put the pieces back together. There was no other choice.

  Sammy returned and dialed the number before handing Josh the phone. “Dr. Halverson’s office.” Josh knew it was the answering service.

  “Yes. My name is Josh Upton and I’m calling about my niece, Vivian Upton. I need the doctor to call me right away.” Josh gave her the number.

  “What is this regarding?”

  Josh decided to cut to the chase. “Vivian stopped breathing a while ago. I revived her, and she seems to be okay now, but I need to be sure. EMTs have looked at her and she’s being taken to the hospital.”

  “I’ll make sure he gets the message,” she said, and Josh hung up. He could still feel Vivian’s breathing against his ear. Lifting her away from his shoulder, he settled her on his lap, and she stared up at him. His phone rang and Josh snatched it up.

  “This is Dr. Halverson.”

  “Thank you for calling.” Josh explained to the doctor what happened and what he thought about the medication as well as what the EMTs thought. “Right now she’s alert and is breathing fine. She wanted a bottle but drank very little and spit up some of it.”

  “I’d like to see her. Are you at Nicky’s?”

  “Yes,” he answered.

  “Good. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “Okay,” Josh answered. “Thank you.” Josh hung up the phone and looked at Sammy who was standing right near him. “The doctor is on his way over,” he told Sammy and the EMT, who were staring at him. A knock on the door made Josh jump, and Sammy went to answer it.

  “I’m Dr. Halverson,” a very young man said as he stepped inside. “Before you ask, I don’t normally make house calls, but I live three houses down, and Nicky was so helpful to my wife and me when we moved in.” He strode to where Josh sat. “How are you, Vivi? Does your tummy hurt?”

  “Dr. Halverson, I did not tell your service this, but we think Nicky may have….” Josh swallowed hard. “She may have tried to kill Vivian with an overdose of medicine.” Josh described how he’d found Vivian in her crib, and what he’d done. The doctor worked quietly, checking Vivian over.

  “What I think happened was that she was probably choking when you found her. Turning her over and patting her back got her to throw up and get rid of the medicine. It’s a miracle that you found her when you did, but other than a sore tummy, which she’ll have for a while, she should be fine. I want to have toxicology run to be sure, but it looks like her little body tried to get rid of what it knew was harmful.” The doctor stood up and put his equipment back in his bag as the second team of EMTs arrived.

  “Thank you,” Josh said before reaching over to the coffee table and handing the doctor the sheet of paper. “This way you’ll know you’re covered.” The doctor read the power of attorney and then set it back on the counter.

  The EMTs began to get Vivian ready for transport, and Josh felt lost once they took her from his arms. “They’ll take good care of her. The best thing you can do is let them watch her
, and you get her things together and meet us at the hospital. I know the impulse is to ride along, but it impedes the EMTs,” Dr. Halverson said before walking to the door.

  Josh looked to Sammy, but he’d left the room. “We’ll meet you there,” Josh said. He knew how he wanted to object, but he knew exactly how Sammy would react, just as he knew that Sammy had made himself scarce because he did not want to talk about it. To Josh that said a lot. “Thank you for everything,” Josh said, and the doctor waved before closing the door behind him.

  “When do you want to leave for the hospital?” Sammy asked, coming back into the room. Josh got up and shifted to the sofa, and Sammy sat next to him.

  “I need a few minutes,” Josh said, and he felt Sammy stroke his arm.

  “Nicky is going to be fine,” Sammy reassured him, and Josh nodded, willing himself to believe it. But he didn’t. He’d seen Nicky and he knew she was not going to be fine. Josh also realized, even if Sammy didn’t, that Vivian was going to need someone to take care of her. Josh wanted very much for that to be him or, more accurately, them. He and Sammy had different interests. Sammy adored cooking and Josh loved to garden. A few times a year, Josh helped Sammy in the kitchen and Sammy helped him in the yard, but usually they let each other do their thing. In other areas of their lives, they did most everything together, and the thought of doing anything major without Sammy hurt, and raising a child, even for a short period of time, was definitely major. But Josh wasn’t holding out much hope that Sammy would come around.

  “I need to get ready to go,” Josh said and he slowly stood up. “Nicky’s keys are in her purse, I hope, and I think I saw it in the kitchen. Would you find them, unlock her car, and see if you can get the car seat out? We need to move it to our car for later.” Sammy’s eyebrows lifted, and he looked at Josh like he was kidding. “Unless you want to pack the diaper bag for Vivian and make up bottles for her.” Josh didn’t need to say another word; Sammy had his coat on and was out the door so fast it made Josh’s head spin.

  Walking slowly up the stairs, Josh went into Vivian’s room and packed the diaper bag with extra clothes and everything he could think of. He was nearly done when he realized he’d actually forgotten to put in the diapers. Finding a package of disposables under the changing table, Josh shoved some in the bag before taking it downstairs. After listening up the stairs for any movement, Josh went into the kitchen and grabbed bottles and formula, placing them in a tote bag he found beside one of the chairs in the living room.

  “I think I have it,” Sammy said proudly as he closed the door behind him. “The car seat is an attachment for the baby-carrier thing, and I put it in our car the way it was in Nicky’s.”

  Josh pointed to the bags near the door. “Take those to the car.” Good Lord, he felt like he was packing for a cross-country trip.

  Josh got everything ready and turned out the lights. “I have Nicky’s keys, so we can get back in if we need to.” Josh slipped on his coat and picked up the empty baby carrier once again before leaving the house. Sammy locked up while Josh placed the carrier on the backseat. Sammy got in the passenger seat and Josh climbed behind the wheel, closing the doors so the interior could warm up. Sammy already had the GPS out and was programming it with the hospital address as Josh slowly navigated out of the neighborhood toward the main road.

  Josh followed the directions from the GPS voice.

  “What are we going to do, Josh? What if Nicky can’t come home?”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Josh answered, not ready to give Sammy the answer he knew in his heart.

  “Do you think Tim and Maria will be able to take care of her?” Sammy asked as he peered at Josh again.

  “Probably,” Josh answered, feeling his heart sink into his stomach. He should have known that it was completely outside of Sammy’s worldview to ever even think of offering to take her home with them, and Josh knew the only way he could ever bring a child into their home was if Sammy actually suggested it. Sammy could be stubborn, and as a youngest child, he was quite used to getting his own way, particularly when he felt strongly about something.

  Josh spent the rest of the drive in silence, adjusting his hopes to the fact that Vivian would need to go home with his brother. He’d allowed himself to hope. Besides, Tim and Maria already had a child, and they both knew how to care for babies. Maybe Vivian would be better off with them.

  By the time he parked the car, Josh had pretty much convinced himself. Getting out, he carried the diaper bag over his shoulder and Sammy carried the tote, and after clumsily locking the car, they walked into the hospital. Josh explained who they needed to see and how Nicky and Vivian had been brought in. “They’re still in Emergency,” the woman behind the desk explained, and she gave them directions.

  They nearly got lost as they passed through the corridors, but they found the waiting area and saw Josh’s mother as well as Tim and Maria. There was no mistaking that he and Tim were brothers, well, except for the beer gut on Tim. Maria was another matter. There was a reason Josh called her his bitch-in-law. After she and Tim married, they didn’t speak for almost two years because she felt Tim’s family wasn’t good enough for her lofty ideas. That all changed when she got pregnant and decided that Tim’s family’s presents for her baby were good enough. Girding himself, Josh walked to where they waited. “How are they?” he asked his mother.

  “They’re still running tests on Vivian and trying to get a bed for Nicky. They think it’s a combination of things, but they’re worried that she might be a danger to herself, so they’re going to move her to a room where she can be watched closely.” Josh was more concerned about Vivian right now, but he knew his mother was just frantic about both of them.

  “What happened?” Maria asked

  “It appears that Nicky gave Vivian too much Tylenol, and she threw it up, but since she was on her back, she choked on it,” Josh answered.

  “Josh saved her life,” Sammy said proudly. Before anyone could comment further, a doctor walked in their direction.

  “I’m Hank Smith, one of the attending psychiatrists here at the hospital, and we’re going to keep Nicole for observation and tests. She’s suffering mental trauma and memory loss. Right now, she does not appear to recall the last few days, and she may be repressing further. We’ve got her lightly sedated so she can rest, and I’m hoping that’s part of the problem. With new mothers, they often work themselves into exhaustion.” The doctor checked his notes. “Which of you is Josh?”

  “I am,” Josh answered before standing up.

  “Could I please speak to you privately?”

  “Of course,” Josh followed the doctor into what appeared to be a small conference room, where the doctor shut the door.

  “Your sister is very fragile right now. She remembers her baby, but all she says is that she’s dead.”

  “That’s what she kept saying when we found her,” Josh said and looked at the doctor wondering if he should tell him his suspicions. After a few seconds, he figured the doctor couldn’t help if he didn’t know everything. “I don’t know for sure, but Nicky might have tried to kill Vivian. It appears she gave her part of a bottle of baby cold medicine. Vivian threw it up and she’s fine now, I hope, but it was pretty scary for a while. I don’t really know, and it might have been an accident. But to my way of thinking that might explain some of her reaction. I let her see that the baby is all right, but I don’t think she understood.”

  The doctor nodded but didn’t say anything.

  “Can we see her?”

  “She’s going to sleep for hours and most likely through the rest of the day and night.”

  “Thank you,” Josh said as he left the room. He approached the desk and the nurse who appeared to be waiting for him. She ushered him back into a room where Vivian was resting in a small criblike contraption. She was hooked to monitors and looked even smaller than before.

  Dr. Halverson stood next to Josh as he gazed at Vivian, some of
his anxiety slipping away now that he could see her. “They’ve already taken blood to make sure there’s nothing harmful still in her system, but I believe she’s going to be fine. Her heart rate and breathing appear to be good. Right now we’re being cautious,”

  “Will you keep her?”

  “Unless something unexpected shows up in the toxicology, I don’t think so. I don’t believe she stopped breathing as much as she was choking.” The doctor touched his shoulder. “You did an amazing thing today. Go tell your family what’s happening. I’ll stay with her while you’re gone.”

  Josh thanked the doctor and headed out to join the rest of his family. As he approached, he seemed to have walked into the middle of a quiet argument, with Maria and Sammy staring daggers at each other. Josh gave them an update on Vivian’s condition with Maria glaring at him the entire time. He’d barely finished when Maria seemed to pick up from where she’d left off.

  “Josh, tell your partner that it’s best if Vivian comes home with us,” Maria said, and she turned her stubbornness on him. It took Josh a few seconds to fully comprehend what he’d just heard. Maria had offered to take Vivian, and Sammy was arguing with her?

  “Okay, just a minute. What’s going on?” Josh asked the group, but he looked at Sammy, wondering just what his partner was getting at. Sammy stepped away from the others, and Josh followed him.

  “Your harpy sister-in-law told me that she and Tim would take the baby home because it would be better for Vivian. Like two gay men can’t take care of a baby,” Sammy hissed between his teeth. “Your sister named you, not her, as guardian.”

  “Sammy, what are you saying? That you want to bring Vivian home with us? She could be with us for a while if what the doctor says is true.” It dawned on Josh that if Nicky had tried to harm Vivian that she might never be able to take care of her. “Sammy, this could be permanent if they determine that Nicky tried to hurt her.” Josh could barely believe his ears. “Are you acting like this because Maria hurt your ego and pride? Because that’s not the reason to take Vivian. They know how to raise children. They’ve done it before.”