Topic: Commonplace Emergency

Rufus Bennett

Date: 2016-02-21 04:42 EST
"97!"

Rufus stared at the thermometer in horror, switching his gaze down to Ro, who was fussing quietly on his hip, her head lolling comfortably on his shoulder. He'd checked her temperature on a whim, tired of the low-level moaning and sleepy attitude, only to discover that the baby girl who was all they had left of her mother actually was ill. And, being the unpracticed father he was, this was immediately cause for panic.

One thing he didn't do, however, was go looking for Miranda. They had been working hard on teaching him how to parent for the last nine months or so, and thus far, it had been going well. But this was Ro's first illness that he was aware of, and despite his panic, he wanted Miranda to be proud of him when he finally told her that Ro was a bit sick. There really was only one person he could call in safety, and thankfully that person knew more than her share about medicine.

The phone rang precisely twice before Bethany answered, sounding a little muffled but her usual cheery self. "Hey, Dad, what?s up?" she asked curiously.

Rufus almost felt his knees buckle in relief at the swift response. "Bethany!" he declared, lowering his voice when Ro whined about the volume next to his other ear. "I need help."

Beth snorted with laughter. "Since when do you not need help?" she teased her father. "I say again, what?s up?"

"Ro's got a temperature," he told her, lowering his voice as though Miranda might come waltzing into the room at any moment and catch him asking their daughter for advice. "97 degrees."

"Okay." There was a brief pause as Beth rearranged herself on the other end of the phone. "What else has she got, besides a temperature?"

Rufus blinked, looking down at the nine month old in his arms. "I ....what do you mean?"

Beth's smile was audible as she replied. "Is she pulling at her ear, maybe? Or does she seem a bit stuffed up" What's her breathing like when she's sleeping?" She didn't bother asking about the fussing - with a temperature, it was a guarantee that her adopted baby sister would be fussing.

"She's a bit sniffly," Rufus offered doubtfully. "She rubs her ears when she's sleepy, but I don't think she's doing it more than she usually does. Oh, and she was coughing a bit when she was napping earlier."

"How long has she been fussing and a bit hot?" Beth then asked, her voice fainter than he had been expecting. Apparently she was dealing with something herself, if the bizarre barking noise on the other end of the phone was anything to go by.

"Oh, uh ....a couple of days, I think," Rufus told her thoughtfully. "She didn't really feel hot until this morning, though, and the coughing only started during her nap."

"Dad, she's got a cold," his daughter told him confidently. "If her temperature spikes to over 102, call a doctor. But I think you've got a few days of runny noses and crusty snot, and she'll cough a little bit when she's sleeping. She might get diarrhea, too, but that's only because she can't spit out the mucus."

"What am I supposed to do?" Rufus whispered in horror. Ro wasn't even a year old yet, and judging by his reaction, you'd think she'd contracted a life-threatening disease.

Bethany chuckled. "Just a sec." She paused, and a moment later, he heard a door open, and the muffling sound on the other end of the phone cleared up for a little bit. Beth's voice was just about discernible, talking to Jason. It sounded as though, whatever she was doing, she'd just been delivered a cup of coffee. "Okay, Dad, here's what you do ..."

Rufus listened closely as his daughter explained to him how to clear Ro's nose before feeding her, how to give her infant Tylenol, and how to cool her down if she got too hot. He also managed not to blush or bluster as Bethany informed him how very common place getting a cold was for a baby. Peppered throughout the conversation was that odd barking sound from her end - not their dog, Lucky, but definitely something else.

"And call me anytime if you think you need advice, or talking through something," Beth added at the end of her exhaustive explanation. "Seriously, though ....keep an eye on her temperature. It should start to go down tomorrow, but if it goes up, call the doctor."

"Temperature up, call doctor," he repeated, absentmindedly swaying as Ro drifted off to sleep on his shoulder again, blissfully unaware of the pool of snot accumulating on his shirt. "Thank you, Beth."

"Hey, what else is family for?" his daughter chuckled. "Just be glad it's only a cold. Brody's got the croup over here."

"Oh, good God ..." To Rufus, that sounded horrendous. "Is he making that awful noise?"

"Yup," Beth grinned through the confident response. "He'll be fine in a little while. We're steaming ourselves while Jason tires Evy out."

"Steaming ....I'm not even going to ask," her father conceded, relieved that Beth had been able to give him practical advice, even if he was now worried not only for Ro, but for his grandson as well. "Should I tell your mother about the croup?"

"Nah, I told her earlier," Beth assured him. "She called to ask about visiting, so I kind of had to."

"Ah, I see." Rufus could feel his panic receding, reassured that Miranda knew what was going on in New York, and that he wouldn't need to present himself as a bumbling fool to her when he told her about Ro's cold. It never occurred to him that she, the experienced parent, had probably already guessed there was a cold brewing right under his nose. "Well, I should let you get back to your sickly little boy."

"Hey, you've got a sicky little girl right there," Beth laughed, and it was also reassuring to hear her so robustly in a good mood. "Look at it this way, Dad - you made it almost ten months without a single cold, flu, or stomach bug. I'd say you got lucky."

"Lucky. I don't believe you, but thank you anyway," was his reserved answer, rewarded with another laugh from his daughter. "All right, let us return to our respective sickies. May I call you tonight, if I need to?"

"Dad, you can call at any time," she assured him affectionately. "And Mom's not going to bite your head off for Ro getting a cold. Seriously, it happens a lot. You're gonna be eyeballs deep in snot for the next few years."

"What a charming mental image to leave me with," he drawled in amusement, but he was surprised to find himself smiling. It was always nice to know he hadn't inadvertently broken Rowan through sheer incompetence. "Take care, Beth, and my profound condolences to Jason for stealing your attention."

She laughed again as she bid him goodbye, disconnecting the call to attend to her own little sickie. Rufus looked down at Ro, sleeping on his shoulder with thin, clear snot dribbling out of her nose and over his shirt.

"Well ..." he conceded, setting the phone back into its cradle. "It could be worse."