Emma had been fussy all afternoon for Andy. She’d chalked it up to having a bad day like she sometimes dad. She was only four weeks old but already had the making of a total drama queen starting. Justin had gotten home around 4:30 that afternoon and Andy had left right after.

At 10:30, her cell phone rang, Justin’s name flashing across the screen.

“Hello?”

“Andy!” He sounded like he was in a major panic.

“Justin? What’s wrong?” She knew something was, he never sounded like that.

“It’s Emma. She’s been crying for the past hour and a half, hasn’t ate since the last time you fed her. Her face is red, she’s hot, I don’t-“

“Justin, calm down, ok? Have you taken her temperature?”

“No. Where’s a thermometer at?”

She laughed, knowing where things were at better than him in his own house. “Silverware drawer.” She could hear him messing with it, the long loud beeps.

“It’s 104.7. Is that bad?”

“Justin, normal is 98.6. Add one degree for doing it under her arm, that’s almost 106.”

”What do I do?”

“Take her to the emergency room. I’ll meet you up there.”

”Ok. Thank you Andy.”

“No biggie.”

She hopped up off the sofa as her mom walked in the front door. “Where ya going honey?”

“Emma has a temp of almost 106. I told Justin to her to the ER and I’d meet him up there.”

“Oh dear God, that’s high!”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Do you want me to follow you up there to get Alex so you can stay with Justin and find out what’s going on?”

“That would be awesome mom.”

“Let me grab my stuff and we’ll go.”

Ten minutes later they were pulling into the parking lot right behind Justin.

“Hi Viv,” he said breathless as he hurried to get the kids out.

“Give me Alex, I’m going to take him with me.”

“Oh God, thank you,” he sighed, the relief apparent. “Andy is I’m sure better at this than I am.”

“Hey give me Emma’s diaper bag. I think there’s some Tylenol in there for her.”

As he and Vivian were changing Alex’s car seat switched and getting him settled, Andy took care of Emma.

“Alright. Call me when you know something guys!” Vivian said getting in her car to leave.

Justin and Andy walked in the ER, Andy carrying Emma, Justin her seat and diaper bag.

“Can I help you?” the nurse asked, eyeing them curiously.

“My daughter, she’s sick. I-“ Andy covered his mouth, then looked at the nurse.

“She is four weeks old, has a 106 temp, won’t eat or sleep and has been fussy all day.”

“Aww, that’s not good! I need you to fill this paper out, and have an insurance card ready. It shouldn’t take too long.”

Justin took the clipboard with the paperwork as Andy tensed up. “You’re telling me this FOUR WEEK OLD BABY with a 106 degree fever has to wait?”

Justin just stared, having never seen Andy get upset. Her eyes were narrowed, nostrils slightly flaring.

“I’m sorry but-“

“She WILL be seen now, or I’ll make a phone call and end up owning this hospital. You do not make a baby wait!” she spit out through clinched teeth.

Another nurse walked over smiling. “I got them Tina.”

She showed Justin and Andy to the pediatric department and their room. “What’s going on with her?”

“She’s got a 106 degree fever, won’t eat or sleep, has been extremely fussy all day,” Andy filled in before Justin could even speak.

“Any Tylenol?”

“I gave her some like five minutes ago when I met him up here.”

“Ok, let me get the vitals and check her out and we’ll go from there.”

She took Emma’s vital signs, took her temperature and blood pressure, checked her ears and throat, then her lungs and heart. “She’s got an ear infection in both ears. I think her lungs sound congested too. I’ll send Dr. Greene in to double check in just a few minutes.”

“Thank you,” Andy said as she left.

“What do congested lungs mean?” Justin asked nervously.

“She could have Bronchitis, a respiratory infection, maybe even just a sinus infection.”

”She’ll be ok though, right?” he asked, wiping a tear away.

“Aww, don’t cry Justin! She’ll be just fine.”

He nodded as a young man in a white lab coat walked in, his blond hair buzzed and his blue eyes sparkling.

“Hey guys, I’m Dr. Greene. Let’s get this little lady up here so I can check her out.”

Andy stood up, walked over to the bed and gently laid Emma on the hospital bed.

”Ok mom, I need-“

“I’m…not mom. I’m babysitter.”

The doctor quickly glanced at Justin, then smiled and winked at Andy. “I need you to hold her arm, I’m going to have to get a blood sample.”

”Ok” Andy said as he set about to get the supplies.

As he was setting everything up, he kept checking out Andy and smiling at her.

”Could one of the nurses do it?” Justin asked out of no where.

“Yeah but I’m-“

“I’d feel more comfortable with someone sticking a needle in my daughter who didn’t keep checking out my babysitter.”

The doctor’s jaw dropped, and Andy nervously pushed her hair behind her ear.

“Andy, go wait outside the door,” Justin said walking over to the bed.

“You sure?” she asked concerned.

“Yeah.”

She quickly slipped outside the door to wait.

“Got the fantasy going on, huh?” the doctor asked, as he was taking Emma’s blood.

“What?” Justin asked confused, Emma screaming her head off.

“Banging the babysitter.”

Justin’s head jerked up, eyes narrowing at the doctor. “No, I’m not ‘banging’ her, you mother fucker. And if you so much as bat an eye at her wrong again, I’ll go to the board and make sure you will never treat another patient as well as make your life a living hell. Do you understand me?”

The doctor just stared at him as Justin picked Emma up to comfort her.

”You got it bad for her or something? If you-“

“She is my babysitter, my best friend’s little sister and the police chief’s daughter, who is also my boss. Do I need to keep going?”

“I got it man, damn. She’s off limits.” The doctor cleaned up his supplies, gathered up the vials of Emma’s blood then left.

Andy walked right back in, straight for Emma. “Is she ok?”

“She’s fine,” Justin snapped and handed his daughter to Andy.

She slowly walked over to a chair and sat in it.

The nurse walked in, stopping from his argument with himself.

“We’re going to do some x-rays. Get a better look at her lungs.”

“It won’t hurt her?” Justin asked concerned.

”Not at all. I just need one of you to bring her back with me.”

Andy stood up to give Emma to Justin, but he gently held Emma closer to Andy. “Take her Andy. You’re better at this than I am.”

She could tell he was getting frustrated. She turned to the nurse. “Can we both go?”

”Of course!”

Andy followed the nurse out, Justin slowly following behind her.

They quickly did the x-rays, then were brought back to their hospital room.

“Are you ok?” Andy asked Justin.

“Yeah,” he sighed, running a hand over his head.

“What’s wrong?” She’d been around him long enough to know something was wrong.

“Nothing Andy. I’m just stressed about this.”

“She’ll be ok Justin,” she whispered.

”I sure the hell hope so.”

They sat there a few more minutes in silence, then the doctor walked in. “She has an upper respiratory infection on top of ear infection in both ears. I’m going to give her some antibiotics and a breathing treatment. You’ll probably have to buy the machine for the breathing treatment, I’m not sure the insurance will cover it. The antibiotics, give her a quarter teaspoon three times a day for ten days. Two breathing treatments a day for seven days. After the medicine is gone, make a follow up appointment with your pediatrician. If she gets worse or has any problems breathing, bring her back here right away.”

Justin was glaring at the doctor the whole time, Andy paying close attention.

”Thank you doctor.” She replied.

“No problems folks. I’ll send the nurse in to get you discharged the prescription and you can get on your way.”

He left and Andy turned to Justin. “What words did you two have? If looks could kill we’d have a dead doctor on hands.”

”Don’t worry about it Andy.”

“Justin-“

“I told him to stay away from you ok?”

She looked at him, confusion all over her face for once. “Why?”

“He thought I was ‘banging you’ in his words. I got pissed and it just fell out.”

She smiled. “You didn’t have to do that, but thank you.”

“Thank you?” He cocked an eyebrow.

“Yes thank you. He was creeping me out.”

The nurse came in and got them discharged. They made their way out to their vehicles parked next to each other.

”You want me to keep Alex tonight and bring him over tomorrow afternoon when I come over?”

“If you want to. I can run by and get him real quick if you don’t want to keep him.” Justin quickly fastened Emma’s car seat in the car, then turned to Andy.

”I’ll just keep him tonight. Go get Emma’s medicine and stuff and take care of her.”

“Aight. Thanks Andy.” He quickly gave her a friendly hug, surprising her, then they were on their separate ways.

When Andy got home, her mom was up feeding Alex a bottle. She quickly filled her in on how Emma was doing, then took Alex up to her room and went to bed.