him up again, he burrowed into her neck, still feeling hot.
Without hesitation she carried him to her bedroom and phoned Nick on her cell. This was the first time she’d called him at his office since coming to work for him. Though she hated disturbing him, she knew he’d want to be told.
“Reese?” He picked up on the third ring. “Is there a problem?”
“I’m glad you answered. Jamie’s come down with diarrhea and is running a temperature of 101. He’s going to need fluids to lower it, but I’m not sure what the doctor would prescribe.”
“I’ll phone Dr. Wells right now. How long has Jamie been sick? When I left him this morning, he seemed fine.”
“I know. He woke up crying in the middle of his afternoon nap. My sister Carrie uses Pedialyte when her baby gets dehydrated, so ask the doctor about that. Since we don’t have any on hand, I’ll give him some water for now.”
“I’m on my way out the door,” he declared in a decisive tone. “I’d planned to come home early anyway.” Secretly she was relieved. Normally Nick hid his emotions well, but this was his little boy who was ill. He must be as nervous as she was, if not more so. “While you try to get more liquid down him, I’ll call the doctor then stop by the drugstore.”
“Good.”
“I’ll be home soon.”
After she hung up, she went to the kitchen for a bottle and filled it with cool water. Jamie seemed eager enough to drink, but by the time she reached the nursery and fed him a little, he threw up.
She put him in the crib and changed his clothes for a second time. His temp had climbed another tenth of a degree. She wet a cloth and sponged his forehead and cheeks.
Before long Nick entered the penthouse. “Reese?”
“In the nursery.”
As he came through the door, Jamie threw up once more. It frightened him so much he started crying harder. After she’d wiped off his mouth, Nick pulled him out of her arms and cuddled him against his chest. “Hey, sport—what happened to you?”
Her gaze fused with Nick’s. “Did you reach the doctor?”
“His nurse said he’d call me back. In the meantime we’re to try and get liquids down him in small increments.”
“I’ve been doing that, but after a minute, up it comes. It must be some kind of flu.”
“Maybe the Pedialyte will stay down.” Nick kissed his forehead. “The nurse said it was good to use. I got him cherry. He’s a lucky little guy you’re here for him.”
Nick was always ready to praise her. It made her want to do everything right in his eyes. “I’ll take it to the kitchen and put some in a sterile bottle.” When she returned to the nursery Nick told her the doctor had called. “We’re to keep a close eye on him. If we can’t get anything to stay down, we’re to take him to emergency. The hospital will keep him informed.”
She nodded. By evening he’d thrown up enough times to convince her this was serious. His temperature never dropped. “He seems too lethargic.”
Lines marred Nick’s face. “Let’s take him to the hospital. I’ll tell Paul to bring the car around.”
“While you hold him, I’ll put some things in the diaper bag for him.”
In a short time they left the penthouse. Paul drove them to the E.R. entrance and they hurried inside with Jamie lying limp against his daddy’s shoulder.
One of the emergency-room staff showed them to a cubicle. Right after that another person came inside the curtain. His tag said he was Dr. Marsh. He got to work checking the baby’s vital signs. “How long has he been sick?”
Jamie didn’t like being examined. His cries wrenched Reese’s heart. “Since about two o’clock. It came on so fast I couldn’t believe it. We’ve tried to get liquids down him, but he just spits it up and hasn’t urinated for several hours.”
“We’ll have to culture him to find out if this infection is bacterial, but I’d say he’s picked up Rotavirus.”
“What is it exactly?” Nick’s features had darkened in anxiety.
“A disease of the bowel that causes diarrhea and vomiting. Most children have had several incidences of it by the time they’re five.”
“How would he have gotten it?”
“It’s transmitted several ways, but I would imagine your son picked it up through the air. Someone’s cough could have spread it. It’s highly contagious.”
“I’ve heard it’s serious—” Reese blurted.
“It can be when left untreated. If I’m right, we’ll put him in isolation and hydrate him with an IV to bring back his body’s salt and fluid levels to normal. He should get through this just fine.”
Should? She and Nick shared a panicked glance.
“Who’s your pediatrician?”
“Dr. Hebert Wells.”
“In a minute a team will come in to take a blood sample. When we know for sure what we’re dealing with, we’ll call him. If it’s bacterial, your doctor will treat him with an antibiotic.”
Reese hugged her arms to her waist in agitation. “What more could we have done to have prevented this?”
The doctor eyed her with compassion. “As long as you’re constantly washing your hands before and after you attend to your baby, that’s pretty much all you can do.” Jamie wasn’t her baby, but she loved the sound of it.
“Reese has been very careful about that,” Nick interjected. “I need to do it more often.”
“Washing hands can prevent all kinds of illnesses.”
Nick’s lips tightened. “If an IV is called for, where will you insert it—he’s so small?” He’d taken the question right out of her mouth.
“The IV team will decide, but probably in his foot. It hurts for a minute, but then it’s over.” Reese shared another worried glance with Nick.
“Go ahead and hold your baby until one of the staff shows you to the isolation area.”
As the doctor left the cubicle, Nick reached for Jamie. Once he was back in his father’s strong arms, he quieted down a little bit, but clearly he was miserable. Reese smoothed her hand over the back of his head. “You’re all wiped out, aren’t you, sweetheart.”
“We’re both here—” Nick talked to his son in a low, comforting tone “—and you’re going to get feeling better soon.”
Reese wanted to believe it, too, but she’d heard the underlying concern in his voice and was scared to death herself because the illness had robbed Jamie of his vitality.
In a minute someone came and took them through double doors to a restricted area where they were set up in a private room. Jamie cried some more. “I think he wants you, Reese.” Nick handed the baby to her.
She hugged Jamie close and sang to him. The music kept him somewhat calm. When she lifted her eyes to Nick, she caught a look of such pain in his, it shattered her.
Something in his expression told Reese that Nick was thinking about his wife and how he’d lost her so quickly after they’d reached the hospital. In the two weeks she’d known Nick, he’d never talked about her except to explain how she’d died. Reese refused to consider the possibility that he was worrying his son would be taken from him, too, in so short a time.
“Nothing’s going to happen to Jamie,” she assured him with her heart in her throat. “You heard the doctor. Everyone’s had Rotavirus in their lives. Even the two of us, and we’re alive and healthy, right?”