“Dah,”Henry said happily when he plucked him out of the highchair, making Jensen’s heart surge with joy at the word.
Henry’s voice sounded a little rougher than usual, butJensen didn’t think too much of it. He’d probably just eaten a little too much dough.
“He’s been a little sniffly,” Mom said, as if she’d had the same thought. “It’s probably a little cold. Just keep an eye on him.”
“We’ve been going to the library group,” Jensen said, nodding. “I know a couple of kids over there seemed like they had a little something.”
“That’s always the way in the wintertime,” Mom said, nodding. “Sure you two don’t want to stay for supper? It’s nothing fancy, just hot dogs and baked beans, but your dad spiced it up with that nice barbecue sauce you like.”
“Sounds amazing,” Jensen sighed. “But we’d better get home. I’ve got a couple of things to get done if the snow’s coming again.”
“Well, stay warm,” Mom said, wiping her hands on her apron and giving him a quick squeeze as she kissed the top of Henry’s head. “And take care of my favorite little guy.”
On the way out, they ran into his dad pre-salting the porch steps.
“I threw some groceries in the back,” Dad told him, gesturing toward his truck. “Get ‘em inside when you get home.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Jensen told him.
But his father only scowled and waved him off, not wanting a lot of fanfare for a good deed done, as usual.
Jensen got Henry settled in his car seat and started the truck up. And by the time he got down the drive and out to the road, flurries were already swirling down. Theywere just a minute or two from home, but he put on the radio anyway, figuring Henry would enjoy it.
“What do you think of that?” he asked when one of the most exciting parts of The Nutcracker score came on.
Henry started to chuckle, but it turned into a cough. The frosty air probably wasn’t great for his cold.
“Sorry, buddy,” Jensen told him. “We’ll be home soon, and we can cuddle up under a warm blanket.”
An hour later,they were at home, curled up under a blanket with an animated Christmas movie on the television to keep Henry from running around.
But he was still coughing, and the sound of it had become harsher.
Jensen had called his cousin, Kellan, who was the town doctor. But he kept getting his voicemail. He figured Kellan must be out on a real emergency.
He had also sent a text to Willow without expecting an answer, just asking if she could talk to him about Henry’s cough. He wasn’t sure if she had any experience with pediatrics, but she was a nurse, after all, so she definitely knew better than he did. But of course she had ignored all his messages this week, so he was pretty sure she wasn’t even going to see this one.
As he sat with his eyes on his son, trying to figure out what to do, Henry began a real coughing fit. Nearly every breath seemed to make him cough more.
“You’re okay,” Jensen whispered, rubbing his handbetween those tiny shoulder blades, and trying to get Henry to calm himself.
But the harsh coughing turned into something that sounded almost like a dog barking, and Jensen was beginning to panic.
If I try to take him to the emergency room I have to strap him into the car where I can’t reach him…
His hands moved to his phone again and he called Willow without realizing he was doing it.
Please pick up.
“Jensen?” she said, picking up on the first ring.
“Thank God,” he said.
“Is that Henry coughing?” she asked him.
“He can’t stop,” he told her.
“Could he be choking on something?” she asked right away.
