mouthwash—it was peroxide. Once she started foaming at the mouth, she spit a mixture of paint and peroxide all over the bathroom counter!”
At this point, they were all laughing hysterically.
“Ah, that’s my little Emma Buggy.” She boasted as she ruffled her child’s hair.
“I’m just glad she pulls most of her stunts while she’s with you,” Dawn laughed.
After they had gathered up all of her things, they headed home, following their usual nightly ritual of a bath and a bedtime story before Kelly put her to sleep. She lay in bed that night contemplating if she would call Dave the next evening once Emma was settled in for the night. Surely a few days wouldn’t make her seem desperate, she thought. Soon, she dozed off with the remote control still in her hand.
In the morning, she was surprised that Emma hadn’t run into her room to wake her up. Normally she was up before Kelly’s alarm clock sounded off. She must be zonked, Kelly theorized as she climbed out of bed to go check on her. When she opened Emma’s door, she found her curled up, crying.
“What’s wrong baby?” she wondered as she sat down beside her daughter.
“Momma, it’s my knees again. They hurt so badly, and my back too.”
“Is it as bad as it was before?”
“Yes, but worse! My toes and ankles are sore, too.” She cried as her mom pulled the covers down to determine if the swelling had come back.
It had. Her knees were the same as before, but this time, her ankles and feet looked swollen too. She placed her hand on her daughter’s forehead to see if the fever had returned, and it had.
“I don’t know honey. Were you kneeling down or squatting when you helped Uncle Derek paint the porch yesterday?” she asked her daughter.
“No, I was sitting next to him on the steps.”
“Hm. I’ll get your ibuprofen. It seemed to help the last time.” She implied, getting off the bed.
When she returned, Emma told her more. “Momma, if I tell you something, do you promise you won’t think I’m crazy?”
“No baby, what is it?” Kelly insisted.
“My fingers hurt too.”
“Your fingers?” She picked up her hand to examine it.
They didn’t appear swollen. She had no clue what would cause all of these different symptoms.
“Okay, you take this and I’ll phone the doctor. Here, open up,” Her mom ordered as she administered the dose of medication.
Before she hopped in the shower for work, she called the doctor’s office. They weren’t open yet, she’d have to wait until it was closer to the time they’d leave. She rushed around, getting both of them dressed and out the door. In the car, she tried once more while on her way to Dawn’s house.
“Dr. Hinton’s office, this is Wendy. How may I help you?”
“Hi, Wendy. This is Kelly Hall again. Dr. Hinton examined Emma last week and said that he thought it was a bug or something, but her symptoms have returned and now she’s complaining that her fingers hurt. Is it possible to get her in this week?”
Wendy looked over the schedule. “Yes, we have an opening on Friday at noon. How does that sound?”
Kelly hesitated for a moment. She knew that she was scheduled that day and her boss gave her hell for attempting to take off the week before. She quickly decided that she would see if her friend would drive her to the appointment. “Yes, that’ll be okay. I have to work so can my best friend bring her?”
“Sure, no problem.”
When Kelly dropped Emma off, she told Dawn how the symptoms had returned and explained the Friday appointment. She agreed that she would take her.
While working, she worried about her all day. She also thought about how much these doctor appointments would affect her bank account. Since the business had died down and her tips had dwindled, she was
Learning to Kill: Stories