All for Maddie (30 page)

I spent the next few days working the dining room, not my
first choice, but it was prime season and I was making quite a bit on tips. Almost
having enough to retain an attorney made me keep pushing and sucking up to
every customer that walked through the doors. By Friday, I would have enough
for the retainer fee, so I did what I had to do and worked as much as my dad
would let me, which was every day.

Thursday evening by six the dining room was packed. I was so
busy I couldn’t keep up, but was happy that I had hit my magic number and the
rest was for bank.

“Hey Jaron, I need two number sevens, one well done, one
medium,” I ordered, spinning the newest ticket around to him.

“Come back here and answer this stupid phone. It’s driving
me nuts,” he demanded.

I looked out at the table that Dana had seated, needing to
get their drinks. Walking back toward the kitchen I got to my phone just in time
for it to ring again. Alex of course, who else would impudently call my phone
over and over?

“I’m working, Alex. Do you think maybe you can wait until
I’m not busy?”

“Whitley, I’m so sorry. I only turned my eyes away from her
for a second.”

My heart instantly sank. I couldn’t breathe, and my entire
body began to shake.

“What’s wrong, Alex? Is Maddie okay?”

“The doctor’s in with her now.”

I didn’t wait for anymore. I ran out the back door and to my
truck. Thank God, I took it to get gas earlier and didn’t have to drive a golf
cart back to get it. I tore out of the parking lot as fast as I could. I was so
far away. God, I needed to be there. I would kill him if something happened to
her because he wasn’t watching her.

That was no doubt the longest hour of my life. I drove the
almost two hour drive in a little more than an hour, not thinking about one
thing but Maddie. I left her. What kind of mother does that?  

I knew it wasn’t the right place. I knew I should have been
focused on my daughter, but it just consumed me. As soon as I saw him I went
after him. “WHAT DID YOU DO?” I screamed, pushing him in the chest as hard as I
could.

“WHITLEY!” Regan yelled with a look, telling me to cool it.

“Where is she?” I angrily spoke right in Alex’s face.

“They have her in the burn center,” Alex replied, looking
defeated as he sank to the chair, running his fingers through his hair.

“What happened?”

“I’m sorry, Whit. I was right there. I just stepped away for
a second.”

“What happened?”

“She wanted macaroni and cheese. The water just came to a
boil and she told me it was ready for the macaroni now, because you told her
that was how you know. I told her to hang on one second while I ran out to get
my ringing phone. Oh God, it was horrible, Whit. I never want to hear her
scream like that again.”

Chills went down my spine, thinking about boiling water
being poured down her tiny little body and the scream that I could only
imagine.

“It wasn’t his fault, Whit. It was an accident,” Regan
tried. I shot her a dirty look too. It was his fault. He knew how she was. I
would never leave her alone in the kitchen with a boiling pan of water on the
stove. Never.

I ignored them both and walked to the nurse’s station.

“Could you please tell me how Madelyn Brad…Wesson is doing?”
I begged.

“Are you a relative?”

“Yes, I’m her mother. Can I see her?”

“Not yet. They are cleaning her up. The doctor will be down
as soon as he can. If I hear anything different, I’ll let you know,” she
smiled.

“How long as she been in there?” I asked Regan and not Alex.

“Almost two hours.”

We sat in silence for another twenty minutes, waiting. My
dad had already called three times, wanting to be there too, but unable to
leave the busy resort. I promised to call as soon as I spoke to the doctor. I
thought the drive there was the longest of my life. Boy was I wrong. Sitting
there, bouncing my knees, nervously waiting and waiting, knowing she was
somewhere in that hospital scared and alone were the longest seconds of my
life.

“Mr. and Mrs. Wesson,” a white coated doctor spoke. I didn’t
correct the name inaccuracy. I didn’t care about that at the time. There was
only one thing I cared about: Maddie. We both came to our feet and sat back
down when he sat in front of us.

I wrung my hands as he began to explain her condition.
“Madelyn has suffered some pretty serious burns, mostly her chest area.”

“Is she okay?” I asked, not giving him time to continue.

“She’s in a lot of pain right now. We’re giving her some
pretty serious pain medicine. She’s resting, but is asking for her mom.”

My heart shattered into a million pieces. I could hear her cries,
crying for her mommy. I wanted to shoot Alex right between the eyes.

“We’ve got the burns cleaned and bandaged. She’ll make a
full recovery, but is going to need constant care for a few weeks. The bandages
will need to be changed several times throughout the day. The second degree burning
will heal fine, she’s young, it’s the third degree burns that have my concern.
Removing her shirt pulled a lot of skin off. I hope this never happens again,
but if it ever does, never remove clothing from severe burns. We’ve got her
pretty cleaned up, but there is a high chance of infection because of the
severity of her burns. She’s being transported to her room and you can see her
in a few minutes. I’m going to keep her overnight and see how she is doing in
the morning. If everything looks okay, you should be able to take her home
tomorrow.”

“You fucking jerked her clothes off?” I angrily asked Alex
as soon as he was out of earshot.

“Whit, I didn’t know what to do.”

“You’re a fucking idiot,” I said, getting up and walking to
the window. I had to get away from him before I got thrown out of the hospital.

“Mrs. Wesson?” a nurse called. Again I didn’t correct the
name. I just wanted to see Maddie. Of course, Alex followed.

Maddie was pretty sedated. She looked so lifeless with her
arms out to her sides and her chest and belly wrapped in white gauze. I walked
over and kissed her forehead, noticing her puffy eyes and dry lips.

“Mommy?” she called, instantly crying when she saw me. That
was it. That moment right there changed everything.

“Shhh, baby, Mommy’s right here,” I promised, trying to calm
her. She heaved in a breath and closed her eyes. I kissed away a tear, not
hers, but the one that had rolled down my cheek onto hers. I glared across the
bed at Alex. I didn’t want him, holding her hand. I didn’t want him anywhere
near her.

Maddie slept most of the night, waking a couple times in
pain. The nurse would come in to shoot something in her IV and she would be
right back out. I finally sat in the chair by the window exhausted. Alex sat
beside me and sighed a deep breath.

“I’m taking her home with me, Alex,” I assured him.

“Okay,” he replied. My head snapped to look at him. No
fight? I was in shock. “I was wrong, Whitley. I was wrong for doing what I did.
I was wrong for taking her the way that I did. I shouldn’t have her. I let her
get hurt.”

I could have sworn that I saw him wipe a tear. I almost felt
bad for him, I mean, I have cleaned up so many messes from that girl going to
the kitchen before I got out of bed it was pathetic, but I still would have
never left her alone with a boiling pot of water on the stove. I didn’t feel
bad for long, not after I looked back to my baby girl, bandaged in white with a
wetness beginning to seep through.

I didn’t reply to Alex’s remark. He wasn’t fighting me and I
wasn’t pushing it. I was putting her in that truck and taking her home with me
as soon as the doctor released her. I dozed off sitting in the chair sometime
early morning. I woke to Alex standing over Maddie. He was crying. The bastard
really did have a heart. He held her little hand, kissing her knuckles,
apologizing over and over. I sat up when the light from the hall poured in from
the nurse wheeling in a tray of clean utensils. Alex walked out, trying to hide
that he wasn’t such a tough guy after all, I was sure.

Maddie screamed when the nurse unwrapped her bandages. I
wanted to scream with her. Her little chest looked like something from a
Halloween store. I had to turn my head and again wanted to kill Alex.

“You need to watch,” the nurse smiled at me. I was going to
have to do this. I was going to have to change the bandages while she screamed
in pain.

“It’s really not as bad as it looks,” the nurse explained.
“See this right here?” she pointed to the middle of her chest. “That’s the
worst of it, maybe five, six inches, the rest is second degree burns and should
heal with no scaring at all. She’s young. She’ll be fine. I’ve seen this so
many times, and Maddie is a very lucky little girl. I bet she would like a red
pop-sickle. Right?” she asked, getting Maddie to settle.

“I like orange,” she countered as her bottom lip sucked in
from the crying.

“Oh, me too. Orange is my favorite. Let’s get you bandaged
back up and I will bring you an orange one, okay?”

“Okay,” Maddie agreed. I kind of wanted her to have maybe
scrambled eggs or oatmeal, but at that moment she could have had ten candy bars
and I probably would have let her.

“I need a house key,” I told Alex after Maddie was given
more medicine and was going to be asleep for a while. “Please go sit with her
while I go to the house and pack her things.”

Alex reached into his pocket and took the house key from his
keys, placed it in my hand and walked toward Maddie’s room. I couldn’t believe
that he wasn’t going to fight me on this. He was going to let me take her. It’s
what I wanted. It’s what I had wanted for the past year. Why didn’t it feel as
good as I thought it would? Why did I have this aching in the pit of my
stomach?

Regan went with me and we packed boxes of toys, clothes,
books and then moved to the upstairs to pack a few of my clothes. I wasn’t
taking them all. I didn’t come there with them and I didn’t want them. I wouldn’t
need fancy attire where I was going. My jeans and tees would be just fine.

“You sure you want to do this, Whit? I’m never going to see
you.”

“You’ll see me. You don’t think Alex is just going to let me
take Maddie and never see her do you?” That wouldn’t happen. I was sure of it.

“He’s pretty upset. I don’t know what Alex will do. He feels
like he hurt her and isn’t fit to be her father anymore.”

I knew this was where I should have said something about it
not being his fault. I didn’t. I couldn’t do that yet. I was still blaming him.
He wouldn’t just forget her. He could never do that. Could he?

I had quite a load by the time we were finished. I, of
course, couldn’t take the zoo, but did pack a full box of the animals and cages
for her to play with. I took most of her clothes except for the frilly little
dresses. She wouldn’t need those either.

Regan hugged me goodbye in the driveway, she wasn’t going
back to the hospital. She informed me that she sucked at goodbyes and would
call and check on Maddie later. I thanked her for being my friend and for everything
that she had done for me, before heading back to wait for Maddie’s release.
This was it. We were going home. We were finally going home. Why did I feel so
sad about it?

I crossed my arms and stood right outside the door, leaning
against the wall. Maddie was awake and giggling. It was music to my ears.

“You have to promise Daddy that you won’t try to cook
anymore. You let Mommy do that, okay?” I heard Alex get serious with her.

“Okay, but I was just gonna help you. Mommy say the macaroni
goes in there when the water does this,” she explained. I smiled, visualizing
her little hands and fingers imitating boiling water.

“But you’re too little. You can’t reach the stove. You let Mommy
cook. Tell me you promise to stay away from the stove. Promise me, Maddie.”

“Next time, I get a chair.”

“No, no chair. You can’t cook yet. You stay away from the
stove. Daddy never wants you to get hurt again.”

“Okay, I will cook when I five.”

“You’re about as stubborn as your mother, you know that?”

“I gonna go see Papaw.”

“I know, baby. Daddy’s gonna miss you like crazy.”

“You can come too.”

“Daddy is going to stay here and work. You go home with
mommy and be a good girl. I love you so much.”

I wasn’t expecting him to walk out. He was emotional, and I
was sure he just said goodbye to Maddie without saying goodbye. He stopped,
looked at me briefly, and kept going. I wasn’t sure what to think. He never
came back. The nurse directed me while I changed Maddie’s dressing, and we
waited for the doctor to come around one more time and release her.

Maddie talked to my dad, assuring him that she was going to
come and feed the fish. I sat and listened to her talk on the clumsy hospital
phone attached to the bed.

I looked down at my phone at the new text message.

Please take your car, I feel better with you driving it.

No. I don’t want your car. We’ll be fine.

I do love you Whitley. I love Maddie, and I’m sorry for
letting her get hurt.

She’s fine. She’ll be fine.

Goodbye, Whitley.

I didn’t reply. I wasn’t sure what to say. It kind of felt
like he was going to leave us alone. Was he seriously just going to walk out of
Maddie’s life after all this? No, there was no way he could do that. He loved
her too much for that. I gave him a day at the most.

Maddie was released twenty minutes later. She had to wheel
the chair herself but wasn’t as excited as she should have been. The medicine
that she was given to help her rest with her long ride was kicking in, and she
would no doubt be asleep before we made it to the highway.

I adjusted the straps away from her chest in her car seat as
much as safely possible, kissed her on the head when she sleepily dropped it to
the side of her seat, and set out for home. We were going home. I was going
home with my daughter. It was so surreal and different. Alex wasn’t calling or
texting. Alex always blew up my phone when she wasn’t with him. I didn’t
understand.

I drove the hour and a half home in two hours, taking my
time and contemplating all that had happened over the last year while Maddie
slept beside me. Alex wasn’t a bad guy, he was just… Yes, he was a bad guy. No,
he wasn’t. He loved Maddie more than anything on earth. I was sure of that. He
did it for her. It was all for Maddie, just like me living with a man that I
hated. It was all for Maddie.

My dad and Dana were waiting in the parking lot when we
finally pulled in. Maddie woke when the engine of the truck stopped, pulling on
the straps of her car seat, whining. I could tell she was in pain. I took out
the medicine from my purse as my dad came to her, opening her door.

“Papaw,” she whimpered, seeing him.

“Careful, Dad,” I warned, wanting him to be careful with her
injury.

“Come here, baby girl. Papaw missed you.”

“My belly hurt, Papaw.”

“I know, sweetie. Let’s go up to the house and get you
settled in. Papaw will get you a bowl of ice cream, okay?” he offered, lifting
her out of the seat.

“We’re going home, Dad,” I said overriding him, and trying
to get Maddie to take the liquid from the dropper. She turned her head into my
dad’s chest and wouldn’t take it.

“I think she should stay up at the house with us for a
couple nights, Whit. You can stay up there too,” he alleged, walking away with
Maddie. Normally I would have done whatever he thought was best. Not now, not
at that moment. I’d spent the last year of my life letting not only Alex but my
dad as well tell me what was best for me and my daughter. Nobody was doing that
anymore.