This Episode was Brought to You by Death, Vampires, and the Word "Wee"

Just got home from the hospital.

Lucia has had a fever for the past several days. Two o'clock this morning, I noticed that she was especially hot and fussy. I decided to check her temperature and found out that she had shot up to 39.7. Before we slept, she was somewhere in the lower vicinity of 38, and I was already anxious then. So off we went to the ER.

We were in the ER for about 7ish hours. We had to wait for Lucia to pee in a wee bag (that's the actual medical term - and yes, it is just for pee, and yes, it is small)and the odds were against us. She pooped, and so we had to change the bag. She pooped again. Changed the bag again. When she finally did get to pee, the bag leaked. We were so happy when the wee babe finally peed into the wee bag, you'd think she was all but cured already. Wee!

As mind-numbing as nursing and consoling a sick child in the midst of all the other sick children, I think I shall forever be scarred by the drawing of blood from Lucia's wee finger (nope, not tired of the term yet).

A few facts: I am deathly afraid of blood. Almost as afraid as I am of spiders (and believe me, that's saying a lot). But Sick Lucia equals Clingy Lucia and I thought, if she was going to be a Plucky Duckie and endure that blood letting, by God, so shall I. Plucky Mommy.

The whole blood draining thing was horrific. (I realize the actual process is getting gorier by the narrative minute - and later, shimmering vampires will appear, stay tuned.) I guess it didn't take more than a minute, but the screaming and the tears were right next to my face and I couldn't help but cry along with her. Ugh, dear God, it was horrible. I was glad that it eventually ended. That we later found out that it wasn't dengue was just gravy by then.

***

As I was overdramatizing our ordeal, I noticed that across the hall, there were three people, and they were crying silently. One could hardly stand on her own and she was leaning on her brother (or so I assumed). A few minutes later, a priest arrived and they scurried behind the thin curtain that hid their loved one who had, apparently, passed away.

As I was overdramatizing our ordeal, someone in the other room had died.

***

Because we had stayed so long in the ER, by the time we had gotten the results of the urinalysis, our pediatrician had already started his clinic hours. So off we went to see him. He told us what we needed to do and off we went, our merry band of three (mama, dada, and yaya), with our wee babe.

As we were waiting for dada to buy the antibiotics, I received SMSs from two former kids of mine. They were both asking if it was true that a former co-teacher of mine had passed away. It was fairly easy to confirm the sad truth. He had indeed passed away - a few hours ago, it seems.

As I was overdramatizing our ordeal, someone I had known and used to work with had died.

***

Lots to be thankful for and lots to pray for. What a day this has been. And look, as of this writing, it is 2:22 PM, about 12 hours since the day began for me.

But I won't overdramatize that fact anymore.

Even if the darkness of my eyes could rival the very vampirish shimmer of another fellow who was probably up at the same time as I was; whose eyes similarly-half-opened like mine are right now.

Godspeed, Stranger in the Other Room. If the crying you left behind was any indication, it seems as though you were a good person and that you had a life well-lived. Enjoy the afterlife.

And goodbye, Gelo. Our last conversation centered around my telling you that I wasn't happy that you were leaving. This time, while I am not happy that you left, I'm glad that you are at least arriving at a much better place. You will be missed.