Please be forewarned: A portion of this story is brutal and sad but unfortunately reflects events which can and do occur in real life. All characters are fictional and any resemblance to actual people is purely by chance.
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After the doorbell rang fairly late on Halloween night, Sharon quickly dried her tears and blew her nose before opening the door.
Two little voices called out "Twick-r-tweet!" She leaned back, checked the clock to see it was well after nine pm and looked back at the two little trick-or-treaters. One was dressed as a ghost with the classic white sheet up to his neck and fortunately, she thought to herself, it did not cover his face. The little girl was dressed in a long skirt and a tie-dyed top; maybe she was a flower child, thought Sharon.
"Oh, my, a ghost and, what are you, Sweetheart?" she asked, forcing a smile on her face.
"A hippie!"
"Oh, neat. I happen to have some treats for you two," she said as she looked down the sidewalk looking for an adult. Seeing none, she asked them, "Are you out here alone?"
They both looked down, seemed to be suddenly shy and didn't answer the question.
"Kiddos, it's pretty late. Are you sure your parents know you're out here alone?"
"We don't got a mommy," the little boy said.
"Yeah, and Daddy's got a bad cold," added the girl.
"Yeah, and we couldn't wake him up so we came anyways!"
"So, uh, your daddy doesn't know you're out here?"
They shook their heads 'No.'
"And he couldn't wake up when you left?"
More shaking.
"Here, I'm a mommy," she said with renewed pangs of raw grief in her heart, "And I think your daddy needs to know you're out here. Where do you live?"
"Over there," the girl said, pointing down the street.
"Then, let's go see him. It's a little late for you to be out here..."
"But we don't got much candy, yet," pouted the boy.
"OK. I'll make you a deal. You take me to your daddy and I'll give you all the candy I still have here in the bowl. OK?"
That brought smiles to their faces and in seconds, she grabbed a coat, gave them more candy, locked the door and let them lead her to their house. Around the side of the house a door was wide open and they pointed inside.
"He's in there," whispered the girl.
Sharon walked into the living room to see an obviously very ill man stretched out on the couch. His eyes were closed, he was breathing rapidly and she could see his clothes were soaked with sweat. Approaching him, she called out, getting no response. A gentle shaking of his shoulder produced only a soft moan but she was struck at his obvious fever. Clearly he was in trouble.
"I think your daddy's sick. Where is the phone?"
"He keeps it in his pocket, back there."
Sharon gently rolled him partway and grabbed the cell phone from his pocket. It lit up with the movement and she tapped the '9-1-1' icon in the corner.
"9-1-1. State your emergency."
"Uh, my name is Sharon and two little trick-or-treaters told me their dad was sleeping but I was concerned and I'm now at their house and there's a man who's in a coma and seems to have a high fever. He's hot to the touch and drenched in sweat."
"Is everyone else OK?"
"Yes, the kids are doing fine. I'm a neighbor..."
"Will you stay with them until the ambulance comes?"
"Of course. Here's the address...."
Ten minutes later the ambulance pulled up in the driveway and two young paramedics trotted to the front door. Once inside they did a quick assessment.
"Nonresponsive. Moans to touch. Hot as hell."
"BP is 50 by palp."
"Clearly shock. Maybe sepsis. Jim, get a line in and give him fluids wide open."
"'K. What's his sat?"
"Ninety-two. I'll put some O's on him just in case and call it in. They'll need the whole Shock Team there when we roll in."
In less than ten minutes, the IV fluids were running and the man was loaded onto the gurney. As they wheeled him into the ambulance, the one named Jim turned to Sharon. "Ma'am, your husband is very sick. You may want to come to Mercy Hospital right away and give a history to the ER crew."
"But he's not...." she answered to the ambulance door which had been closed as the rig tore off. Suddenly, she realized she was responsible for the two little kids who were hovering behind her, hanging onto the long dress she had put on to entertain all the trick-or-treaters.
She turned to them and forced a smile on her face. "Your daddy will be fine. He's going to the hospital and the nurses and doctors will fix him all up," she told them with more positivity than she felt. "Uh, do you know where he keeps his wallet?"
The little girl pointed to a bowl on the kitchen counter. There she found a wallet and car keys. His name was on several pieces of ID and an insurance card. "Is your daddy's name Henry?"
"Uh-uh. It's Red," answered the little girl. Sharon smiled to herself. The man had a mop of thick, red hair with some streaks of gray and it was clear 'Red' was a nickname.
"OK. Kids, what are your names?"
"Bree."
"Bobby."
"And I'm Sharon. Now, we need to go to the hospital. Get a coat and one piece of candy and I'll take you there. OK?"
They nodded shyly before grabbing coats and candy. She walked them back to her place, sat them down in the living room while she quickly changed into comfortable slacks and a blouse. She buckled them up in the back seat and quickly drove to Mercy Hospital. At the emergency room she was met by a rather large woman in a security uniform who asked her a few questions before letting them into the waiting room. Sharon let the secretary at the desk know she was with Henry and gave them his ID and insurance cards to copy. The kids were clearly exhausted and once she sat down on the dingy bench seat, they sprawled out on either side of her and within minutes both were asleep with their heads in her lap.
After about thirty minutes a weary appearing, scrubs-clad woman came out and asked for Henry's family. Sharon raised her hand and pointed to the sleeping children. The woman came over and squatted in front of Sharon and spoke softly.
"It seems Henry has ruptured his appendix and is septic."
"What's that?"
"Bad blood stream infection. Can be serious, even fatal."
"Oh my god. Really?"
"Yes, Ma'am. We need to take him to surgery and try to clean up the mess. He'll be here at least several days, probably longer."
"He'll make it, though, right?"
"We hope so. He's on his way to surgery and will end up in the ICU after that. It's gonna be several hours so I recommend you take your children home. You can come back and visit your husband in the morning."
"He's not..." She stopped talking for a second, thinking about the big picture. If she admitted she wasn't the children's mother, they'd be taken by the social worker, referred to Child Protective Services and placed in some stranger's home until Henry got better.
"He's not what?"
Quickly Sharon responded, "He's not, uh, he's not going to die, is he?"
"Ma'am, we'll do everything to keep him going. There're great surgical and intensive care teams on tonight. Please go home and call us in the morning. The kids can't go into his room in the ICU but they can wave at him through the hallway window."
"Uh, Thank you. I'll call before we try to return in the morning."
Once the kids were awakened, she led them to her car and drove them to their home. They quickly went to their rooms and within minutes the two were out like lights still in their clothes but, she noted, without their shoes. Sharon rummaged around and found a blanket and a pillow in a hall closet and stretched herself out on the couch. Eventually, she fell into a troubled sleep.
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She woke with a start the next morning with Bree staring at her from a few feet away. "Good morning, Bree. Sleep OK?"
"Yeah. I'm hungry."
"What do you eat for breakfast?"
"Cherry-Puffs and milk."
"OK. Uh, when do you go to school?"
"Daddy takes us at eight-thirty."
"What school?"
"Hempleton."
"OK. Tell you what. I'll call school and you and Bobby are staying home today. We need to visit your daddy. OK?"
"Yeah. I guess. I wanted to talk about Halloween with Casey."
"Casey a friend?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well, we really need to check on your daddy so maybe you can talk to her later. Why don't you run in and wake up your brother while I fix breakfast?"
While the kids were getting dressed, Sharon looked up the school's number and started to fix some food. She found the 'sugar bomb' cereal and decided to give them something else. There was some bacon in the refrigerator along with eggs. She quickly scrambled the eggs, covered them with cheddar cheese and grilled the bacon.
