HALLIE'S BIG BREAK
It was a few days after Hallie had gotten her sling and she was up in her room playing house with her babies. She was getting frustrated because she could only use one arm to do things with. "Shh, you go bed now. Mummy not go far," she said as she put her dolly in the little bed. She walked over to her pretend kitchen and got some plastic plates, and pretending to be doing the dishes
Rick walked in at that moment, smiling when he caught sight of her trying to manage with the use of one hand. Whenever he or Evie had offered to help her, she had refused and insisted that she could do it herself, stubborn as her mother. "Hey there, sweetheart, are you ready to come with me to the doctor to see to your arm?" he asked.
She ran and tried to crawl under the bed. "NOOO!" she screamed, not wanting to go.
He caught up with her, lifting her up into his arms, holding her so that she couldn't flail about. "It's okay, Hallie," he told her, trying to calm her down. "They aren't going to hurt your arm, I promise. They're just going to let you do some exercises so that it can start working properly again."
She still cried, not wanting to have it done. "No, you let them hurt me. I want down, I want down," she said, sobbing against his shoulder as he carried her downstairs.
Rick stopped in the hallway for a moment while she cried so that he could rock her, hoping that she wouldn't tire herself out too much for the therapy. "It'll be all right," he said softly. "Daddy will be there with you this time and I won't let them hurt you."
She rested her head on his shoulder, sniffling. "I want stay here, daddy," she said.
"I know you do, baby, but we have to go so that your arm can get better," he told her, wiping the tears away from her little cheeks. "We have to go see the doctor today, then he will put a cast on your arm and that'll be it," he told her.
She held on to him with her good arm, resigned to the fact that she was going to have to do this like it or not and for now at least she didn't fight. Once she was in the back of the car, she brightened up a little and started to sing her favorite song. "Tinkle Tinkle little tar, how wonder what are," she sang as they drove.
He smiled, occasionally joining in with her and singing the correct version and it wasn't long before they pulled up outside the doctor's office. She didn't have to go back to the hospital seeing as she was only there for therapy and he opened the back door, helping her out. "Come on, little star, let's go," he said.
Hallie held tight to his hand as they walked up to the building and she was fine until they had to go in, then she let go of his hand and grabbed hold of a column with her good arm. "No, not go. They hurt me, daddy, I not going in," she said, holding tight as she could
He bent down, gently trying to disengage her from the column. "Come on now, Hallie, we're going to be late," he said, finally getting her free and into his arms and they made their way to the doctor's office.
"Good morning, Mr. O'Connell," said Doctor Francis, getting them to take a sit. "I see this young lady is here for therapy today."
Rick nodded, sitting down in a nearby chair and placing his daughter in his lap.
She squirmed. "No touch me I not let you. I bite you," she said, fully prepared to fight this time.
"Hallie, don't you dare," said Rick sternly, holding her still.
The doctor smiled at that. "Oh, it's perfectly all right," he told Rick. He got up from behind his desk and walked over to Hallie who eyed him suspiciously. "Hello there, Hallie, I'm not actually going to touch you, I just want you to do some little exercises with your arm," he told her.
She still had it in the sling. "I do it," she said and got the snap undone, which freed her hand. "What I do with it?" she asked still not fully trusting this guy because he was the one who took her away from daddy the last time.
"Well, let's start off slow," he said. "Is your arm still hurting you? Can you move it at all right now?"
She tried moving it without the other hand to help and then put it down. "Not do, it hurt me," she said. "Daddy, go home now," she said turning to him and looking up into his face.
"Not just yet, sweetheart, the doctor still has some things to do," he told her, stroking her hair.
Meanwhile, Doctor Francis had been writing a couple things down on his notepad. "All right, so you can't move the arm on it's own," he said. "Try moving your fingers, can you wiggle them like this?" he asked her, demonstrating with his own hand.
She sighed and tried that once, then shook her head. "No hurts much. I want go home," she said and tried sliding out of her father's arms, wanting away from this place.
He kept her in his lap, holding onto her gently but firmly so as to let her know not to try any funny business. "Just a little longer, baby and then we can go home," he said.
The doctor smiled and went back to sit behind his desk. "Well, there doesn't seem to be any serious problems so far," he told Rick. "Because she is so young, her bones should heal faster. We can put a cast on her today and that'll be all for another six weeks."
"You hear that, Hallie?" he asked her. "Your arm is fine, all we have to do today is let the nurse put some bandaged on your arm."
She looked up as a nurse walked in. "No, I want go home, want home, daddy." Instead of fighting, she just cried. She was so tired of people touching her and doing things to her, and all she wanted to do was play and be left alone.
"I know you do, sweetheart, but just let the nurse see to your arm and they won't bother you again," he told her soothingly, carrying her over to the table and sitting her down so that the nurse could see to her arm. He kept her still while she took the splint off and watched as she started getting everything ready.
The nurse had worked with children before and had come prepared with a lollipop. "Here, sweetie, you lick on this while I fix your arm. It's going to be a little wet, but I promise it won't hurt you," she said.
Hallie took her lolly and held still while the nurse wrapped a soft cotton material around her forearm. Then she dipped some other bandages in wet goo and started to wrap that around the cotton. It was a long process, but soon it was finished. Hallie however did not like the end result. "Want off now," she said and moved to touch it.
"Not just yet, sweetheart," Rick told her, pulling her little hand away from the plaster and holding it in his. He smiled at her contentedly licking her lollipop. "See, that wasn't so bad now, was it?" he asked as they walked out to the car.
She held his hand with her good one and sucked on her lolly as they went to the car. Once she was settled in the back seat, she finished off her lolly and began to sing Twinkle Star, but her way. "Tinkle Tinkle little tar wonder what are," she sang. "Daddy, you sing too," she instructed.
He laughed, singing along with her, but he sang the correct words, which sometimes didn't agree with Hallie's version and this led to a few mix-ups along the way. It wasn't long before they pulled up outside the house and he got out of the driver's seat, opening the door for his daughter and taking her hand as they made their way inside the house.
She was tired and she stumbled, but held tight to her father. "I almost falled down," she said as he had caught her and kept her from falling and she yawned.
He smiled, stooping down to lift her up into his arms. "I think someone's about ready for a nap," he commented, getting her out of her little coat and shoes before taking her upstairs and into her bedroom. "Want me to read you a story?" he asked.
She nodded, her head resting on his shoulder. "Daddy, not like this on my arm, off now please," she said softly her eyes closing.
"It has to stay on until your arm mends," he told her, taking her gingerbread man picture book from the bookshelf. He took off his shoes and stretched out on the bed with her. "It won't be much longer until it gets taken off."
She snuggled up against his side. "I not tired, daddy," she told him, though she made no effort to move away from him. "Mummy make ginger bread men and I eat them," she added through a yawn. "Get up and play, daddy." She didn't make a move to get up.
He had his arm around her, lifting the book so that she could see the
pictures. "We can play a little later on," he told her, stroking her hair with his free hand, not expecting her to stay awake for much longer. He opened up the book and let her look at the pictures as he read to her.
Try as she might, Hallie could not stay awake and the hand which and been helping to hold the book up fell away, an indication that she had already fallen asleep.
It was then that Evie walked in and she smiled at them. "How did the doctor visit go?" she asked softly as she walked over to the bed.
"Better than I expected," he told her, getting out of the bed and helping her place the cover over their daughter. "She did threaten to bite the doctor, but she behaved." After they had gotten her tucked in, he pulled his wife into his arms and lowered his head to kiss her gently.
She leaned into his kiss and when she broke away, she nuzzled his nose. "Do you have something in mind, Mr. O'Connell?" she asked rubbing her face against his shirt.
He grinned at that. "And what exactly are you proposing, Mrs. O'Connell?" he queried, playing dumb. His hands rested on her sides, his thumbs caressing her skin beneath the fabric of her blouse and he sighed, pressing small kisses to her forehead.
She smiled at him. "I think it might be wise for us to move things to our room so that our daughter can get a proper nap," she replied, walking away from him and playing hard to get.
He shook his head, smiling as he tucked the covers more securely underneath his daughter's chin, bending down to kiss the top of her head. He walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him before setting off in pursuit of his wife.