Something was just not fine
(By Gaby and Deyse)
Something was just not fine. Roma could see it. Reilly, her little daughter, was not that quiet normally. When she was all laughter and happy yelling and running from one side to another, that day she was all the contrary: quiet, playing with a doll in a lonely corner, not even looking for John’s attention as she always did. They were now ready to film a scene and John was standing right in front of her, carefully studying her worried expression. “What’s wrong with her?” Roma heard him asking and turned to meet his green eyes reflecting the same concern about the little
girl.
“John, could you come here, please?” the director was trying to set the best angles for the cameras and the blond actor had to move away from his dearest friend (and secret love) for a few instants.
Roma and John kept on staring at Reilly with worried eyes and, although they would be filming in just a few minutes, Roma abandoned her position and walked over up to her daughter.
“Reilly? Sweetheart, come here with mommy...”
Silently, the little girl stood up and gave a few steps towards her mom. And Roma frowned with deep worry when she placed her hands on her daughter’s little arms and felt her hot skin. “Oh honey... You have a fever...”
Watching the two people he loved the most in the entire world and even more worried now that he could see the anguish in Roma’s eyes, John abandoned his position and joined them.
“What’s wrong, princess?” John said kneeling by the girl’s side. “Are you feeling ok?”
She’s burning in fever, John!” Roma said trying to sound calm but failing miserably. Her hazel eyes showed how scared she was.
“Calm down, Roma. Maybe she just got a flu…” the blond actor said trying to help her. “Let’s take her to your dressing room.”
He then gathered the baby in his arms and both actors stood up.
“Where are you going, guys?” the director shouted as they were about to film.
“Reilly’s sick. We’ll be back in a minute!” John stated in such a firm tone of voice that no one would argue.
They took Reilly to Roma’s dressing room and after the actress had arranged some pillows over it, John carefully placed the little girl on the sofa, kneeling right next to it while Roma sat down at the edge.
“Baby, tell mommy, are you feeling any pain?” she asked, caressing her curly hair.
“... it hurts in here...” she pointed to her head with her hazel eyes almost closing. Roma and John looked at each other and the actor stood up, “I’ll call her doctor, we’ll take her there right now, ok? I’ll go with you,” he said, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder; his green eyes full of love and reassurance, as always.
Gratefully, Roma nodded her head and he dialled the paediatrician’s number (something he had done some times before, as his presence in the little girl’s life was a strong, constant one). Meanwhile, the Irish actress reached out and kept on holding her daughter’s hand and praying that there wasn’t anything serious with her – even if her mother’s intuition told her the opposite.
Yet, it was almost one hour after John’s call when the doctor finally arrived. Roma had gone from worried to frantic in the meantime seeing that Reilly was now really burning with fever and she barely kept her eyes open.
“Reilly, sweetheart, please, don’t sleep… Talk to mommy, baby…” Roma kept on saying.
“I’m so cold, mommy…” the little girl could hardly talk as she fought not to drift off to sleep.
John couldn’t do more but to pace from one side to the other of the room, occasionally meeting Roma’s terrified eyes. He had clearly told the director that they would not go back to film till Reilly was ok, and by the tone of his voice, he had left no place for any argument. Only a knock in the door took him away from his fierce surveillance over the two people he loved the most in the world. “Dr. Parker, thanks God you’re here!”
“I’m sorry it took me so long, there was a traffic jam on the way...” the woman said, placing her suitcase on the table and sitting on the edge of the sofa to exam Reilly.
Roma stood up and remained by the coach, watching as the doctor checked on her little daughter with a few tears threatening to fall from her eyes at any moment. John gave only a few steps towards her and took her hand, giving it a light squeeze, “Roma, try to stay calm...”
“I’m so scared, John...”
“I’m worried too, to be honest, but now that the doctor is here, I’m sure that we’ll find out what the problem is with our little angel...”
She didn’t miss his last words: our little angel. The constant love and protection John had towards the little girl had always moved her to tears and for a split second she was thankful that he was there with her in one more difficult moment in her life. “She’s burning with fever...”
“How long has she been like this?” the doctor asked, interrupting their conversation.
“This morning... I mean, she was fine when we left, just a little quieter than usual. At first I thought it was because she woke up early but then... then when we arrived here and saw how warm she was...”
“What do you think it is, Dr Parker?” the concern in John’s eyes was exactly the same of a father’s. The woman sighed deeply and put her stethoscope back on her briefcase, “I believe she has pneumonia...”
“What?” Roma exclaimed, and if it wasn’t for John’s supportive hand holding hers, she would have fainted.
“Are you sure, doctor?” the blond actor asked, as shocked as his dearest friend.
“We have to take her to hospital immediately. There we’ll be able to run more exams on her and treat her better.
John immediately gathered the little girl in his arms and announced, “We’ll take her in my car.”
“I’m so cold, uncle Johnny...”
“Shh, you’re gonna be fine, sweetie...” he gently spoke, “There’s a blanket in my car and your mom will cover you with it, ok?”
He shot Roma a look of reassurance and the three left Moon Walker Studios heading to
“What’s happening?” the director asked when he saw the two actors and the doctor all but rushing towards the main entrance. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Reilly’s sick and we are not staying here, Victor”, John said with the most resolute voice. “We’re heading to the hospital right away.”
The man didn’t argue more. He threw Roma an understanding gaze, and just said, “Ok. Please let me know how is she doing…”
It wasn’t more than 15 minutes after that when they were reaching the hospital emergency room, a nurse coming to meet them and taking the baby out of her mother’s arms. “I want to go with her!” Roma shouted not wanting to release her daughter.
“Give me some minutes, Roma, please,” Dr. Parker said gently placing a hand on the actress shoulder. “I’ll get her all set and come to tell you what’s happening. We’ll be running a lot of tests and maybe you want to call home and see some of her pajamas sent here…”
Roma only nodded. She was sure if she talked she’d started to cry and she didn’t want to. A second later she felt another hand on her shoulder as the doctor disappeared through the door, and she turned to face her blond friend, who was looking at her with the most compassionate look she could remember coming from him.
“They’ll take good care of her, Roma.”
“I... I know...” she whispered, biting her lower lip, trying to be strong. It took John only a split second to pull her closer to him and hold her tight against his chest. Gratefully, the Irish actress held him too, clutching his T-shirt as if secretly pleading for his support, for his reassurance.
“I’ll stay here all the time; whatever it is that Reilly has, I’ll be here with you both, angel. You’re not alone.” He spoke, as if reading her mind and interpreting her every move.
“Thank you...” Roma sighed, finally letting a single tear fall from her eye. The blond angel actor held her for a few moments and dared to stroke her hair and place a kiss on the top of her head. God how he loved her! And how he wanted to be part of her life, taking care of her and of Reilly as if they only belonged to him.
Only some instants later, did he pull away, just enough to look at her face, “Wait here, Roma. I’ll phone home and tell Julie what happened.”
“Okay...” her voice was low and she reluctantly let him go. For some instants, while he talked on his cell phone, the actress kept on looking at him, still not believing that someone could be so devoted to her and to her little daughter like he was. Watching as he gave instructions to Julie, she realised how close he was to her and to Reilly, up to the point to know exactly what they needed at that moment. Roma suddenly felt her eyes full of tears again; but those weren’t tears of sadness – they were tears of emotion, as if that was a magical instant when feelings that had always been present deep inside her heart, became clear to her.
When he turned off the phone, John sat down next to her and immediately took her hand, “Julie is bringing everything you both need, angel. She and Charlie will be here soon.”
The Irish actress looked at their conjoined hands and then at his face, not missing the constant love and tenderness she could now see so well written in his emerald green eyes. With fresh tears falling from her own eyes, she suddenly threw her arms around his neck and held him for dear life. “You are everything Reilly and I need, John, and I’m so thankful for that...”
Roma’s reaction took John completely by surprise, but he couldn’t but hold her back, loving the feeling of her in his arms. “I wish… I wish I could be all you need and make everything all right for you, baby…” he murmured, emotion closing his throat. “I’d live to thank God forever if that could be…” he now felt tears threatening his own eyes, and gently placed a kiss on her head, rocking her like a little girl.
Roma had felt butterflies in her stomach when John had pulled her to his chest, but she had just let him do. For one moment she had felt completely safe and content in his arms, just as if all the bad things that had happened to her recently (her divorce, the threaten of losing her child) had just disappeared and had been replaced for the incredible sensation of someone caring about her enough to someone caring about her enough to protect her from the world outside.
“We’re done now…” the doctor said appearing by the corridor and stopping at the sight in front of her. She knew Roma’s husband and of course she had heard (like all the world) about they getting divorced, and the scene just confused her, but decided to leave that apart.
The woman’s voice brought the couple of actors back to reality and, as much as they hated the idea, they immediately pulled away from each other. “How is she, doctor?”
“Can we see her?” John and Roma asked, almost at the same time.
The woman nodded her head and signalled them to stay calm. “Yes, you can see her and... well, my colleagues and I have examined Reilly and we confirmed the pneumonia. We should start the treatment right now...”
“Please, do everything you can, doctor, but please, save my daughter...” the despair in Roma’s face was such that the woman felt really sorry for her. “I can assure you that she’s in good hands.”
John took his beloved friend’s hand and squeezed it, his eyes met hers a second later and the Irish actress saw in them an ocean of reassurance, of comfort and, especially, of much love. He never moved his green pools from Roma’s face when he spoke to the doctor, “Can we see her, doctor Parker?”
Without knowing exactly what to do, the doctor cleared her throat and spoke again, “Yes... You can stay with her... please, follow me...”
They walked along a long corridor and turned on the left, where the paediatric centre was. Reilly’s bedroom was number 7 and the little girl was lying on the bed, half awake, waiting for the two people who she loved the most in the entire world to appear (the third most important person in her life was Della, her eternal ‘grandma’).
*
“Mommy!” Reilly whimpered when she saw her mother and rose her arms looking for her mother. She wanted to rise up from the bed but she had an IV now attached to her little arm. “Mommy I want to leave!”
Roma ran to take a seat on the bed and gather her crying baby. “No, sweetheart, you have to stay on the bed! Reilly, please, calm down!” Roma tried to push her to lay back on the bed.
John then came close to the bed and helped his friend. “Please, baby, if you move it will hurt more…” he said softly stroking the girl’s forehead but applying enough strength so she couldn’t move more. “We can’t go home until you are fine, and you won’t get ok if you don’t obey the doctor’s orders…”
There was something in his tone of voice that made its way to the girl’s upset mind. She turned her hazel eyes to meet his and she knew she could trust him. “Will you stay with me, uncle Johnnie?” Reilly asked between sobs.
“Nothing would tear me apart from you, baby,” he promised and reached to kiss her head. Just then he met Roma’s eyes briefly and his heart skipped a bit at the trusting and thankful look in her face.
*
The hours passed slowly for the two adults and the poor little girl in that bedroom, but, after much talking and calming her down, Reilly finally fell asleep. Roma stood sitting by her bed, tenderly caressing her hair and with her eyes fixed in an invisible point right in front of her.
“You need to eat something, sweetie...” she heard her beloved friend speaking to her, also sitting by her side and softly caressing her auburn hair. “I’ll stay with her.”
“I don’t feel hungry, Johnny...”
He sighed deeply and took her hand, guiding her up to the sofa right in front of the bed. “Then rest a little, Roma. The worst is gone now...” Watching her reluctance in moving away from her little daughter, even if it was only for a few steps, he lay his hand over her cheek and looked deep inside her troubled brown eyes, “I’ll be here with you all the time, angel. And you need to rest a little, our little one will need you when she wakes up...”
A wave of tenderness hit her heart once again as she looked into his emerald pools and heard his calming and reassuring voice. “Our little one,” he said, as if her baby daughter was also his daughter. And, in a way, she really was. Little by little, in the last few weeks, Roma was more and more aware that she and Reilly belonged to him; to that kind and loving man who were always by their side, bringing happiness, comfort and love to their hearts.
The Irish actress let him guide her up to the sofa and wrap his arm around her shoulders, slowly bringing her closer to him. When she lay her head over his shoulder, she felt his delicate touch in her hair; gentle fingers running through her auburn locks trying to put her heart at ease. Feeling more relaxed with his tender caresses, Roma snuggled against his body and the constant movement of his fingers through her hair lulled her to sleep.
“I’ll always be here with you, baby... I love you...” he whispered, feeling that she was finally sleeping. “I love you forever...”
John lay a soft kiss on her forehead and held her a bit tighter, as he continued his watch over both of his girls.
*****
“Roma, Roma…wake up,” John’s urgent voice forced the little actress to open her weary eyes, but a split second later, she was wide awake and terrified.
“John, what’s going on?” Reilly’s room was buzzing with not only the doctor but several nurses and Roma immediately sprang to her feet. Only John’s hand on her shoulder stopped her from hurling herself through the maze of people surrounding her daughter to wrap Reilly up in her arms.
“Her lungs are full of fluid,” John replied quietly, his own heart racing, “She was having a lot of trouble breathing. They’re starting her on oxygen.”
It was then that Roma heard her tiny daughter, gasping for air and crying out for her mother, “Reilly! Baby, I’m here, baby. Mommy’s here…”
“Angel, you have to stay back for a moment until they get her stabilized,” John cautioned. He hated holding her back from going to Reilly, but right now, she would only be in the way.
Roma’s helplessness caused her tears to finally break free, “My baby can’t breathe, Johnny! She can’t breathe!”
Turning her around in his arms, John pulled her tightly up against his chest, “She’s going to be all right, baby.” He whispered, his worried eyes watching as the scene around Reilly’s bed finally seemed to calm.
Dr. Parker turned to the couple as the nurses continued to monitor Reilly, “She’s better now, Roma,” She stated kindly, looking at the young actresses tear-streaked face, “The oxygen is helping her and we’ve given her something to make her sleep, so she stays calm. We’ll be monitoring her closely as she has a severe case of pneumonia. She’s not out of the woods yet, but we’re going to take good care of her until she is.”
“Thank you, doctor,” John stated, seeing that Roma was only able to nod her head from where it rested against his chest.
The doctor departed and slowly the two nurses left the room as well, once they were satisfied that Reilly was resting comfortably. Her vision still blurred with tears, Roma walked to her daughter’s side and stroked her cheek with a trembling hand.
“I love you so much, Reilly,” She whispered, the tears continuing to slide down her cheeks, “Mommy’s here, baby. I’m right here. I won’t leave you.” She wiped at her tears angrily, wishing she could be stronger, “I’m sorry, John. I…I didn’t mean to go to pieces like that…”
“Hey,” Approaching her, John took her face in his hands and looked deeply into her dark eyes, “This is me, Angel. The way you are feeling is perfectly fine. I’ll be strong for you, Roma, if you let me.”
He was looking at her with so much love and tenderness that fresh tears filled her eyes once more, “I’m so glad you’re here.”