Chapter Text
Lataine POV
I sat up in my room reading Harry Potter for the bazillionth time and I planned on staying here for as long as possible. First of all, because I was absolutely not happy with my parents, mainly my daddy, and second of all because my aunts and uncles were coming over. Now that wasn’t unusual. My parents had their brothers and sisters over all the time and we would go over to their houses just as often; it was just a part of being a close-knit family. What made it different this time is the fact that I was sick, probably with a sinus infection, as was typical for me. But no one currently seemed to know that and I wanted to keep it that way. But with both of my uncles being doctors, I had a feeling it wasn’t going to stay that way for long.
There was a knock on my open door and I looked up to see my daddy there. “Can I come in?” he asked.
I closed my book in a huff. He walked in and sat down on my bed next to me.
“You do realize that in addition to knowing you as your father, I have the medical training to see that you are ill, right?” he teased. I glared at him. Or at least I attempted to. He chuckled. “I know you are mad at me. And I know why you’re mad at me. But contrary to popular belief, I didn’t invite my sister and Alice’s brother over just to get you to admit you’re sick,” he said, pretty much pinpointing exactly what I was thinking.
“How do you always know what I’m thinking? It’s like you read my mind and my emotions or something. It’s actually a bit annoying.”
He smiled. “It’s because you are my daughter. You can’t hide anything from me or from your mother. We have a parent’s instinct,” he said ruffling my hair.
“So I can pretend like I’m feeling fine and you won’t tell Uncle Edward or Uncle Emmett?” I asked hopefully.
He chuckled. “Nice try, my dear. But I know you’re sick and they will too as soon as they see you. And I want one of them to check you over while they are here.”
“You are so on my bad list right now,” I said, picking up my book again.
“I figure it’s better than me calling the shots, darlin’. Especially if that becomes literal.” I shook my head no. Needles were not part of the deal. But of course, I was sure they were inevitable. He shrugged and gave me a look that all but said I told you so. “You can be angry all you want but it’s not gonna change anythin’,” he sighed, squeezing my knee. “You’re sick, you need to see a doctor. So, I don’t care what list of yours I’m on, as long as I figure out why you’re not getting better.” He stood up and leant over to kiss my head. “I won’t make you come down, but I promise I’ll send someone up as soon as they get here. We’re expecting guests in about 15 minutes,” he explained as he walked out the door.
Edward POV
Bella, Nessa, and I arrived at my sister’s house at about a quarter after one. Rosalie and Emmett hadn’t gotten there yet.
Once in the house and past greetings with Jasper and Alice, the girls all took off to see some project in Alice’s office, leaving Jasper and I alone in the living room. We went to sit down on the couch in front of the television, where a football game was currently on. It was then that I realized I hadn’t seen Lataine yet.
“Where’s Lataine?” I asked Jasper.
“She’s up in her room. She wanted to stay there as long as she could.” He chuckled then, as if there was something I was missing, which I’m guessing there was.
That was unusual for Lataine. She was usually always downstairs and ready for us to get here when our families came over. Despite being a year apart in age, my niece and my daughter were like sisters, so they loved to spend time with each other when we had family gatherings. However, the one reason she would never be eager to see myself or Emmett was illness. If she was sick, her current absence would make sense. We were not Lataine’s favorite people when she was not feeling well. She had a known fear of doctors and needles, both of which pertained to Emmett and me, as I was an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner, currently running her school’s clinic, and Emmett was her pediatrician.
“Mind if I go up and chat with her?” I asked, already standing from the couch.
“I expected nothing less,” he replied with a smirk. “I can send up your co-conspirator if you’d like, once he gets here. Otherwise, call me if you need me.” He hadn’t openly said why she was hiding, but it seemed, by his reactions, my conclusion was correct.
I headed up the stairs and saw that the door to her room was open. I knocked briefly. “You know, playing hide and seek isn’t really fun if other people don’t know you are playing it,” I said, walking in and sitting down on the floor next to her bed. She flipped over on her stomach and turned to face me.
“It is if you’re hiding from a doctor who wants to give you a shot,” she said matter-of-factly. Oh yeah, she was definitely sick. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be worrying about me giving her shots.
“And what makes you think I want to give you a shot?” I asked, feigning innocence. She glared at me.
“Because you and Em are predictable. You’ve conditioned me to expect y’all to wield sharp pointy objects under certain conditions.” I laughed. Clearly, Jasper the psychologist talked about his field at home.
I put my hands up as if in surrender. “I don’t have any needles on me. Promise.”
She folded her arms in front of her and rested her head on them with a sigh. “I know you’ll give me one though. And if you don’t, Emmett will.” She coughed then, and it took her a minute to catch her breath. It definitely didn’t sound good.
I stood up and sat next to her on the bed, rubbing her back. “You don’t know that for sure, Lataine,” I said. She looked up at me, giving me her you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look. She had been through this many times before and rarely got out without getting a shot. It was just her luck.
Of course, that was also just Emmett’s way of running his clinic, so it wasn’t like she was the only one who had to deal with it. In Emmett’s mind, why prescribe pills, risk the child forgetting to take it or the parent neglecting to give it, and then risk the child having a relapse, when he could just give an injection during the appointment and it’s done then and there. He rarely oral medications for illness or injury; only families he knew well enough, occasionally had that luxury. Lataine, and to a lesser extent, Nessa, weren’t the exception. It just so happened that her medical history required them more often. And I couldn’t do something different for her when I wasn’t her doctor.
“Will you please let me go get my bag from the car and do a quick check up?” I asked her. She shook her head no against her arm. “Please?” She shook her head again. “Please?” I stood up from the bed as she shook her head again. “Please? Please? Please? Please?” I continued pestering while backing up towards her doorway. Wow, I was being just as annoying as Emmett would have been.
She sighed. “Fine.” I could tell she wasn’t happy and that made me sort of sad because I didn’t want her mad at me. But I also hated seeing her sick, especially when I could do something about it.
“I’ll be right back. And just so you know, I would have done it anyway.”
I left her room and headed down the stairs and out to the car. As I grabbed my bag from the backseat of the vehicle and relocked it, Emmett, Rose, and the twins pulled into the driveway.
“Visiting a patient?” Emmett asked as he climbed out of the car.
“Yep,” I said. “I may need backup though.” He saluted as I went back in.
I walked back into the house and back up the stairs. “Dr. Edward is at your service,” I announced, sitting my bag on the bedside table. “Now besides the fact that you sound like you are going to cough up a lung, is there anything else wrong? And don’t lie because I’ll find out.”
“My chest hurts. It’s just asthma stuff like normal,” she pouted. I raised an eyebrow. “It started with a cold. It just hasn’t gone away,” she finally added.
I pulled my stethoscope out of my bag and put the earpieces in my ears before grabbing her hands and helping her sit up. “I hate when you go all doctor on me,” she pouted as she adjusted her position on the bed and I sat down next to her. “I’d rather you just be my uncle. You and Emmett both.”
“Sorry, but part of my job as an uncle is worrying about you when something is wrong,” I said, moving the round disk of the stethoscope around her chest briefly. “And if I recall, Emmett tried to pass you off to his associate for that reason and you wouldn’t have it.” I moved it around to her back and started to speak but she cut me off.
“I know, I know, deep breaths,” she said. After a minute I took the stethoscope out of my ears.
“Lataine, you really don’t sound good,” I reported with a sigh.
“I thought you expected that much,” she said laying back frustrated.
I quickly looked in her eyes, ears, nose and throat. “You’re worse than what I was expecting. If you would have told someone before you could have gotten away with just taking a pill and it probably would have cleared up.” Although Em didn’t like to prescribe pills, every once in a while, he would do it for Lataine since she was so scared. But at this point, it was better off with a direct dose and I was pretty sure more than one would be needed. “Now I’m going to have to give you the shots because the pills won’t cover it. You’re cold has turned into a sinus infection and it’s impacting your lungs,” I said standing up from the bed and rummaging around in my bag for a hypodermic needle and the medicine I kept specifically for her.
“Wait, why was that plural?” she asked, obvious panic in her voice. She was absolutely not going to be happy with me or Emmett. Or Jasper for that matter.
“You’re gonna need about 5 doses of steroid shots: One today and one the next four days. I’ll also give you a vitamin injection to boost your immune system while you fight it.”
“So, are you gonna give them all to me?” she asked, her tone raising in pitch.
“No, I’ll give you the first one and the supplement since I’m the one conveniently diagnosing you. For the next 3 days your dad can monitor your breathing and give you the shots. The last one you’ll probably need to get from Emmett.”
“Ugh!” she said throwing herself face first into her pillows. I wasn’t sure if she was really angry or if she was masking fear with anger. I sighed, laying the syringe on the bedside table.
“Lataine,” I said softly, sitting down on the bed next to her. “Listen to me sweetheart,” I said, rubbing her back.
“I don’t wanna listen.”
Jasper came in at that point and stood against the wall, letting me handle the problem on my own. She hadn’t realized that he had come in yet. “Sweetheart, I know you hate this, and I hate doing this to you. But I don’t have a choice. I do not want to be taking care of you in the hospital. And trust me, you would not like the hospital. Almost everything there involves needles.”
She still refused to listen or to move from her position on the bed. Jasper quietly approached the foot of the bed. As an uncle I felt the need to be more patient, but as her dad, I guess his patience was running thin. “Lataine,” he started softly, but slightly stern. “You chose not to tell me you were not feeling well. You have to be more responsible for your asthma. I can’t do it for you.”
“I don’t want you doing it for me. I don’t want it at all!” she yelled back.
He exchanged a look with me. It was good that Jasper was graced with extra patience. “I’m your parent,” he started, completely stern now. “Therefore, it’s my job to take care of you until you turn 18 or you divorce yourself from me. I can’t take your asthma away from you, so you have got to learn to live with it. Which means you can do what is needed to prevent getting sick, or you can face the natural consequences of a flare up getting out of hand.” In any other situation, I would have found it humorous that he was talking to Lataine like he would talk to one of his teenage patients but now the humor was gone. She knew that when Jasper spoke in that tone, nothing was up for debate, and she let it go.
Emmett came in to check on his ‘favorite little patient.’ “Geez, let’s just make it a party,” Lataine scoffed, screaming into her pillow. Against what my judgement would have been, Jasper popped her on the butt twice. Hard. But admittedly, she dropped the attitude quickly. He turned back to me, folding his arms. I quickly and quietly filled them in on what I had decided, making sure Lataine couldn’t hear me. I told Jasper where he was to give her the shot, I made sure he had a stethoscope and told him how often to check her breathing. After that he left, deciding he didn’t want to make his daughter’s current anger any worse. It would be his responsibility later this week, but not today.
She sat up reluctantly and I could tell she had been crying. Emmett sat on the bed and helped her to lie down. I had decided to give her both injections in the butt since the steroid shot had to be given there. “C’mon you can do this girlie,” Emmett said, pulling her jeans down slightly and then grabbing her hand. “Just squeeze my hand as tight as you can and it’ll help, I promise.”
I wiped the first injection site with an alcohol wipe. Emmett rubbed circles into her hand. I picked up the syringe off the table. “Relax, Lataine. You’re going to make it worse.”
“Think of happy things like rainbows and ponies and wonder pets,” Emmett said. She giggled and visibly relaxed. If he knew what the wonder pets were, he spent way too much time at work. “On 3. 1, 2, 3,” and I had the needle in her skin, the medicine injected and the needle back out as fast as I could. She tensed up. I wiped up the little bit of blood and covered it with a bandaid. “One more,” I whispered, and then I repeated the process with the supplement. It took a bit more time to give but as soon as I had finished, I removed the needle. “Alright, all done babe,” I whispered softly.
“Yeah, but that was only the first two. I have four more,” she whimpered as she readjusted her clothing and sat up, wiping tears from her eyes.
“You don’t have to worry about those until later. Nessa is waiting for you,” I said.
Even though she was still not too happy with the male members of her family, she stood up and ran down the stairs.