The next several days were hell on Dale and Mandy. Taylor wasn’t really acting up, she had been raised to respect her elders and although she didn’t like any of them right now she knew the consequences of misbehaving. Instead she spent most of her time at home in her room away from the rest of the family just being alone. Dale normally would have tried to talk to her but he felt guilty and thought that with some time she would come around.
One Wednesday afternoon after Keith had picked the kids up from school Mandy decided to take Garrett and Dani Lee to the mall to get new shoes and Taylor decided to go with her simply to get away from Dale.
"Mom you ok?" Taylor asked her in the shoe store as she helped Garrett tie the tennis shoes he was trying on.
"Yeah, it’s just really warm in here." She sat down on one of the chairs feeling very light headed and a nausea sharp pain ripping through her stomach. She was suddenly feeling achy and stiff all over especially in her back and shoulders.
After they finished and were headed out of the shoe store DanI Lee and Garrett both eyed the cookie stand. "Cookies." The screamed in unison.
"Taylor, take them over and get some cookies. You guys can have them for dessert tonight, get enough for the whole family."
Taylor took the money out of Mandy’s hand and watched as she sat on a bench holding her side. "Mom you sure, let’s just go."
She smiled. "I’m ok, just hurry." She watched as Taylor took their hands and led them the few feet to the cookie stand. When they were all done Taylor helped get the kids strapped into the van and they headed for home.
Mandy was feeling worse and worse by the minute. "Mom, you sure you are ok?"
"Yeah, I think I am just coming down with something. Probably whatever Hailey has been fighting lately. Let’s just get home so I can lay down." She pulled the car out into traffic and headed back towards their home.
Taylor kept her eye on Mandy from the passenger seat. She watched as Mandy wiped the sweat from her forehead and her eyes would close then fly open again. She was swerving on and off the road and Taylor was getting more and more concerned by the second. "Mom maybe you should pull over and we can call Keith or dad." Her voice wavered as Mandy swerved to miss the car in the lane next to her and Taylor tried again. "Mom? Come on pull " Taylor didn’t even get the last few words out when the car suddenly swerved into on coming traffic. Taylor looked at Mandy in time to see her head drop to her chest then she saw it, the blood soaking Mandy‘s pants and legs. "Mom? Mom!" Taylor’s screams and the jerking of the car scared the two in the backseat and as they started screaming themselves, Taylor grabbed the steering wheel jerking it hard to the right.
**********************
Dale and Keith came to a screeching halt in the emergency parking lot. Dale jumped out and went to get Belle out. "No, just go. I’ll get them, get in there." Keith said. Dale gave him a thankful look and ran into the ER.
He ran straight to the nurse’s station going 100mph terrified of what he would find. "Amanda Earnhardt?"
The nurse looked at the board and before she could answer, Dale heard the most precious sound he would ever hear. "Daddy?"
He looked around the corner at a small bench next to the nurse’s station and saw Taylor sitting with Dani Lee and Garrett next to her. They all looked scared to death but unhurt. Taylor jumped off the bench and ran into his arms. "Oh baby, thank God you’re ok." He fought back the tears that threatened to fall, not wanting to scare them anymore than they already were. He smoothed her hair out of her face, searching for any injuries.
"Oh daddy, I’m sorry daddy, I didn’t mean those things I said. I love you, you are my daddy." She was going about as fast as Dale was.
"Shh. It‘s ok baby." He hugged her against him and could feel her tears on his neck as he carried her back to the other two. "We will talk about this later, all that matters is that you are alright." She nodded as he knelt in front of the bench. "You guy’s ok?" He hugged all of them. "What ya got there?" He looked at the bag of cookies.
"I know they haven’t had dinner but…" Taylor started.
"It’s ok." Dale smiled.
Dale turned to see a nurse walking towards him. Just then Keith came in with Hailey and Belle. "Everyone ok?"
"The kids are, I don’t know about Mandy yet. I will be right back."
"Hi, Mr. Earnhardt, as you can see the kids are fine. They have been checked out and we ran a couple x rays and tests just to be certain but they passed with flying colors."
"Please call me Dale, how is my wife? Where‘s Mandy?"
"The last I heard, they were taking her down to have some test run. I can get her doctor for you."
"What happened?" He asked as they walked to the nurse’s station.
"According to the police and your daughter, your wife passed out behind the wheel of her car. They are trying to find out what caused her to faint. Your daughter said she started feeling bad at the store and said she felt like she was coming down with the flu or something like that."
"Has she been unconscious this whole time?"
"No, she came back to on the scene then lost consciousness again in the ambulance. It appears that when Taylor couldn’t wake her mom, she somehow managed to steer the car into a ditch away from traffic and bring it to a stop. If you will excuse me I will try and get some info on your wife."
Dale nodded and wandered back to the kids. "The nurse is finding out about Mandy. She is having tests run." He sat next to Keith and pulled Taylor into his lap. She snuggled into his embrace and clung to him for dear life. "It’s ok, it’s all over now." Keith looked at him and Dale just gave him a ‘I will tell you later look.’
Just then Steve and Lexie walked in. "Dale, what happened?"
"We are waiting to hear from the doctor about Mandy. I don’t know they haven’t told me anything on her yet." They all moved to a waiting room waiting for word on Mandy.
***************
"Mr. Earnhardt your wife has been taken into surgery."
"Mommy." Taylor said getting upset all over again.
Dale bit his tongue, kissed Taylor on the head then sat her on the bench next to Steve, who put his arm around her while still holding a tired Garrett. "I’ll be right back." He looked to the nurse. "Can I talk to you in the hall?" They walked out of the room away from the kids ears. "Before you start, I would prefer you not scare the hell out of my children, they have had a very bad day so far and I don’t need them scared even more than they already are. Now what’s wrong with my wife? Why the hell is she in surgery?"
"I’m sorry I didn’t think back there. Your wife was rushed into surgery right after she arrived. She has had an ovary rupture. The doctor should be out soon and he can go over the rest of the details then."
Dale was shocked. "So you walk in there tell us that my wife is in surgery, get everyone upset and then you can’t even tell me if she is ok or not? What the fuck?"
"Dale." Kelly said stepping up beside him and laying a hand on his shoulder. "What’s going on?"
"This is insane Kelly." The look on his face was almost unreadable.
She could see he was losing control quickly. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" She pulled the nurse away from Dale. When she returned a few minutes later Dale was leaning against the wall looking at his feet, Tony Jr. had joined him while Brenda and Tony Sr. had stepped in to help calm the kids. "Ok, a ruptured ovary shouldn’t be life threatening, the concern is over how much blood she lost."
"Blood?" Dale was confused and now very worried.
Kelly was confused. "Uh yeah, she had to have lost a lot when it ruptured, no one said anything about it?"
Dale looked back towards Taylor. "No, no one said anything about any blood. No wonder she was so scared." He sighed. "My poor baby." He looked up to Kelly. "Mandy’s going to be ok, right?"
She could tell he was fighting to keep control of himself for the kids. "We are going to have to wait and talk to the doctor but I’m sure she’ll be fine."
The three of them walked back into the room and Taylor ran from Steve to her father. "Daddy, where is mommy?"
"The doctor’s are taking care of her." He sat pulling her on his lap. "Taylor, what happened today?" She looked away from him. "Please, Tay, I need you to tell me what happened."
"She was feeling bad at the store. When we left she said she thought she was getting what Hailey had. We headed home and she started swerving off the road. I asked her to pull over but she passed out and…and…" He pulled her into his chest as she cried. "She was covered in blood, I didn’t know what happened or where it came from. I didn’t know what else to do so I grabbed the wheel and pulled it to the right, we hit a pole before I could try and get to the brakes."
"It’s ok baby, you did just what you should have done. I am so proud of you. It’s all over now." He held her tight against him as he looked at his kids, the quads were now all huddled together on a couch with Brenda on one side and Steve on the other. He was thankful they were fine but now he was concerned about his wife and the fact that no one could tell him anything about how she was doing.