Five Days in Summer

clearly not provided much relief. Her face seemed to sag with compounded worry. When she heard the slapping approach of their feet on the buffed linoleum floor, and slanted her eyes off the page to see them, he felt a twist of guilt, as if she were his own child and he had abandoned her and returned too late.
    Will leaned down and kissed Sarah’s cheek. “How’s Maxi?”
    “She’s sleeping. The IV’s already working. The doctor said she’ll be fine.” Sarah’s eyes teared and she tried to blink them dry. “Look at that police hat!”
    Sammie lunged into what he must have considered to be an official pose: legs hinged open, fists ready under his chin.
    “My goodness.” Sarah smiled, then looked at David and held out her hand. He slipped his into hers and she held tight.
    “Can we see her?” Will asked.
    “Yes,” Sarah said. “I’ll show you.”
    Will, David and Sam followed Sarah down the hall to the room Maxi was sharing with two other babies. The walls were painted yellow, decorated with posters of Sesame Street characters: Elmo, Zoe, Big Bird, Cookie Monster. Mylar helium balloons were tied to the railings of all three cribs, and night tables were crowded with colorful stuffed animals. Even Maxi’s small table boasted a few gifts — a yellow fabric doll, a fluffy white kitten, and an orange velour hand puppet shaped like a crab. Grandma had visited the gift shop while she waited. Maxi’s balloons, one green and one pink, read I Love You and Get Well Soon .
    Maxi was fast asleep, curled into the upper corner of her institutional metal crib, with its sheet hopping with lambs. A tiny needle was taped to her lower arm and a long, flexible tube reached through the slats of the crib over to a tall IV stand where a bag slowlyemptied. Will put his hand on her forehead, and on her cheek and on the back of her neck; everywhere he touched her she felt dry and soft and warm, but not hot. Her fever had broken. The color in her face was pinkish, but not red. Her eyelids peacefully domed over her eyes. She looked like a healthy baby sleeping. Will carefully and quietly lowered the railing and leaned in to kiss her cheek. She drew in a long breath, and sighed.
    “I should speak with Dr. Lao,” Will whispered to Sarah. “Stay here with the boys?”
    “Of course.”
    He clicked the side of the crib back into place, left them, and waited at the nurses’ desk for the doctor to answer her page. Dr. Lao came hurrying down the hall, her short black hair swinging at her jaw.
    “Mr. Parker,” she said as soon as she was within his range. “Your baby’s doing well. She responded to the antibiotics right away. Her fever’s way down. Have you seen her?”
    “She looks great. Dr. Lao, I’m very grateful. Thank you.”
    She touched his arm. “Sarah told me what’s going on. I want to apologize for my reaction when I saw you in the emergency room. I jumped to a conclusion. It was wrong.”
    “No, it was right, but for the wrong reasons. Maxi never should have gotten that sick. I was distracted.”
    “You’re human, aren’t you?” She smiled. “Memory breaks down under stress. In case you need to talk to someone...” She leaned on the nurses’ counter to jot a name and number on her prescription pad, tore off the top slip and handed it to Will. “She’s a psychologist here at the hospital but she also has a private practice. She’s very good with traumatic stress disorder. Call her.”
    Will folded the paper and put it in his pocket.
    “She can also refer you to someone who works with children.”
    “Thank you, Doctor. You’re actually the second person this morning who’s offered references.” Will didn’t want references; he wanted his family and he wanted this to be over; he wanted to regain his hard-won belief that happy endings were even possible.
    “Give yourself some room to react to all this,” Dr. Lao said. “Now as far as Maxi’s concerned, you and Sarah should make a system so her meds won’t get forgotten. Put up notes, do whatever it takes. Okay?”
    “Okay.”
    Her beeper went off and she glanced down at it.
    “I want to keep Maxi here tonight, but unless something changes, you can pick her up in the morning. I informed security and they’re going to post someone outside her door, just to be sure. She’s safe here, Mr. Parker. She’ll just sleep.” Dr. Lao started to walk away, then looked back. “Don’t hang around here too long. Do something with your older kids to