he screamed during the spinal tap.
"He has meningitis". There it is.
We can't block out that sound.
6 weeks and he has taken his first step.
Curtains wide open, no looking away.
He is bandaged and needled.
We make phone calls.
We wait. We cling. We keen.
There is a room full of mothers
sleeping on the floor.
Impossibly, I am one of them.
There is air-conditioning
and a play room, and
People speak in whispers.
Family come and go.
Time is hot.
We are melting.
Then: the thermometer makes friends.
Merilyn Childs 5/1/2014
[My son James contracted viral meningitis at 6 weeks. He is now 25 and well.]
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