And now he had a fresh layer of guilt on top of that request. Bad enough Shane had had to witness his close call, but now Jewel might be sick. And that was on him way more than Shane. He was the dad, right? He should be able to keep her safe. Carrying the baby over to the couch, he sat down and laid her in front of him, trying to assess her for obvious signs of distress, similar to how he would a crew member. No injuries that he could see, and she wasn’t particularly congested or other hallmarks of illness.
“I was debating calling Cameron for advice when you came in.” Shane hovered nearby.
“Let me finish taking a look at Miss Fussy Pants first.” He checked her sleeper. Not too tight and no tag or other itchy part. Only thing that seemed off was her angry face, but she was also a little more flushed than usual. “Huh. Does she feel warm to you?”
“Maybe a little.” Shane reached down and felt her head. “Do we have digital thermometer?”
“I’ve got a first aid kit I keep in case I injure myself with power tools, but I’m not sure about whether it has a thermometer.” Picking the baby up, he headed for the main bathroom in the hall. Shane was close behind him, and he looked in the kit under the sink while Brandt bounced Jewel to try to keep her from fussing more.
“Nope.” Shane shook his head as he finished digging through the kit. “Nothing to take a temperature. Should I call Cameron?”
“Yeah. Use my phone. I saved her cell number in there.” Juggling the baby, he managed to get his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Shane. He paced with Jewel as Shane made the call, trying to take some deep breaths, keep the cool head he was known for. Little kids got sick. She’d be okay. Except, what if she wasn’t? What if he had to live with more of that helpless terror from earlier? Fuck. He hated things that were out of his control.
“Cameron says she’s too little for this to be teething,” Shane reported while still on the phone. “We’ve done most of what she’s suggesting—check for bruises or signs of injury, make sure she’s warm and dry and nothing is tight.”
“Yeah, we tried all that. And sounds like you were dealing with this all afternoon?” Brandt didn’t like having left Shane all alone with a potentially sick baby. The poor guy looked ragged, like he’d pulled a thirty-six-hour shift in the height of fire season.
“Yup. Cameron’s saying that if nothing is working that we might want to take her to the urgent care clinic so that we avoid a middle of the night ER visit. Could be a virus of some kind.”
“Yeah. Let’s do the clinic.” Brandt didn’t have to think too hard about the choice. If he and Shane couldn’t fix the baby, then they needed someone who could. His back was already tense from hearing her cry. Not knowing what was wrong made his temples pound.
“Agreed. For myself, I’d tough it out with a virus, but she’s so tiny...” Shane trailed off as he headed to the kitchen and started gathering supplies. “I’ll get a diaper bag and some bottles together in case it’s a long wait.”
Working fast, they got ready in record time. Shane climbed in the backseat next to Jewel. “I’ll ride back here, see if I can distract her from too much crying while you drive.”
Despite the tense circumstances, Brandt appreciated how effortlessly they divided and conquered tasks, no arguing over who was driving or whose fault it was that the baby was sick. No, they had a common purpose, and that made it easier for Brandt to focus on the drive into Bend while Shane sang silly songs and kept Jewel’s fussing from growing too loud.
The clinic was near the big regional hospital, a low, modern building with a big waiting room. About half the chairs were filled with more people than Brandt would have hoped for. And indeed, the line for the receptionist slowly crept forward, several minutes until it was their turn to explain why they were there. Shane was holding Jewel, so Brandt explained her symptoms to the receptionist, who wore pink scrubs and a pinched expression.
“She’s not in the system.” The woman frowned but didn’t look up from her typing. “Do you have a list of what vaccines she’s already had?”
“No.” And great, now he got to worry about those viruses too. He made a mental note to bump finding a pediatrician up his to-do list. “I’ve got her birth certificate though.”
Brandt handed it over along with his license.
“So where’s the mom? Or do you two have adoption paperwork too?” She gestured between him and Shane, who made a gurgling noise as he went even paler.
“Uh...” Shane made a gurgling noise. Nice to know how he felt about being mistaken for a couple again.
Like earlier, Brandt honestly didn’t care. He wanted Jewel to see a doctor and if that meant Nurse Nosy here learned something about his personal life, so be it. He might not understand all the emotions Shane inspired, but he also wasn’t ashamed of what they had going.
“The mom’s not around. I’m the dad.” Trying to keep his voice level, Brandt tapped on his ID. “My attorney has custody paperwork ready, but no court order yet. The baby will be on my insurance, but I don’t have a card yet.”
“Does Mom have insurance?”
“Probably not.” Shane sounded as frustrated as Brandt felt. This shouldn’t be so hard. And this was undoubtedly why Cameron had pushed them doing the court paperwork. Brandt knew full well how hard the system could make getting help.
“Is there any way to check?” The receptionist didn’t seem any closer to being done with the questions, and Brandt had to grit his teeth as Shane answered that one.
“Not easily. I’ve got a phone number, but good luck getting her to pick up.”
“All right.” The woman sounded like she too was on the verge of losing patience. “Give me that number at least for the records.”
“Are you going to be able to treat my daughter or what?” Brandt demanded after Shane supplied Shelby’s number. His daughter. He hadn’t really thought of the baby quite like that before. But she was his. And he was the dad, not simply in the legalistic sense of the word, but because of how much she mattered to him. “I’ll pay cash if my insurance doesn’t go through. And I’ll get my attorney on the phone if you need documentation for the court stuff.”
“No need to involve your attorney.” The woman typed faster. Brandt must have said the magic word, because her voice sped up too. “Let’s all take a deep breath. The insurance card for yourself should work if she was added recently. And yes, a nurse should call you back shortly.”
“Good.” Brandt managed to stay polite as they finally finished the paperwork and headed for the waiting area. Jewel was fussing again, and he held out his arms. “Here. Let me take her again.”