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"Marge, are you sure we shouldn't call security?"
The older woman looked at the younger ER nurse before she turned to where her worry was coming from.
A tall, African-American man was pacing in the room, staring at his phone while also checking on his child. The little girl was no more than 3, she'd have to guess, and she was resting on the hospital stretcher with a nebulizer running through the mask wrapped around her face.
"What happened, Shareen?"
"Poor thing came in coughing. They don't know if its asthma or a reaction to something, but she's having some difficulty breathing. But her father has been... on edge and I don't know what to do if we have to take her up to the Pediatric ICU."
Marge sighed before standing up. "Take care of the front. I'll see if I can talk to him."
Taking a deep breath, she wiped her hands with hand sanitizer after knocking on the open door. "Hello. My name is Marge and I'm the head nurse here in the Pediatric ER. Is there anything I can do to help?"
The poor man had nearly jumped out of his shoes before approaching her. "She's not getting better."
"I'm sorry, Mr.-?"
"Bloodshed. And Solara, she's-"
Coughing interrupted them both as the man rushed to his daughter's side. "Solara? Solara, are you okay, sweetie?"
The child didn't answer, looking drowsy and tired.
"She's... what's wrong with her? Why isn't she speaking? She's not moving like before and-"
"Mr. Bloodshed?" Marge quickly realized what had scared Shareen before. This must have been his first child; the poor father didn't know what to do and he was so desperate for answers that his behavior, like him coming so close to her before, would have been quite intimidating considering his size and stature. "Please tell me what's happened. Has your daughter's condition changed in any way since Shareen started the nebulizer?"
He looked between her and his daughter before nodding. "She was coughing before, but she was alert and holding my hand. But... now she's drowsy and is slow responding to my voice. I just... what's wrong with her?"
Marge moved to check the nebulizer, which was still working. But when she checked the chart, she quickly found the problem. "Mr. Bloodshed, were you aware that Shareen gave her some Benadryl to swallow after her first dose of albuterol?"
"I... After the first round of this?"
"Ah, yes. After this, did-" She double checked the chart, "Solara swallow the medicine she was given? A cup with pink liquid in it?"
"Y-Yes, Solara was crying cause the coughing still hurt and the nurse gave her something, but I was trying to get through to my wife and-"
That explained it. He must have consented to the medicine, but didn't listen to what the drug was or its side effects. "What Shareen gave your daughter was diphenhydramine, or Benadryl as it’s more commonly known as, to help suppress her cough and in case whatever caused this was an allergic reaction. Which we should know once the blood work comes back."
"But then why is she not answering me?"
"I apologize if Shareen didn't mention this, but one of Benadryl's side effects, especially in children, is sleepiness and fatigue. Solara is probably just feeling very tired from the medicine kicking in."
"Then... she's not-?"
"If this is the only thing you've noticed, it should be no problem. It does help with the nebulizer since she'll be breathing more steadily then when she was alert and coughing."
The poor man looked like the life had been sucked out of him as he slumped in his chair holding his daughter's hand. "Oh thank Primus. I thought-"
"Excuse me?" They turned to see Shareen at the door. "Um, the mother is here?"
"Bloodshed? Solara?" A petite, fair-skinned woman rushed in to the bedside. "Bloodshed, what happened?"
"I-!" It was like he had been shocked out of his seat as he grabbed her shoulders, "Thornstriker, I swear, I don't know what I did, but Solara was doing fine at home and then she started coughing and crying-"
"Bloodshed, Bloodshed, it's okay." Marge was surprised when the woman easily made her much bigger husband sit down, "Solara's in good hands now. Please, just slowly tell me what happened."
Marge left them to their talk, the man managing to get words across without panic, after she was sure Solara was doing alright. As she and Shareen left, the younger nurse turned to her.
"So-?"
"I think everything is under control. Let's-" They turned to a young mother standing at the desk with a child crying uncontrollably. "*Sigh* Help me get room 6 ready."
Oh well. ER was never a dull day's work.
END