• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

I made my way over to the couch and sat down with Hunter. While I held him, I marveled at how he looked and sounded. Despite the fact that he hadn’t been acting like himself the past few days, he looked great. He didn’t sound congested at all, which was unusual but good. By the time we got him settled in bed for therapy, it was almost nine o’clock. My mom and Ellen went to eat dinner and I started Hunter’s bedtime routine.

“All that swimming in the pool made you so tired, Hunter,” I said with a smile. “You relax and Mommy will give you chest PT, okay, pumpkin boy? When you’re all done, Grammie’s going to sleep with you and Mommy’s going to go home tonight, okay?” He slowly blinked once to respond.

Depending on how Hunter was feeling and how his lungs sounded, his chest therapy usually took at least two hours. It was close to eleven by the time Hunter was done with everything.

The reason I remember the exact time everything happened is because we kept a daily schedule for Hunter, writing down everything he did and when he did it. I have a DayMinder for every year he was alive, 1997–2005. On August 4, 2005, this is what’s written:

6:30 a.m. Albuterol & vest treatment - temp. 102.5 - lying on right side

8:45 a.m. Calcium & magnesium - temp. 102.9 - lying on left side

9:00 a.m. Albuterol & vest treatment - temp. 103.2 - cold compresses

10:00 a.m. Multivitamin - heart rate 158-164 - oxygen saturation 97%

11:00 a.m. Jacuzzi with Grammie - temp. 102.7

12:15 p.m. Out of Jacuzzi - temp. 98.4

12:45 p.m. Albuterol & vest treatment

3:00 p.m. Hanging out in stroller - temp. 100.3

5:00 p.m. Albuterol & vest treatment - temp. 101.3

6:30 p.m. Swimming with Grammie - having fun and very calm

7:00 p.m. Mommie’s here! - out of pool - temp. 98.6

9:00 p.m. Albuterol & vest therapy - Carafate - Prilosec

10:00 p.m. Tummy & chest therapy

12:00 a.m. Tobi treatment - Cipro

2:00 a.m. Albuterol & vest therapy - temp. 103

3:00 a.m. Tummy

4:30 a.m. 911 call

By the time I was ready to head home, it was midnight and I was exhausted. Hunter was asleep on his belly, so I kissed his left cheek and whispered in his ear, “I love you, buddy, and I’ll see you soon. Grammie’s here with you now.”

“He’ll be fine, Jill. You better get home so you can get some rest before tomorrow. I’ll call you in the morning,” my mother reassured me.

Before leaving I hugged her and reminded her, “Make sure you call me in the morning. If he doesn’t seem right to you or if he has a hard time during the night, we’ll call Dr. Sharp again and see what he thinks. Okay?” Dr. Sharp was Hunter’s lung doctor.

I fought the urge to turn around and go back to my parents’ house the entire ride home. But I was so tired, and knew I needed to get some sleep, so I kept driving. I thought about how peaceful Hunter looked when I kissed him good-bye. He looked beautiful. And he was so tired he was snoring. I loved the sound of Hunter’s breathing, especially when he snored, because I knew he was sound asleep.

Jim still wasn’t home from the concert when I got back to our house. It was after one in the morning by the time I snuck in to kiss the girls good-night and sent Cassie home (another member of Team Hunter; she came to watch the girls after Kimmy left). I then washed up, went to bed in Camryn’s room, and instantly fell into an exhausted sleep.

At about 4:45 a.m. I was suddenly awakened when Jim burst into the room. “Jill, your dad just called and they’re rushing Hunter to the hospital.”

Jim was half-awake and flustered. Jolted by the suddenness of everything, I got out of bed.

“Here, call your dad.” Jim handed me the phone as I blew by him and ran down the stairs.

“Dad, what’s going on? What’s wrong with Hunter?” I pleaded as I held the phone with one hand and quickly changed clothes with the other.

“Jill, Hunter stopped breathing.”

“What do you mean, he stopped breathing?”

Before I got to my truck I realized I was talking on our house phone, so I immediately called my father back on my cell.

“Dad, where are they taking Hunter?”

“They’re taking