Chapter 15 - The Water Dad Checked Two Times
That night Dad said I could take a bath at home again. I was sitting on the closed toilet lid in my pajama top while he kneeled by the tub in his white shirt with the sleeves pushed up. The bathroom did not feel steamy like before. The fan was on and the light looked yellow and soft and I could see my feet swinging.
He turned the faucet on just a little. The water came out clear and not loud. He held his left hand under it, with his watch pushed back on his wrist, then pulled it away fast.
"Too warm still," he said. He turned the cold up a bit. "We wait."
I liked watching the water make a little circle around the drain. My bear sat on the bath mat by my foot. Vanessa stood in the doorway in her cardigan. She did not come in close. She just smiled at me.
My name is Ellie. I was four that winter. That night I learned what a safe bath felt like.
Dad had a small thermometer that looked like a duck. He put it in the water and we both watched the numbers. He showed me.
"Ninety-five," he said. "That's lukewarm. That means not hot, not cold."
He let more cold in and tested again with his wrist. Then he put the duck in a second time. He wrote nothing down, but he looked at Vanessa and said, "Two times."
Vanessa nodded. "Two times is our rule now."
Dad patted the side of the tub. "Want to check, bug? Like Dr. Harris showed you?"
I pulled my sleeve up. My arm did not have the white gauze anymore. There was new pink skin where the red mark had been. It did not hurt unless I pressed it hard, so I did not press it.
I leaned over and put my elbow in the water fast, the way he taught me in the sink that morning. It felt like nothing much. Just wet and warm like soup that sat too long.
"Good?" he asked.
I nodded. "It doesn't hurt."
His shoulders went down when I said that. He breathed out through his nose. Vanessa stepped just inside the door and set a folded towel on the counter where I could see it.
Dad helped me step in. The white tub felt cool on my back at first and then fine. The water came up to my belly and did not make my skin turn red. I sat still and held my bear up so his feet would not get wet. Dad sat on the bath mat beside the tub so his face was close to mine.
"You tell me right away if it feels hot," he said. "Even a little. Okay?"
"Okay," I said.
We did not stay long. He washed my legs quick with the washcloth and rinsed my other arm careful around the healed spot. Vanessa did not reach in. She just handed him the cup when he asked, and then she handed me the towel when I stood up. The towel was warm from the dryer. She held the bear while Dad wrapped me.
In my bedroom Dad did not get out the box with the gauze rolls. It stayed shut in the bottom drawer. He pointed to it.
"See? All put away," he said. "We don't need that now."
I touched the drawer with my toe. "Because I'm healed?"
"Because you're healed and because we check now," he said.
Vanessa sat on the edge of my bed while Dad helped me into my dry pajamas. She brushed my damp hair back, light, not pulling.
"I'm glad you tell us when something hurts," she said, quiet. "You did right to say it loud."
I held my bear tight. I remembered the hurt from before and how Dad picked me up and how the clinic room was bright and cold. I did not feel scared now. My arm felt smooth and sleepy.
May you like
Dad tucked the blanket around my legs. He kissed my forehead. "I check," he said. "Every time. You can count on that."
I nodded and closed my eyes. The house was quiet except the fan still humming in the bathroom. I knew the water was gone down the drain and Dad had checked it two times and Vanessa had watched from the door and my bear was dry. I felt safe telling.
