The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 3

The night after we had the practice run for the Haunted House, we read the final chapter of Dragondrums to the boys.  “That was really good and I’m glad Piemur bonded with a fire-lizard too,” Wyatt said as soon as I closed the book. 

“What’s next?” Tristan demanded. 

“You have a choice.  We can read the Dragonriders of Pern trilogy next, which is focused more on the dragons and the dragon riders than the apprentices at Harper Hall.  Some of the story takes place before the books we just read, while other parts happen at the same time as the other books.  If you aren’t interested in having us read that series, then we can read a different series called the Chronicles of Prydain,”

“What’s that about?” Hayden asked. 

“It about a boy named Taran and the book follows him as he grows from a child to a young man.  In the five books we would read about castles, a princess, a king, a musician, a dwarf, and an unusual and odd little creature.”   

“That sounds good, but let’s read the books about the dragons next,” Hunter suggested. 

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Tristan concurred.  “You can read the other books to us when we finish those.” 

“Hayden and Wyatt, do you agree with them?”

“Yeah,” they both confirmed.

We then tucked the boys in bed, kissed them on the forehead, and said goodnight.  Another decision had been made and an entirely new adventure was about to begin. 

As Brandon and I were leaving the health center the following day, we made a couple of stops before heading home.  The first was to pick up the books in the Dragonriders of Pern trilogy, and then we made another stop to give Becky a set of the books as well. 

“What’s this?” Becky asked when she answered the door and I handed her a plastic bag. 

“It’s the next series we’re going to start reading to the boys tonight.  And just so you know, we’re planning on telling them that we probably won’t be reading to them tomorrow evening, because it will most likely be too late by the time everything is wrapped up.” 

“Ah, that’s good to know, and thank you for doing this.” 

“Becky, would you and Revin like to join Trey and me when we take the boys trick-or-treating tomorrow night?” Brandon followed. 

“I’m sure Revin would like that and it will make it easier on me.  I think you probably know the safest and best places to take them.” 

“Possibly.  We usually hit the houses of all the family members, along with those of some of our friends, and if you have anyplace you would like us to stop, just let us know.” 

She agreed she’d do that, and we headed home.  After dinner we made sure the boys had their homework done and we also warned them to do their homework as soon as they got home the following afternoon.  We told them if it wasn’t done by the time we were ready to open the Haunted House or for them to go trick-or-treating then they would miss out doing those things.  I think this warning was sufficient to encourage them to comply. 

After the boys got ready for bed, Brandon began reading Dragonflight to them.  “It’s about another girl,” Hunter said when he finished reading,   “but I think it’s gonna be ok.”  

“Yeah, and she might even bond with a dragon,” Wyatt added. 

“Maybe even a dragon queen,” Tristan suggested. 

“That would be neat,” Hayden agreed. 

“And we probably won’t read to you tomorrow night.  It’s Halloween and I’ll be busy with the Haunted House, and you’ll be out trick-or-treating and most likely won’t get home until late.” 

“That’s ok, we can miss one night,” Tristan stated.  “Do Revin and his mom know this too?” 

“Yes, we told her earlier.”

As soon as we’d said goodnight to them, Brandon and I hurried to finish the things we still had to do, and then we turned in as well. 

When I got to work the next morning, my receptionist asked me a question before the first patient arrived.  “Are you going to have the Haunted House this year?  My kids have been bugging me to find out.” 

“We certainly are, and our younger kids went through a trial run on Sunday and said it’s scarier than ever this year.” 

“Great, I’ll bring my kids by your place later then.” 

This wasn’t the only time I was asked that question during the day, because others working at the health center asked me the same thing while Brandon and I were eating lunch.  A couple of my patients also asked me this, but only those who weren’t so sick that I advised them to stay in bed and rest up. 

When we arrived at home later, Dad and Trey had dinner ready, so Brandon and I went upstairs to change quickly while the boys were washing up.  When we came downstairs we joined everyone at the table, and while we were eating I asked a question. 

“Do all of you have your homework done?”

They all said they did, so I told them I’d check it over quickly while they were changing into their costumes.  It didn’t take very long, since it appeared the teachers hadn’t assigned very much seeing they realized their students would be busy with other things.  Once that had been taken care of, I put warm clothing on under my undertaker costume, because I realized I’d be standing outdoors a lot longer this time. 

I found out Dion had taken care of another problem for us before we got home from work.  He knew Brandon would have to use the SUV to take the boys trick-or-treating, so he wouldn’t have it to block off the driveway.  After parking our SUV so Brandon could get out later, he pulled their SUV as far forward as he could and then he parked their car behind it, but he left a gap where our SUV would have been.  He then shut one end of a rope in the front door of his SUV and the other end in the rear door of his car, and then he used clothespins to attach several blankets to it.  It was similar to what we had done to attach the curtain to the rope in the rec room, and it effectively kept those arriving from seeing what was happening to those leaving. 

Pop had to tell those arriving for the Haunted House that they would have to wait a few minutes while everyone was getting into place.  As soon as we were ready, I signaled Pop to let the first group make their way to the back of the house and the shock and awe began. 

The Haunted House went off without any hitches and multiple groups went through that evening.  It was a steady flow that began a few minutes after 6:00 and continued until 10:30, and everyone seemed to have a good time.  In fact, Pop relayed some of the comments he’d overheard as people were leaving and said they were all very favorable and extremely complimentary. 

“I heard many people say this was definitely the best Haunted House we’ve had so far,” Pop told us when we met up later.  “I also heard people say which attractions scared them the most and which ones they liked the best, but I didn’t hear any negative comments at all.” 

“That’s great, and I’m glad they enjoyed it.” 

“It was free!  What wasn’t there to like?” Dion countered. 

“Good point.” 

“How was the trick-or-treating?” I asked the younger group. 

“It was fun and we got a lot of good stuff,” Hunter answered. 

“That’s good, but please limit yourself to only a couple of items per day.  I don’t want you eating too much and then getting sick, and we don’t want you getting cavities so Brandon has to drill into your head.” 

They scoffed at my ‘drilling into your head’ comment, but they agreed to do as I asked.  We would still keep an eye on them, just to make sure they didn’t forget.  We then sent them upstairs to get ready for bed, and tonight we merely went up to tuck them in and say goodnight.  I think they were all exhausted and ready to go to sleep anyway. 

The following evening everything returned to normal and we slowly fell into our normal routine again.  We also continued reading to the boys, and we turned our attention to the next items on our calendar as well. 

Sunday, November 4^th, was a busy day for us.  After we went to church and stopped for brunch, I took Hayden and Hunter to visit their mom at the nursing home.  As soon as we got there, the twins teased me to show her the photos I’d taken of everyone participating in the Haunted House in their costumes before the trial run.  I also showed her the photos I took of Dad and Pop after the Haunted House ended.  

“Wow!  Those are… scary,” Julie said after she saw each of the photos. 

“Yes, they are pretty creepy looking,” Alice agreed when I showed them to her next. 

“It was really scary, but it was fun too,” Hunter told them. 

“Yeah, I’m glad we got to do that,” Hayden agreed.

I then showed both of them the photos of the boys dressed in their costumes before they went trick-or-treating.  “You look… really good… in your… costumes too.”

We stayed a little longer and played rummy with them in the lounge, and the boys told them more about the Haunted House.  However, we eventually had to say goodbye, and then we headed home.  When we arrived at the house I called Noah so Brandon and I could wish him a happy nineteenth birthday. 

“I’m sorry we aren’t there to celebrate with you, but I hope it’s been a good birthday so far.” 

“Yeah, it has, and I’m going out to celebrate with my three friends you met on parents’ weekend.” 

“I hope you’re not going to be doing any drinking.” 

“Nah, we’re just going out to eat.  We’ve agreed to do that on each other’s birthdays, since they all fall during the school year.” 

“That works out well,” I told him before I handed the phone to Brandon.  After he finished speaking with Noah, we let each of the boys talk to him as well, and then I took the phone back from the last one.

“Oh, and I just want you to know that we’ll give you your presents when you come home for Thanksgiving.”

“That will be fine.  And I’ve also checked with the professors that I have Wednesday classes with and they’ve all agreed to make the day before Thanksgiving a study day.  It means I’ll be able to come home that morning, so I’ll be back in time for the adoption ceremony.” 

“I’m glad you’ll be able to make it, and Holly said she’d arrive home in plenty of time as well.  Brandon and I have already told our staffs that we’ll only be working a half-day on Wednesday, so we’ll also have time to get ready.” 

“Super and I can’t wait to get home and see all of you again.” 

“We’re looking forward to it as well, but just drive safely.” 

“I knew you were going to say that,” he quipped, “and I will.”

After dinner, the boys helped me give Dobby and Flash a bath, since it had been ten days since their operations, and both puppies seemed to be healing well.  As soon as we dried them off, Tristan asked a question.

“Does this mean they can start sleeping with us again?”

“Yes, they can return to doing those things with you boys and starting tomorrow we’ll only feed them twice a day from now on – once in the morning and again at night.  You will give each one two scoops of the dry dog food each time.” 

“Ok, we can do that,” Hayden agreed.  “We’re just glad they can start sleeping in our rooms again.” 

“And that we can start playin’ with them like we used to do,” Wyatt added. 

“I’m certain Dobby and Flash are going to be happy about both of those things as well.”

After dinner, the boys took the puppies outside to do their business, and then they let them run around for a while.  When we sent the boys upstairs to get ready for bed, they called for Dobby and Flash to come with them and the puppies bounded up the stairs wagging their tails excitedly.  The boys left the door to the bathroom open while they were taking their showers, and the puppies raced back and forth from the bedrooms to the bathroom.  It was obvious that they were excited about being able to go upstairs with the boys again. 

When we went up to read to the boys later, Flash was lying in the doggy bed with Hunter and Hayden sitting on either side, while Wyatt sat in front of it.  Dobby, on the other hand, was lying on the floor next to Tristan with his head resting on Tristan’s leg.  It was simply adorable seeing how Dobby and Flash had bonded with the boys. 

“If Dobby and Flash were dragons I bet they would have impressed on you boys and you’d be dragon riders by now,” I observed when I finished reading the chapter. 

“That would be awesome,” Tristan concurred as the other boys beamed in agreement. 

The next week seemed to fly by and the younger boys seemed to do their share of flying as well, both around the yard and in the house, with the puppies in hot pursuit.  They were all happy everything was back to normal and they picked up where they’d left off before the operations.

We had a lot of planning to do in order to get ready for the upcoming events, which included the adoption, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  We held multiple meetings with the other adults living at the house to make sure we were all on the same page where these events were concerned.  First, we had to make certain that everything was being covered, beginning with what we’re going to do after the adoption ceremony.  We also had to make sure the various items needed for Thanksgiving dinner were purchased and we knew exactly who would be coming so we’d know how many to plan for.  We had to start thinking ahead to Christmas as well, and we needed to find out what the boys wanted this year, so we asked them to sit down and make out their Christmas lists. 

When I took the twins to visit their mother after church on Sunday, I suddenly had a new concern.  After Hayden and Hunter had said hello to her, we chatted for a while and I noticed that she seemed to be having trouble breathing and coughed several times.  Then, when we took her and Alice to the lounge so we could play rummy, she appeared to have difficulty holding her cards and lifting her hands above the table top.  We’d only been playing for about twenty minutes when she announced that she was tired and wanted to go back to her room.  On the way there, I inconspicuously placed my hand on her forehead, which gained me a knowing glance from her. 

When we got to her room she asked me to get a staff member to help put her in bed, so I told the boys to stay there while I did that.  As soon as I found a staff member, I had several things I wanted to tell him. 

“I’m a doctor and I brought Julie Thornton’s sons to visit her today.  She just asked me to send someone to her room to help her get into bed, but I need to tell you something else first.  During the time that we’ve been here, I’ve noticed that she seems to be in mild respiratory distress, coughs frequently, gets fatigued easily, and seems to be running a temperature. 

“What I’m trying to say is that I believe she may have pneumonia, and that combined with her ALS is placing her in serious jeopardy.  I believe she should be started on antibiotics and possibly be receiving oxygen treatments as well, so please contact your staff physician and request that he exam her immediately.  She may even need to be hospitalized.  After you’ve done that, please go to her room and help her get into bed.  We’ll stay with her until you arrive.” 

He thanked me and immediately paged two other staff members to help Julie get into bed while he went to notify the staff physician.  I felt a little better about the situation when I returned to her room, and once she was in bed I told the boys we should go. 

“Your mom seems to be very tired, so I think we should leave and let her take a nap.”  They agreed and kissed her goodbye, before going over to give Alice a hug and a kiss as well. 

“I’m sorry to cut this short, but we’ll see you both next Sunday,” I told them on the way out, and then I whispered to Alice.  “I asked the staff to notify the doctor and he should be here shortly.” 

She nodded and thanked me for my concern, and then she glanced over at Julie’s bed to see how she was doing.  I put my arms around each boy’s shoulder as I walked them out to the car. 

“Is our mom going to be ok?” Hayden asked as soon as we got in the vehicle. 

“I’m sure she’ll be fine.  She was just a little tired.” 

“But she was coughin’ a lot too,” Hunter added. 

“Yes, I think she also has a cold, but I imagine she’ll be fine by the time we come back next weekend.”

That seemed to make them feel a little better and I had them buckle in for the drive home.  When we got to the house, I told Brandon about what I’d observed and what I’d told the boys.

“Do you really think she’ll be all right?”

“If the staff doctor puts her on an antibiotic regimen and sees that she is given oxygen treatments, then she should be fine.  I’ll call tomorrow and make certain he saw her, and I also want to see if he thought it was bad enough to have her hospitalized.”

“Do you think that will be necessary?”  

“Considering her other medical issues, there’s a good chance it would be a wise precaution to take.” 

We didn’t tell the others about this just yet and agreed to inform them after the boys were in bed.  Instead, we got busy doing our chores until Dad told us dinner was just about ready, and then we asked the boys to feed the puppies before washing up to eat.   

At dinner I did my best to steer the conversation away from what happened at the nursing home earlier.  “Dad, do you know who’s going to be here for Thanksgiving?” 

“I know my biological children and grandchildren will be here, seeing they spent Christmas with us last year.  I imagine everyone living nearby will be coming as well, but I think that’s about it for this year.  The others should be here for Christmas, though.”  

“That’s good, and Becky and Revin will also be joining us for both holidays.”

“I figured as much.”

“Trey, I need to speak with you later, if you don’t mind.” 

“I probably can answer your question for you,” Dion responded.  “We aren’t planning anything special for my birthday.  Thanksgiving is falling early this year and my birthday isn’t until the week after, so I decided we’d just celebrate it quietly at home.” 

“You two could still go away if you want.” 

“I know, but I’m fine with this.  A family party will be more than sufficient.” 

“Ok, if you say so.”

After dinner we had the boys take Dobby and Flash outside first, and then we watched TV with them for a while before sending them upstairs to get ready for bed.  When we went up to read to them, we finished the last chapter of Dragonflight.

“What’s next?” Hunter demanded. 

“The next book is called Dragonquest, and it continues where this one left off.”

“Ok,” he responded as he hopped into bed. 

After we tucked them in bed and wished them all sweet dreams, we made our rounds before heading downstairs to speak with the others.  They were already in the dining room when we got there. 

“When we went to visit Julie earlier, I noticed something was wrong with her and brought it to the attention of the staff.  Although I didn’t do an examination, I believe she has pneumonia and I’m worried about her.  I didn’t tell the twins, though, because I didn’t want to upset them.” 

“Isn’t that easily treated?” Trey asked. 

“In most cases, but with her other problems there could be additional complications.  I’m going to call tomorrow to see how she’s doing, but I wanted you all to know what’s going on.”

“Ok, just keep us informed,” Dad responded. 

“I will.”

We chatted a little longer about some other topics before we went to bed, but I couldn’t stop worrying about Julie.  If something were to happen to her, what would that do to Hayden, Hunter, and Holly?  It would certainly make the adoption ceremony more somber, put a damper on Thanksgiving, and take the fun out of Christmas, so I hope she’ll be able to pull through. 

The next day at work I found a few minutes in between patients to call Shady Pines to see how Julie was doing.  “Hello, this is Dr. Currie and I was the one who notified your staff about Julie Thornton’s condition yesterday.  I’m just calling to find out how she’s doing?”

“Are you related?” the woman on the other end asked. 

“I’m the guardian of her minor children and I’m calling on their behalf.  Will you please connect me to the physician handling her case?” 

“Just one minute, please.” 

A few seconds later someone else picked up the phone.  “This is Dr. Epstein,” he said, and I explained to him who I was and how I was involved.  “I’m grateful you were here yesterday and brought this situation to the attention of the staff.” 

“What’s her condition?”

“She’s stable, but your diagnosis was correct.  She has pneumonia.  I started her on antibiotics and had her transferred to the hospital.  She was severely dehydrated and needed intravenous therapy, along with oxygen treatments.”

“Is she responding?”

“Minimally, but it’s a good sign.  It would have been more effective if our staff had been as observant as you.” 

“Don’t blame them, because the ALS made it difficult to determine if what they were observing was caused by her ALS or symptoms of something else.  I know they’re supposed to be trained, but I’ve dealt with similar situations before so it was easier for me to identify.  Do you think she’ll be back at Shady Pines by next Sunday so we can visit her?”

“It difficult to say and it will depend on how she responds to the various treatments.  Why don’t you call me back on Friday and I should know more by then.” 

I agreed and we ended the call.  It looked as if I would have to wait a few more days before I would know more.

That evening, after we’d read the first chapter of Dragonquest to the boys and tucked them in, I told the other adults the bit of information that I’d learned earlier. 

“Let’s hope she recovers quickly,” Dad stated when I finished. 

“I’m not sure that’s likely, considering her overall medical condition, so I’m trying to come up with something to tell the boys if we aren’t allowed to visit her on Sunday.” 

“I hope that’s not necessary, but I don’t envy you if you have to tell them they won’t be able to see their mom,” Pop said as reassuringly as possible.

“I know.  They were upset after they saw her condition last Sunday, so I’m not sure how they’ll react if we can’t see her this Sunday.”

After we ended our discussion, we all headed to our rooms to catch some shuteye.