parents have for you. That’s where I’m taking you tomorrow. You can’t go wrong with a hospital named after the greatest president this country’s ever had.”
“How do you know it’s gonna work?”
“I don’t. But it’s worth a try.”
The next morning, Grandma Raquel drove me to Houston. Mom and Dad didn’t know where she was taking me – she lied and told them she was taking me to a witch doctor in a town called Heaven Stop. Heaven Stop didn’t exist though. By the time Mom and Dad figured that out, we were in Houston. Grandma Raquel and I sat in the waiting room. After a while, I couldn’t keep my head up, so Grandma Raquel got me a blanket from the gift shop and had me rest on a bench. Grandma Raquel told me some dumb jokes to keep my eyes open.
“What do you call a magical owl?”
“I don’t know.”
“Hooooooooooooooodini!”
“Grandma, stop.”
Mom and Dad showed up a few hours later. They stomped their feet as they walked toward Grandma Raquel. They told her she had kidnapped me.
“But she’s my grandma,” I said.
“Lyndon’s right,” Grandma Raquel said. “Without me, he wouldn’t be here.”
The wait to see a doctor was super long. We got to the hospital at two in the afternoon and I didn’t see a doctor until four in the morning. Mom and Dad fell asleep, but Grandma Raquel was still awake with me. I was finally called, and the nurse took me to a small room, where I waited with Grandma Raquel for Dr. Estrada. After twenty minutes, she walked in with her white coat nearly falling off her shoulders. She took my temperature, listened to my heartbeat, checked out my ears and nose, and pressed a popsicle stick down on my tongue.