I bleed when I fall down

'And time's forever frozen still'

Thursday 17th October 2030.

'Amelia.' The secretary looks for the small child. 'Your mum is here to collect you.' The small figure stands up, collecting her jumper off the back of her chair. 'Do you have all your things?' She nods, picking up the pencil case and making her way out into the cloak room, grabbing her backpack and her coat.

She is greeted by her mum grabbing her into a hug. 'Come on baby girl.' She follows her mum obediently; her dad is sitting in the car. 'How was school?' She smiles at her mum, muttering something about it being good. Dianne hadn't wanted her to go in today, she had a hospital appointment at 12:30PM up in London, Joe had convinced her that going to school was a good idea, even if it was for a little over an hour.

They rush home, Amelia getting changed into some clean clothes,  before leaving for the train station. The train is quiet, Joe plays I spy with his daughter, as Dianne watches them. She's not in the mood to join in, neither of them question it, knowing it's better for everyone if they leave it alone. 'Do you know where we are going?' Joe asks his daughter, as Dianne studies his face. She looks out the window, before looking back at her parents.

'Hospital.' Joe nods. 'Why aren't we going to the usual hospital?' Joe, clearly, wasn't prepared for this question, as she studies his face, wondering if there is anything to be scared about. 'Daddy?'

'We are going to a special hospital.' Dianne tells her, getting her daughters attention. 'In London, it's a special children's hospital. It's called the Evelina Children's hospital.'

'Why?' She questions, panic evident in her voice. 'Is this because of last week? I'll try to be better and listen more.' Dianne sighs, wondering if her heart could break a little more, how do you explain to your daughter that she has something wrong with her and there isn't much she can do about it? Dianne wants to wake up from this horrible nightmare, that this isn't her little girl that is sick.

'It's nothing you've done baby girl, it's nothing to be scared of.' She clasps her daughters' hand over the table, Joe feels a bit like an outsider to this tender moment, Zoe's words echoing in his head. 'They just need to check something.'

'We went to the doctors last week.'

'I know baby girl, but he has called a specialist doctor.' She stares at her daughter's blank expression, wondering how to explain it in terms her daughter could understand. 'Some doctors are trained to treat different things, so they got you an appointment with a specialist doctor, who is going to take another look at you, do you understand?' The small girl nods, looking out the window as they pull up to London Bridge station.

They get off at waterloo east, following the signs to the street, before hailing a cab. They could walk, but they didn't know the way and it was cutting it a bit fine. The journey is silent, bar exchanging a few pleasantries with the driver. Before they know it, they are greeted by wooden animals standing in front of the hospital. Joe leads them up to the reception, asking where they need to go.

Dianne watches her daughter eye up the giant red slide. 'When we know where we are going, you can have a go.' This seems to satisfied with her mum's answer, loosening the grip on her hand. 'See this hospital is a fun hospital.' She tries, as Joe walks over, motioning for them to go to the reception area for ocean. The woman explains how the clinic is running twenty minutes late, Dianne just nods. She thought this would be the case.

'Can I play?' Amelia asks, as she nods. She watches her daughter as she runs off to join a gaggle of other children, she's surprised at how busy. If she had thought about it logically, she shouldn't have been so surprised, it's a specialist children's hospital, it's going to be busy. Joe pulls Dianne in for a hug, and she's surprised when she doesn't pull away.

'Just as well dad is picking up the twins.' Joe says, 'At the rate this is going, we wouldn't be back in time.'

'Amelia Sugg.' A voice calls out, Joe motions they are coming, as Dianne drags Amelia away from the group of children she's playing with, clearly frightening Dianne more when she sees how sick some of these children are. She's not scared of the children, she isn't scared of the oxygen masks some of them are wearing, it did take her aback, but she isn't afraid. She's scared at how sick her daughter must be. 'Good afternoon Amelia, sorry it's late.' The small girl shy's away. 'Did you like the slide.' She nods, turning to look at her dad.

'And the drawing.' The doctor nods, as she shows her the piece of paper in her hand.

'So, mum, dad.' She starts, looking at the pair of them. 'What happened?' Dianne begins to recount what happened, almost word for word as to what she told their GP last Friday, then it is Amelia's turn to explain what happened. She then hands the account of what Amelia's teacher had written. She studies this, the four of them sitting in a semi-awkward silence. She doesn't say anything for a bit, and neither of them can read her hand writing.

'Do you want to some and stand on this machine?' She asks the child, 'Take off your shoes.' She passes her dad the pair of trainers she is wearing, she trusts her dad not to lose it more than her mum. She is weighed and measured, before she has her blood pressure checked and her heart listened too. 'There is some drawing over there, in the corner.' The child follows her gaze, 'Why don't you go and play over there.' She scrambles her way to the little table.

'Her symptoms are consistent with those of absence seizures.' She starts, she's done this conversation many times, she knows she has to cushion the blow. 'We will need to run some more tests.' Joe and Dianne nod, they knew that this would be the case, both of them had googled what happens next. There hasn't been a solid definition, but they knew it would be more hospital tests. 'I am going to book her in for an MRI scan.' Joe nods, he knows what an MRI is. 'I'm going to get her to have a cardiac monitor on her for twenty-four hours, that can be done at your local hospital.'

'What is that heart monitor?'

'It checks her heart rate, it will allow me to see if there is an underlying cardiac problem.' Dianne hopes that the colour hasn't drained completely from her face, this is an unexpected blow. 'And I am going to put her in for an EEG?'

'What is that?'

'She will have wires put on her scalp, and we will run a few tests.' She starts. 'It is painless, it sounds worse than it is, and it usually takes an hour.' Dianne nods. 'I will schedule an appointment for Mid-January back here.' She pauses, reaching for something. 'This is a leaflet about what to watch out for.' Dianne grabs it, as they say goodbye to the doctor.

'See that was okay.' Joe says, as he shuts the front door, it's verging on three o'clock, so his dad has gone to pick up the twins. 'Did you like the hospital?' The small girl nods enthusiastically.

'It wasn't really like hospital, it was fun. I can't wait to tell everyone at school about what a cool hospital I went too.' Joe smiles, as she runs off upstairs. He turns to his wife.

'What if there is something seriously wrong?' She questions, she had been abnormally quiet on the way home. 'She's got to have all these scary tests, stuff we know nothing about. She is going to have all these tests inflicted on her, and they would scare me, and I am an adult. She is nine.'

 

'Dianne, we have to be positive.' He points out to her. 'We have to keep a positive façade, for her sake more than anything. This isn't something that is going to go away.' She goes to speak, but decides against it at the last moment, unsure of what she is trying to say to Joe. Instead she turns around, walking off. Joe knows better than to follow her.

A/N Thoughts?