memories. h.s

Nine

𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙀

Flashback:
26th February 2008

"Bubba I'm scared will you hold my hand?" Six year old Lillie cries out through trembling words.

"You're Okay Lillie, you're going to do just fine" fourteen year old harry says as he grabs ahold of Lillie's outstretched tiny hand.

"Can you stay with me?" She asks as the nurses around her are getting her prepared to go into the procedure any minute.

"I can't go in with you but I'll be right here when you're all finished" he lightly squeezes her hand in his massive on compared to hers.

"Okay Lillie, we just need to put these stickers on your chest alright sweetie?"

The kind middle aged woman asks while holding the ECG leads in her hands.

Lillie had seen these multiple times throughout her short life and immediately recognises them and knowing what it meant when they went onto her chest making her burst into tears on the spot.

"Shhh it's okay, it's okay I know" Harry brushes the hair that had fallen in her face out of the way and wipes the tears from her red puffy cheeks and flow down.

As she's distracted by her crying, the nurse quickly placed them onto her chest only making her thrash around and wail even more as the nurse places the last one on her.

"I think we need to give her some laughing gas to calm down a bit before taking her in. She's too worked up" the nurse looks to Lillie's parents.

"Alright" they nod in agreement.

"Lillie calm down its only going to make it worse okay?" Harry's deep slow voice tries to sooth the little girl.

"I don't want to go" she cries out thrashing her head side to side with one hand in Harry's and the other holding her stuffed panda bear.

Soon the mask is being put over Lillie's nose and sedative is going into affect making her calm down finally.

"The doctor should be here in about fifteen minutes to run you over what will be happening during the surgery and answer any other questions you may have" the nurse turns to Lillie's parents.

"Alright perfect thank you so much" Lillie's mum gives a thankful smile to to the woman.

After fifteen minutes of Harry softly whispering comforting words to Lillie and rubbing his thumb over her hand, the doctor who has done Lillie's operations since the day she was born lifts the curtain up and walks in.

"Hey how's everyone doing?" He greets each of them even Harry with a hug.

"We're doing okay, they had to give Lillie some laughing gas to calm her down she just wants it to be over already" her mum responds.

"Oh I bet no matter how many of these she's gone through these surgeries are never easy" he doctor lightly chuckles

"Nope, never".

Her dad has his arm resting over the back of the chair Lillie's mum is sitting in nodding along to the words being shared between Lillie's mum and her doctor about what they'll be doing to her eye in the surgical room.

Lillie's eye pressures were dangerously high fluctuating between twenty eight and thirty.

She had a eye conditioning called glaucoma that damages the eye's optic nerve, when someone has glaucoma, their eyes produce extra fluid forcing the pressure in the eye to increase above the normal pressure which would be somewhere in the teens range.

To help bring down her eye pressure and stop her from loosing all her sight completely, they were going to use a tube shunt which is a flexible drainage device specially for her condition that will be implanted into her eye to divert aqueous humor which is another term for the extra fluid - from the inside of the eye to an external reservoir.

The entire implant is covered with her eye's own external covering.

"I apologise for the wait I know it's been a long morning.
Harry how are you doing?"

The doctor acknowledges Harry present in the room after he finishes talking to Lillie's parents.

Lillie's doctor knew Harry from all the operations he'd been at for Lillie throughout the past six years so it was nothing new that the doctor knew his name. 

"I'm doing good thank you" he politely smiles.

"Good good does anyone have any questions before we take her back?"

The doctor looks around with his hands clasped together over his stomach.

"Oh I've got one, how long do you suspect recovery will be?" Just as Lillie's mum asks this question Lillie starts to let out little whines.

"Shh you're okay Lillie don't be scared" Harry whispers to her giving her hand a little squeeze and stroking her hand with his thumb again.

"I'd say give it a month or so but no activity for two just to be careful of the eye" the doctor tells her mum.

"Right yeah thank you so much".

"Is she ready to go?" The doctor turns to the nurse that had been prepping Lillie for surgery all morning.

"Yes, leads are on she's ready to go" she gives him the all clear.

"Alright well if you all would like to follow me down the corridor and say goodbye please feel free" The doctor moves out of the way so another nurse can come in and help with wheeling the bed down to the surgical room.

"Bubba" Lillie's little frightened voice says in a slur due to the laughing gas.

"I'm right here" he grabs ahold of her hand again as she lays in the bed being wheeled down the hallway.

He tucks in her blankets a little more to her small body to make her feel as comfortable as she possibly can be.

When they reach the entrance of the big doors to the room, Lillie starts to silently cry.

"I love you mommy, daddy, and bubba" her scared eyes fixated on them.

"We love you too honey before you know it you'll be done okay?" Lillie's mum comes up to rub her forehead.

"I love you Lillie I'll see you before you know it" Harry smiles down at Lillie.

After finally parting, Harry and her parents are brought to an out patient room where Lillie will be brought to two hours later after her surgery is over.

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After a little over two hours, Lillie is being rolled into the room where they would wait for her to wake up from the anaesthesia.

"I want ice pop" is the first thing that comes out of her mouth upon waking up.

"Well she's right back to her old self" her mum chuckled making the others chime in knowing Lillie's personality all too well.

After getting her ice pop and waiting for her to be cleared to go home, her parents bring her back home to where she would be monitored and rested for the months ahead of her recovery.

Later that night the doctor rang them to ask how she was doing making her parents very happy.