A Hand To Hold | Cglre |

Chapter 12: Hospitals are a big no-no

Sophie's POV:

Evelyn knelt down beside me. "Yes, sweetheart, I am truly sorry. We didn't have a choice in coming here," she said, glaring at Nurse Emma. "We didn't know until a few hours ago, but we should have talked to you at home, and there's no excuse for that. I apologize for everything, my love. We were scared they would..." She trailed off as Ian touched her shoulder.

"Love, remember what they said - we can't do this here," Ian said with an apprehensive look on his face.

"You're right," Evelyn said, on the verge of tears. She turned back to me. "They promised us it would just be a check-up, but if you say right now that you want to go, we will do just that," she said, brushing a strand of hair from my face.

"Mrs. Miller, you cannot do that. We have specifically explained to you today abou—"

"I was not asking for your opinion, so please, don't intervene," Evelyn said, her voice ice-cold, nothing like I had heard before. "Ignore everything, little one. Tell me what you want," she said, taking my hands in hers.

Seeing everything unfold, I couldn't help but be afraid. I didn't want to be here, and I do think I was lied to in order to get me to come here. Even if Evelyn didn't specifically tell me what was going on, I could tell both she and Ian were scared; otherwise, they wouldn't have done this. I felt a little bit betrayed, but knowing them and that they have never done anything against my well-being, it was hard to believe this was all a setup. I decided I would just comply with the check-up as long as I could get out of here and not think about this ever again.

I nodded, still feeling scared.

"You will have to use your words, sweetheart," Evelyn said.

"I stay."

"Are you sure?" she replied, surprised, but I just nodded.

Nurse Emma gestured for Ian to set me down on the table, but I clung tighter to him. "No, me sit with you," I whispered.

Nurse Emma exchanged a glance with Evelyn and Ian, then nodded. "That's alright, Sophie. You can stay with Ian for most of the check-up," she said kindly.

Ian sat down in the chair with me on his lap. I buried my face in his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat calm me down.

Nurse Emma took my temperature, placing a thermometer under my tongue. "This will just take a minute, okay?" she said. I nodded, trying to be brave.

After she recorded my temperature, Nurse Emma said, "You're doing great, Sophie. We just need to see how big you're getting," measuring me carefully. Nurse Emma checked my height and weight, and I had to stand on the scale for that, but Ian stayed close by.

"See? All done with that part," Evelyn said, smiling at me. Ian sat me down at the table and stayed in front of me, holding my hands.

Nurse Emma turned to Evelyn and Ian. "Everything looks good so far; it seems you can start adding solids to her diet. Now, we just need to give Sophie a quick shot to help eliminate any parasite in her system that remains."