Maddie

Chapter 6

!TW - Anxiety, PTSD, Silent Panic Attack!

Nicks pov:
We enter through the doors of the health center. I tell the receptionist that we are here for a medical examination. We are told to sit in the waiting room while the doctor gets things ready. The health center receives both adult and young patients, everything from vaccinations to dental care. Some of the younger children in the waiting room are playing with the toys that are available, but Maddie is not particularly playful. I try to talk to her but she is deep in her own thoughts. Hoping to calm her down a bit, I explain that the medical exam is not dangerous or harmful in any way. But she didn't seem to be entirely convinced about that.

After waiting a little while, a doctor comes and calls out Maddie's name. Maddie flinches and looks incredibly scared when she sees the doctor standing a few feet away from us. He is an elderly man, whose gray hair stands up like a whirlwind.
"It's no danger," I say, taking her hand before we walk, along with the doctor, down a long corridor. We sit down in the room on separate chairs, and the doctor sits down at the desk.
"Hi, I'm Dr. John. You must be Maddie?" He smiles kindly at Maddie but she doesn't answer his question. She looks very worried at the moment and her legs are bouncing up and down.
"Yeah, this is Maddie. And I'm Nick, her foster dad for a little while" I reply, mainly because Maddie probably doesn't feel comfortable talking right now. John then does a few quick checks, such as checking Maddie's height, weight, checking her ears, neck and eyes. A quick check to make sure everything works and looks as it should.

Next, Dr. John asks Maddie to sit on the hospital bed as he is going to check her back and stomach, as well as listen to her lungs. But Maddie strongly protests that she is not going to sit on the hospital bed next to the doctor. I finally put a supportive hand on her shoulder and reluctantly she does as she's told.

John already has a stethoscope around his neck, ready to listen to Maddie's lungs. But when he grabs Maddie's shirt to lift it up, she quickly pulls it back down. Dr. John looks at me with a questioning look before explaining to Maddie that there is nothing to be afraid of. But despite that, Maddie looks at me with pleading eyes.
"There's nothing to be afraid of," I tell her calmly and put a strand of her hair behind her ear. Doctor John is a pediatrician and has worked at the health center since I was a child. He has incredible patience with Maddie and lets everything go at her pace. Eventually, Maddie lets go of her shirt and lets John pull it up to listen to her lungs. It also gave him the chance to check for bruises or other injuries that Maddie might have received earlier in her life - but there were none.

"Everything looks good, and sounds good. Now I just have to look at your stomach," says Dr. John, looking at me. I nod at him and we both then turn our eyes to Maddie. But she says nothing, does nothing. She almost looks like a porcelain doll sitting and looking out into nothingness.
"Maddie, can you lie down on the hospital bed?" I say softly so as i can, not to scare her more. But it's like she's in her own little world - just like yesterday after dinner. The only difference is that she is not as panicked now as she was yesterday.
"Maddie?" I say again, this time almost in a whisper. Slowly she turns her head until our eyes meet. I see the terror, worry and anxiety she is holding inside right now.
"Can you lie down? You can hold my hand if you want?" I say. She takes a deep breath before laying down on the hospital bed. She then gives me her hand to hold, and I immediately feel how tense she is. Doctor John does what he has to do and luckily it only takes a few seconds to complete.
"Everything looks good, there's nothing to worry about," says Dr. John cheerfully, looking at me.

I thank him for his help before we finally can leave his hospital room and emerge again into the long, white hospital corridor. I told Maddie how incredibly proud I was of her, but she doesn't seem too impressed or happy with herself. Instead, she just walks silently in front of me, with a blank look on the floor and her head down.