We sat in the waiting room at the doctor's office, feeling like the seconds were stretching impossibly long. Connor's arm was around me and Allison sat on my lap, her head resting against my chest.
"Allison Mellet-Franta?" I looked up when a nurse called for Allison.
"That's our daughter." Connor spoke up, standing up. I shifted Allison so that she was sat on my hip when I too stood up. The nurse led us into a private room where I sat on the little bed with Allison on my lap, while Connor stood nearby. There were chairs to sit on but I understood his wanting to be close.
"The doctor will be with you soon." The nurse told us, pulling the door closed. Allison whimpered a little in my arms so I rubbed her arm soothingly.
"Shh. It's okay, sweetheart. You're okay." I said quietly. It had been almost three hours since she woke up and she claimed her headache wasn't getting any better. It was worrying to hear but I was determined to keep an optimistic mind.
"Ah, Allison. How are you feeling?" Our usual doctor came through the door with a smile and I couldn't help but feel a little more at ease.
"Hi Dr White." I said, giving Allison another tight squeeze.
"What can I do for you today? My nurses tell me you're not feeling very well, Miss Allison."
"No. My head is sore and my tummy hurts."
"Well that's no good. Can I have a look?" The little girl nodded, allowing the doctor to do the usual basic check up on her.
"She's had a headache for the past couple days, and she felt nauseous this morning." Connor told him and the doctor nodded.
"She's a little pale. I want to run a couple tests to make sure everything's all good. Is that okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, just make sure she's okay." I nodded instantly. Dr White smiled kindly at both Connor and I.
"I understand you're worried right now, but I'm sure there's nothing wrong. From what I can see I'm almost positive that it's just the flu but I want to be completely sure before I send her home."
"Okay. What do you need to do?"
"I'm just going to take a blood sample to get it tested by pathology. It shouldn't take too long so if you'd just like to grab a coffee or something for an hour or so, I will give you a call when I get the results."
"We can do that." Connor cut me off as I went to argue, wanting to just wait here.
"Okay." Dr White went to the door and called for a nurse to assist him while I shifted Allison so that it would be easier for the doctor to draw the blood he needed. "Alright, Miss Allison, this might hurt a little but I've got some pretty princess band-aids that I can put on after. Would you like that?"
"Yeah." Allison nodded, turning her head into my chest after she spoke. She'd never liked needles and always looked away. I rubbed her arm comfortingly.
"It's okay, baby. Daddy's here." Connor was busy signing consent forms but looked up long enough to catch my eye and send a small smile. "And papa's here too."
"Okay, I'm going to count to three and then you'll feel a small prick in your arm." Dr White said to Allison. She ignored him, her free hand gripping tightly to my shirt. "One, two..." Before he finished counting, Allison let out a squeak and I knew it was done.
"Daddy..."
"It's okay. Almost done." I told her.
"And we're done." Dr White announced, handing the blood sample to the nurse and sticking on a pink princess band-aid. "There. How's that?"
