Feelings

~1. Doctor Parker~

(Ava's pic in the media)

Zoey

"Injection?" I question placing Ava, Emmy's 6 years old daughter, on my chair and turn towards Emmy. "For what? She doesn't need it." No injection is required. Moreover, Ava hates injections. She's very scared of them.

'Just like you.' My subconscious reminded me.

"Not today. Last time Dr. Wang gave her a painkiller injection and she's still scared of him." Emmy replied.

"I'm not scared. I just don't like him." Ava states.

"Of course, Princess. Come on now, let him check your wrist." I say taking her hand in mine but she glues her body to the chair.

"No! You fix the broken parts and muscles in my hand."

"Princess-"

"Zo-Zo, you're my fairy godmama!" Ava exclaims stubbornly. "Why didn't you or Mama treat me?"

"Because...*sigh*...because we love you so much that we can't see you in pain. We get nervous and this makes it hard for us to treat you." I reply trying to make Ava understand in as simple language as possible.
Emotions play quite an important role when it comes to family. I react very differently when one of my family or friend gets hurt then I do when I see an injured stranger in my office. I can easily fall into my "Nervous Zoey" mode and step out of my "Confident Doctor" mode.
Even as doctors, we are taught to hold the doctor-patient relationship sacred and to keep a proper professional boundary between us and our patients. In this way, we can prevent emotions from clouding medical judgment.

"But Zo-Zo..." Ava pleads and I look towards Emmy while she has a smile on her face with eyebrows raised as if telling me to just listen to Ava.

I lightly pinch Ava's cheeks and take a nearby chair, sitting in front of her. "Later, you are explaining it to Dr. Wang. He already hates me." I say to Emmy, muttering the last part.

She chuckles and says, "No he doesn't. It's just that he knows you are so good and wants you to do the best. So sometimes scolds you here and there."

Yeah, 'Here and There.'

Right. I understand. Now, YOU explain HIM that your daughter doesn't like him and everything."

"I already did. I told him that Ava is more comfortable with Zoey and he understands it."

He does? Okay.

"Cool." Taking Ava's hand in mine, I sigh.

I finally examine her hand. "Does it hurt?" I ask gently moving Ava's wrist forward and backward.
She fell off while playing in the park, directly on her hand. Emmy immediately brought her to Dr. Wang and called me on the phone, crying horribly. Even after being a doctor herself, she was so worried and cried multiple times seeing Ava in pain, while I comforted her the whole time I was on the call. My mom was with her as I was out for two days, and handled the situation. Ava is all Emmy has after Edward, her husband died. She only trusts me and my family with Ava and no one else. Like literally.

So anyway, Dr. Wang said Ava had a fractured wrist and a bruised forearm. Almost 3 weeks later, Dr. Wang removed the cast, today. Last time, after he gave her a painkiller injection, she hated him. Even today, Emmy and I, tried and somehow convinced her to get the cast removed from him but as soon as she got rid of the cast, she came running into my office and now here we are.

"Oh..A little bit."

"Now?" I gently moved her wrist from side to side in a handshake motion.

"Not really."