brave

Chapter 42

After leaving Christina's house, we silently head to the infirmary. We walk up the staircase that winds around a rock wall of the pit.

It has illuminated colors that consist of blue, orange, red, and green. They change after about five seconds.

We walk through the heavy metal doors, and go to the receptionist desk, where the receptionist stands with her back to us, making copies and stapling papers.

She turns around and greets us. She smiles and says, "Just sign in, and go sit down. The doctor will be with you in a minute," she smiles again, then goes back to doing her work.

I sign us in, and go sit down where Tobias sat whenever we walked in.

+++

After waiting for about eight minutes, a short, skinny woman with blonde hair pulled back into a bun, with a pen through it, pale white skin, and freckles comes up to us.

"Hi! I'm Doctor Sage! I will be your new family doctor and pediatrician. Are you here for an appointment?" She asks, pulling a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Ummm. Yes." I say.

"Okay, well then, let's just go back to the exam room, and we'll see what's going on. Okay?" She asks. "Sure," we say, and even Hunter says, "Shursh!" And waves his arms around.

"Aw, he's such a cute baby!" She coos as we walk back to the exam room.

"Wow. You're the best doctor we've ever had." Tobias says. "Thanks, I try my best!" She says, still walking. We continue to walk down the illuminated white hallway, which smells distinctly of disinfectant.

We reach the exam room, and I set Hunter down on the bed. "Mama?" He asks. "It's okay, Honey, want your puppy?" I ask. "Yesh," he says, clapping his hands together.

"Okay." I take his stuffed puppy from the diaper bag, and hand it to him. He hugs it, and chews on its long, fluffy ear. when Sage sees this, she smiles.

She sits down on a small stool in the corner, and looks up a few things on the computer. after finishing, she looks at us. "What seems to be the problem?" She asks.

I tell her that Hunter ate about three times what he usually eats, and that the girls had about two times of what they usually eat, and how it scared us.

"Your children are just having growth spurts. Everything's fine! They are a year old, you know," she says, and waves her hand as if to dismiss the subject.

"So," she says, setting down her clipboard, giving us her full attention. "How are the kids doing? Any other issues I should check for?" She questions.

I look at Tobias for a brief moment, and he just looks back. "I don't think so. I haven't noticed anything different." He says. I keep thinking.

"Except," I start, putting a finger in front of my body, "they haven't started trying to walk yet. Is that normal?" I ask.

0Uhhhh, no. They should have started walking around eleven or twelve months." She says, while looking at the clipboard for just a brief second, before looking back up.

"How old are they again?" She asks, looking at the kids. "Fourteen months." I say. "Oh," she says. "I know. Have you been doing the leg exercises Doctor Jones told you about?" She says.

"Oh. No," I say, putting a hand over my mouth. "It's okay," she says, patting my shoulder. "Just start doing them now, and they should be up and running in around a month!" She says.

I nod. She carefully takes Hunter and lays him down on the exam bed. "Just move her legs like this." She moves his legs up and down, and then side to side, slowly at first, then faster as Hunter starts to giggle.

She does this again, to be sure that we know what we're doing, and then turns around after putting the Hunter back on my lap. "It's basically like a game for them," she says.

"Okay, I see." I say. That's all," we say. "Okay, you can leave now. But first, hers my card." She says.

It reads:

Saige Smith, PhD, MD.
Erudite Certified Dauntless Doctor
Work: (554)-555-5556
Cell: (332)-333-3335

(AN: those aren't real numbers!)

It has flowers on it, along with a stethoscope and bandages. "you like flowers?" Tobias says.

"Yeah, I was an Amity. I transferred five years ago, with my boyfriend, Josh." She says, looking at us. "Thats cool." I say. She nods, and we leave.