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twenty-four

Wednesday.
Michael.

Today was the day of the bone marrow transplant, and Harper was almost hysterical.

I walked into the room we assigned to her as her recovery room, seeing her crying into Luke, who held her firmly.

"I told you that she's scared of needles and yet one of your interns shows her the fucking epidural needle" he spoke, making me grab my head, wanting to choke out my interns.

"Harper, lets talk, stop crying." I spoke calmly, sitting in the bed beside her and Luke.

She sat up, tears rolling down her cheeks as she hiccuped lightly.

"Why the tears?" I asked her.

"The needle was like five inches long." She cried out.

She had a point, they range from three to five inches.

"The second that needle breaks your skin, you don't feel a single thing, I promise you and I would not lie to you right before you go into surgery." I told her firmly.

"I'm just scared- I've never done any of this and then the nurse tells me I have to be naked and that Luke can't come and that I'm going to be awake-" she listed several things that wee upsetting her.

"We know you're very new to this, which is why we will move at your pace. You will not be naked, you can keep your bra and underwear on, you can't have shorts or a shirt, but you will be covered from hips down with a blanket and you will have a gown to cover the front of your body, we will undo the bra strap during the surgery if you choose to keep it on for privacy, but it's all up to you." I told her slowly.

"Luke and Calum will be in there with us. Luke will be there to comfort you and Calum is assisting me as Ashton preps your mom. You will be awake but you will be sedated and relaxed, you'll even have the option of sleeping, we just will not be putting you under sedation." I explained to her slowly.

"How bad does the epidural hurt?" She asked me slowly.

"In medical school they tell us that it's quite painful, it's a lot of pressure and uncomfortableness, but like I said- thats for a few seconds and then it's numb." I told her, seeing her slowly nod.

"Harper, if you don't want to do this, I'm not going to make you- no one is going to make you do this," I told her firmly.

"I'm fine" she wiped her tears slowly.

"Just- please don't tell my mom I'm crying. She'll freak out and have you cancelling the surgery." She exhaled, making me smile.

"Your secret is safe with me, now just relax, you have about thirty minutes and then I'll come put your IV in and prep you"