Ashton's POV:
I look at our chart and see who we have for our first patient. It looks to be a young 5 year old girl named Sophia that needs a blood test and spinal tap. I hate doing spinal taps. They always hurt the most for the patient and it's even worse that it's for someone so young, but they are needed to be done in order to make sure the patient doesn't have any infections. I go out to the waiting room and call out, "Sophia?"
A little girl, clinging to her mother, stands up and the mom carries her over. "Hi Sophia, my name is Dr. Ashton. Can you follow me on back? I have some friends back here that want to make sure that you're healthy". Her mother hands her off to me and I carry her back to the room where the other boys are waiting. "Sophia, these are my friends that I was talking about. This is Dr. Luke, Dr. Calum, and Dr. Michael", I say and point out each of the guys. "Hi Sophia, how are you doing today?" Calum asks and gets down to her height. She just curls away from him and starts to cry. "Sweetie, it's okay. I'd be scared too if I had to get those things done at your age, but we will try to get them done as quick and painless as we can for you", Luke tells her and rubs her back. He's always been the best with the little kids, so we let him take the reins on this one. "I know what will make you smile", he says and starts making silly faces. Sophia starts to giggle and soon, she's in a happy mood, or at least as happy of a mood as one can be when they have to get a blood test and spinal tap.
I hold Sophia in my arms for a bit and start bouncing her around and spinning her gently to keep her calm, while Calum gets the blood test equipment out and Michael goes to get the spinal tap equipment. Calum comes back first and Sophia sees the needle and tubes. She starts to freak out and plead, "Pweese no! No shot! Pweese!" She cries and curls up even farther in my shoulder, trying to hide from it. "Sweetie, we have to do this to make sure that you are healthy. We don't want to see you get sick, then you'll be sad and it will make us sad", Luke tells her as he rubs her small shoulders, trying to comfort her as best as he can. Sophia continues to fight us off to the point that we literally have to hold her down. I have her in my lap, holding her little legs down with my legs around them, while Luke holds down her flailing arms and keeps them still. "Small pinch sweetie", Calum tells her and she closes her eyes and curls her head further into my shoulder. When the shot pierces her skin, she cries out, "Oww! Out! Out!" Calum quickly draws the blood and takes the injection out. The whole thing only takes two minutes, but it's shaken Sophia enough that she's starting to hyperventilate. "Sweetie, you have to breathe slower. Watch me and breathe with me", Luke says, but she's not listening. "Calum, can you get an oxygen mask for her? I'm going to try to continue to calm her down", he says and Calum puts the oxygen mask on her. She tries to fight him off, but we aren't letting her do that. She needs this oxygen, or else she's going to pass out.
Finally, we get her calm enough and Michael comes back into the room with the other equipment. We make sure she can't see what he has in his hands, because we don't want her to freak out again. "Okay sweetie, we are just going to lay you down on Luke's lap while we finish", Calum says and Sophia lays down on her side, facing away from Michael and the sharp point. "Sophia, we have to do a spinal tap now to make sure you don't have any infections. It might hurt, but you need to stay as still as possible for us. You can hold Luke's hand and squeeze it when it hurts, okay", Michael tells her and she starts to cry again, but she stays fairly still and calm.
Luke rubs her back and tells her that she's doing so well and she's so brave, while Michael cleans her back off and gets ready to give her the local anesthetic to help with the pain. "You're going to feel a small pinch on 3. 1-2-3", he says and quickly injects the local into her back. "Ow!" Sophia says and she squeezes Luke's hand. "Sweetie, you're doing really well", I tell her, "I think I have something that might help you feel better though", and I say and go get a teddy bear for her.
Usually we have a whole bunch of teddy bears, lollipops, and stickers for kids when they come in to help if they are in pain or need the comfort. I hand her the teddy bear, and she cuddles it. "Okay sweetie, I'm now going to put the needle in. You're going to be okay, it will probably feel like a lot of pressure, but I gave you enough local that it shouldn't hurt too badly", Michael says. Michael then pushes the equipment into her back and Sophia tenses in pain. "Sweetie, I know it hurts, but you have to relax", Calum tells her and strokes her shoulder. She continues to cry and we all try to comfort her. Luke's holding her hand and whispering encouragement to her, Calum is rubbing her tense shoulders, Michael is humming a tune to keep her calm, and I'm petting her head and rubbing her temples to help keep her mind off the pain.
Pretty soon, Michael finishes, pulls the syringe out and puts a pink band aid on her back. "You did so well sweetie. You were very brave and I'm very proud of you", Luke says while I get her a bunch of Tinkerbell stickers and a lollipop. I give them to her and she puts a sticker of Silvermist on her new teddy and one of Rosetta on herself. "Very pretty sweetie. Are you ready to go out and see your mommy now?" She nods her head tiredly and I gently pick her up, being careful of her back and arms. She lays her head on my shoulder sleepily and I bring her to the front room where her mother is and hand her off to her mother. "Thank you Dr. Ashton for taking such good care of me and for my new teddy and everything", she says and gives me a big hug. I hug her back, "Your welcome sweetie. Get some sleep and rest", I tell her and she closes her eyes. I then proceed to tell her mom that she might be sore for the rest of the day, and to give her some Tylenol for it or if she gets a headache. I quickly give Sophia a kiss on the forehead and stroke her hair and then they leave the clinic.