Luke
As soon as she was warm and comfy, I left and went downstairs. Michael ran through to the living room with Ashton as I sat next to Calum.
"Is she ok?" Ash asked, his leg bouncing up and down.
"She is now... why didn't you just tell her? That's what she is angry about, you know. She isn't clueless,"
"I know, I just didn't want to confirm anything without the tests. She looked so frightened, and I didn't want to stress her out more,"
"Well... how bad is it looking? Truthfully,"
"I've sent everything to be tested as soon as possible so if we start treatment around week, we can manage," Michael said.
"It's gonna be rough. I'd imagine she will be staying in hospital for a long time... we are starting by giving her a bunch of chemo in her spine to rule out anything on her nervous system, then we have to give her more to kill majority. An even more intense round will kill any remaining ones then it's calms down- as long as it works," Calum explained. It was long, and seemed tough, but I hoped she'd be okay.
She would be. She had to be.
"Can you fit her in any time soon? We need to rule out the chance of infection," Ashton asked me, running his hands through his hair.
"Yeah, I'll see her tomorrow. You guys just focus on her treatment. I can look after her at home or in my office,"
"Luke, you don't have to do that," Calum said, randomly hugging me. It had been rough on us all. Emily meant so much to us. Seeing her in pain broke our hearts. Shattered them.
"You guys are going to be working incredibly hard over the next few months, and the least I can do is feed her, and look after her while you sleep and rest. You are sensible enough to know that it's not only impacting Emily,"
I leant into Calum, putting my arm round him. Both of us took a deep breath. We knew how hard this would be.
"Luke!" Emily called from upstairs, only making me hug Calum tighter. He pat my back and we sat up, looking at each other then everyone else. If I hadn't moved in with these guys, I don't know what I would've done.
"Just put a brave face on for her, it's all she needs,"
I settled her down again, making sure she was almost asleep by the time I left. Also crashing, I climbed into Ashton's bed to let her have some space. He hummed but didn't mind.
"Why has no one woken me up, it's a school day," Emily said, walking into the room. Ashton was gone, and I assumed they were all out for work. I rubbed my eyes and yawned, holding her hand as she sat down.
"You're probably not going to school for a while love, I need to give you a checkup today though. We're gonna have to take those baby teeth that have clung onto you, out today, but Sierra will be there. I'm sorry hun, I really am," I said, kissing her forehead when she sat down.
"It's not your fault, I can't wait for my mouth to be sore for the next two years... I love you "
"I'll try and keep it reasonable for you but there's only so much I can do. You know I love you too Emily,"
"Can I wear one of your hoodies? I don't want to get dressed,"
"Yep, I'll make you some breakfast so meet me down once you're done," I said, getting up and leaving.
I put bread in the toaster and got her a glass of milk, texting Ashton that she was ok. As I was buttering the toast, she came down and sat at the table.
"I thought you had to go to the dentist way before the treatment started," she mumbled, taking the plate from me as I sat down.
"Usually you do but Ashton needs to start it really soon. We have all day but I'd appreciate if you ate that at more than a snails pace,"
She grinned and took a painfully slow bite, looking me in the eye the whole time. I rolled my eyes and started eating, going upstairs and brushing my teeth while she carried on eating.
"Time to go, Sierra is waiting for us,"
"I think you like her," she teased, putting her shoes on and flipping her hood up.
"Do you think she likes me back?"
She gasped and smirked, leaning into my side as we stepped outside.
"Wait! I didn't brush my teeth,"
"Do it while you're there, you need a new toothbrush anyway,"
We climbed in the car and I immediately turned the heated seats on. I wanted to make her feel comfortable today, but still normal.
"No offence, but this day is gonna be boring and totally suck for me,"
"I know, tomorrow you can just chill in my office though,"
"Glamorous," she snorted, turning the radio on.
"We can bring your duvet and my laptop, you can make it like a mini bedroom if you want," I laughed, parking the car. She sighed and got out, taking my hand.
I took her to the room, finding Sierra logging into the computer. Emily ran up behind her and hugged her, pulling me along. I joined in and grinned.
"Hey there! I haven't seen you for a while," she said.
"I know, the good news is that you'll probably see a lot more of me now,"
She smiled sympathetically at us both and I sat down, wrapping my arms round Sierra.
"I haven't seen you for a whole night,"
"Oh goodness, how did I survive? she teased, squeezing my hands and looking up. Emily stood smugly in the corner.
"Go on, you need to brush your teeth and have X-rays taken you cheeky monkey," I said, handing her a toothbrush.
"I'm not seven Luke," she giggled, shoving her hands in her pockets.
"Yeah Luke, she's all grown up now," Sierra said, standing up and opening the door, "we'll be back soon,"
I filled in some paperwork while I waited for them to come back. Once it was all done, I got changed and made sure the room was set up.
Emily hated the smell so I turned on the air freshener. The X-rays came through which meant they were coming back soon. I looked through them and saw nothing too hard- thankfully.
They both came back in, Emily peeking over my shoulder.
"So how bad is it?"
"Oh, it's disastrous. I'm going to have to take out all your teeth,"
She pouted, clicking through them all.
"Yes, I see. Why do you do this as a job again?"
"To help people, now sit down and make yourself comfy,"
She sat down and I slid a bib over her, going to the computer. Sierra cleaned her teeth while I typed in all the information before swapping over.
"We doing ok?" I asked, pushing the light away from her face. She nodded and sighed, gently holding my wrist to stop me from doing anything.
"Promise you won't do anything without telling me?" she said quietly.
"I promise, I'd never do that Emily," I assured, wondering why she was suddenly anxious. I guessed everything starting again would make it flare up- she did seem almost too calm.
"I've looked at your X-rays and I'm going to remove your two baby teeth and check your other fillings because I'm not sure if one of your new ones needs filling a little more. We will work at your pace love,"
"That's a lot," she grumbled, squinting as I brought the light over.
"It won't take as long as you think. Your baby teeth are practically out and if you let me try, the cavity is that small that I can probably do it without a drill. You're gonna be fine Emily, ok?"
She nodded and shuffled to the top of the seat, opening her mouth. As I looked, I could see how tense she was getting so I let her take a breather.
"Your brushing has got a lot better since last time, there's nothing I'm worried about. All your old fillings are fine...you're going to feel some pressure now but if it hurts, tell me straight away,"
She nodded and sighed, looking up at me.
I pulled her cheek back and started pulling out her tooth. It was really wobbly and definitely ready to come out. She closed her eyes and held onto the side of the chair, making me stop immediately.
"Do you want some numbing gel?" Sierra asked her, grabbing it when she nodded. I gently put some on both sides and waited until she was ready.
They both came out easily and while she was still relaxed, I started to tackle her cavity. It was just on the surface so with Sierras help, we filled it in minutes.
"How are you feeling? Everything's done now hun,"
I sat the chair up and took my gloves off, just in time for her to crawl onto my lap. She really didn't care that she was 14 and not 8 anymore.
"I want to cry," she mumbled, letting me pick her up and take her to my office.
"Do it then, I'm not stopping you,"
"I don't even know why Luke, I don't even know why,"