Little Of Loure II

19 : Doctor Duties

'So far he looks pretty good. His cornea response is normal, there are no signs of delay.' Dylan said as he flashed the torch in Steven's eyes, who was sitting on his daddy's lap.

'He had chest pains just a few days ago. He couldn't get out of bed.' Tristan said with worried eyes.

Dylan looked at him and then back at the boy before writing in his notebook.

'Any loss in sensation? His arms or legs? Swollen areas?'

' Not that I was aware. But he was breathing really hard and he wouldn't stop panting.'

'Hmm...I'm guessing the chest pains are a result of over-exertion. Has he been as hyper as he always is?'

Tristan rolled his eyes and sighed.

'Like a little fidget spinner, he won't stop.'

Dylan gave Arlo a pointed look and shook his head.

'Remember what I told you? You can't go running around and using up all your energy. Your heart can't handle all that.' Dylan said to Arlo, who pouted and looked away.

'Are you listening, love? That's why daddy is always telling you to calm down. You never listen.' Tristan said.

'Well, his ADHD plays a part as well. It's not completely his fault. Just make sure you try to redirect his focus on something else. Do you remember some of the activities I suggested?'

'Painting, gardening, coloring...' Tristan recalled some of the things Dylan had told him which could help calm his little down.

Arlo suffered from Ventricular Septal Defect, which meant he was born with a hole in his heart. He was abandoned as a baby and grew up in an orphanage for humans. And like most orphaned humans, he decided to join Lit Inc when he was old enough as it meant an easy life where he didn't have to struggle for money and could be taken care of by someone.

Because of his health condition, he had a hard time finding someone who was willing to take him in even though the price on him was ridiculously low. But Tristan and his partner didn't mind at all and decided that Arlo was the one for them, despite knowing of his condition prior to adoption.

For years now he has put his money and time into helping make sure Arlo was doing as well as he possibly could.

'Exactly, just activities that can get him distracted enough and not too excited.'

Tristan nodded and patted Arlo on his leg, who continued his pouting party.

Abby stood by Dylan and stared at the little with curiosity. The only thing she got from the conversation was that Arlo suffered from some kind of heart issue and he was not allowed to play like other Littles. It made her feel sad knowing that he wasn't allowed to go to the parks because he might get overwhelmed and his conditions may worsen.

'Have you given a thought again about what we discussed?' Dylan asked and placed his stereoscope on the glass dining table that they gathered at for the checkup.

'We have...' Tristan said and pulled Arlo's shirt down for him before placing him on the ground.

Tristan nudged his little towards Abby and patted his bum.

'Arlo, why don't you go show Abby the new toys I just bought you? The building blocks.' Tristan said and he turned to look at Abby excitedly.

'Come on! I made a castle yesterday!' he jumped and grabbed her hand before tugging her towards the other direction of the house.

Dylan turned to Abby and smiled before nodding, letting her know that it was okay for her to go with the other little.

Without saying anything, she went with Arlo, who had completely ignored the doctor as he ran down the hallway with Abby following behind him.

'He never listens.' Tristan said as they both watched the boy run.

'About the treatment...' Dylan prompted.

'I've spoken to Jess about it...' Tristan started.

'She's still not budging.' he sighed and leaned backward.

Dylan too let out a frustrated breath.

'You know, the older he gets the more complications there will be. The surgery is the only chance he has. If we don't start the procedure now he's not going to have a fighting chance the more years past.'

'I know that. But I can't just agree to it. Jess is as much of a caretaker to him. If she says no, I can't go against that.' Tristan replied.

'What are the concerns she has about the procedure?' Dylan asked.

Jess is Tristan's wife. They both have cared for Arlo for years now but have never seen eye to eye on what's the best route to take when it comes to his illness.

'Jess doesn't think he's going to make it. She's afraid to lose him. And don't get me wrong, I'm afraid to lost him too. But...if we don't do this it's only a matter of time before it's too late and we actually...' Tristan looks away, not being able to finish the sentence.

'But I don't want to come out of this knowing we didn't try everything we could.' Tristan said.

Dylan stayed silent for a moment, pondering on how to make his patient feel better. The doctor had excellent bedside manners but this client is one of his oldest and he knew Jess was a difficult one to convince when it comes to his opinion as a doctor. She lacks the trust in him and his skills as he was fairly new as a doctor compared to some of the people in his family.

'If it makes her feel any better I can request for a much more experienced doctor to take on his surgery. Doctor May is an experienced surgeon of 60 years. She's been working with humans for longer than I've been alive. If it makes Jess feel safer I can request for her help in this.' Dylan explained.

'May Folley is your aunt isn't she?' Tristan asked.

'Yes. My mothers cousin. She will do a fantastic job, I promise.' Dylan said with a soothing smile which made Tristan feel more at ease.

'I'll talk to her again. I'll try my best to convince her.'

Dylan's smile grew and he nodded. Arlo was one of his more critical patients. Dylan had never lost a patient before. And he wasn't about to make this one his first. Having a difficult caretaker is one of the worst experience because as a doctor he made sure to provide his best care and advice he can depending on the Littles condition. But in order for him to do his job he rely on the caretakers to also work with him on nursing the Littles back to health. With a client who refuse to take any of his advice will only result in the Littles health worsening and him, loosing a patient. Which is no doctors wish.

'Please, have her call me if she has any concerns. I will do my best to make sure Arlo gets the care he needs.' Dylan said and started packing up his things.

'Thank you, Dylan. I really appreciate this. Until then, we'll just keep up with what we've been doing with him.'

'Good.' Dylan replied curtly.

Dylan stood up and started packing his items into his bag, getting ready to leave.

'So...how have you been?' Tristan said after a few seconds of silence.

Dylan glanced at him for a moment and looked away, continuing to keep his things.

'You're gonna ask me about the prince?' Dylan asked without hesitation.

Tristan looks taken aback by how straightforward Dylan was about the topic.

'Well, yes. You were gone for almost a month and before that you were very close with the prince, which there were rumours swirling around about the two of you already.'

Dylan didn't feel like talking about what is happening because even he was quite unsure of what was going to happen with their current situation.

'It's not that serious. Just some family issues.'

Dylan knew he had to be careful with what he shared. Because of his high profile family status, anything would be information that the public would die to get their hands on.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Tristan. But Tristan is married to Jess Trinks who is an influencer with her own marketing company. It wouldn't be far fetch to assume that given the chance, she would leak information about their situation which from what he know is all over the news right now.

'Are you sure? You can talk to me.'

'Yeah, everything's good. Things are a little complicated at the moment but we're doing alright.'

'You sure?'

'Yeah...'

Tristan nodded his head slowly, as if he was processing the information that had nothing to do with him.

'What about Will?'

'Oh, he moved away I think. I never really kept in touch with him.' Dylan replied.

After all that happened, Will never really crossed his mind anymore. Lincoln took up almost 90% of his thoughts.

Lincoln did revealed to him that Will was locked up due to indecency with the king. Dylan was worried at first but Lincoln assured him that Emmanuel wouldn't harm him. So Dylan chose to forget about it. He had bigger fish to fry at the moment.

'Well, I think you guys look good together.' Tristan said and took a sip of his coffee on the table.

'You and the prince. Not Will.'

Dylan smiled and didn't really reply.

'But seriously, if you ever need anything you can count on me. I know you're Arlo's doctor, but I see you as a friend too.' Tristan said sincerely.

'Actually I do have something I'd like to ask you.' Dylan said.

'Anything.' Tristan replied.

'What do you know about the Porch family?'

—————————————————————