I bleed when I fall down

'I'm lost here in this moment'

'Amelia Sugg.' The receptionist calls. 'Please go to room one.' Dianne helps steady her daughter as she stands up, having got a bit of a head rush.

'Do you want me to carry you?' Joe asks, as she nods. He knows she's getting a bit too big for this, he's lucky that she is small for her age, he can still do this. Dianne knocks on the door, opening it for Joe and Amelia to go in.

'Morning.' He greets them, as they take their seats. 'So, what's the problem.' Dianne bites her lip, before rattling off what happened this week. He nods, writing something on the piece of paper, as Dianne passes the note that she had got from the school the day before.

'When it happens Amelia, what does it feel like?' She just shrugs, as he motions for her to move chairs, he needed to check her blood pressure. 'Surely, you can tell me something.'

'It's like I'm there, and suddenly I'm not and everyone is fussing.' He nods, it's the first time either of her parents have heard her talk about what happened, she wouldn't talk about it with them. 'And I wee myself.' She says, looking down at her hands. He makes some indistinct noise.

'Can you put your hand out darling?' She nods, offering her arm. Dianne watches her daughters face as the cuff inflates, as the doctor takes some measurements. 'Okay.' The scratching of the pen on the paper echoes in the room, neither Joe or Dianne knowing what to say. Amelia goes back, sitting on Dianne's lap, like she did when she was little. 'Okay, this sounds like it could be epilepsy.' He pauses, 'I'm not saying it is though.' Dianne nods, grabbing hold of her daughters' hand. 'I am going to set her up an emergency appointment with the paediatric neurologist.' They nod, these seems like very big words that they don't understand.

'When will that be?' Joe questions.

'I'm going to schedule it as an emergency.' Dianne is sure that her heart may have just skipped a beat. 'So maybe the end of next week, start of the week after.' Joe nods,

'Isn't epilepsy where you fall on the floor and shake?' The doctor shakes his head. 'With the lights.'

'No, there are more than forty types of seizures. And there is lots of different triggers.' He explains. 'The symptoms your daughter is experiencing is those associated with absence seizures, the neurologist will go in-depth with you though.' He reassures the worried parents, he's had similar conversations before. He knows how to try to reassure parents. 'I will get onto the appointment for you now, is the best way to call you?' Dianne nods, checking that the numbers match up.

The drive home is silent, all absorbed in their own thoughts, no one quite knowing what to say. 'Do you want to go and play?' Dianne asks her daughter, who nods and runs upstairs. 'How are you?' She questions her husband, who just shrugs. She kicks off her shoes, making her way to their kitchen. He follows behind her.

'That was a lot to take in.' He replies, 'It's such an out of the blue thing to happen.' Dianne nods, there was a lot of questions after the appointment that needed answering, ones that google can't answer. 'I don't know what to say?' Dianne nods.

'They only said might. She points out. 'She could just be coming down with something.' Joe nods a little, knowing it probably wouldn't be the smartest idea to reason with Dianne. Not when she was like this. 'Have you spoken to Zoe?' Another nod.

'I explained that she had a doctor's appointment, I didn't go into details.' He studies the redheads face, she keeps her poker face. 'What are we doing about taking her to Brighton?' Dianne puts her head in her hands, Joe can see how stressed she is getting. 'It's okay, we can see how she feels later.' Dianne seems to accept this answer, as Joe decides that now is the time for him to go and see his daughter.

He's expecting her to be playing in her room, rather she is lying in bed. She smiles a little as he sits on the edge of the bed. 'You okay?' She shrugs, moving up the pillows. Joe notes how small she is, she's nearly the same height as the twins, who are fifteen months younger than her. 'I know it's scary, but if there is something wrong, we will find out and you will get better.'

'But what if there isn't anything wrong?' Joe shrugs, not sure what to say. 'And I'm just stupid.'

'You aren't stupid baby.' She shrugs. 'If you have something, it will be better to know than not know.' He grabs her hand, noticing she's been crying a little. He isn't sure what to say to make things better, this isn't something he can just kiss better. This isn't like Amelia has fallen off her bike and tripped and grazed her knee. Or even the time she fell off the swing and broke her arm. He can't protect her from this, no matter how much he wants too. And that's what scares him. 'I know it's embarrassing.' He tells her, 'But you will get past it.'

'What if I wet myself in Brighton?' She whispers. 'No one really noticed, at school.' Joe nods, looking down at the child. 'I'll never live it down.' She shudders at the thought of everyone knowing, Joe doesn't have the heart to tell the child that people probably have noticed.

'No one would say anything, no one would even notice.' He assures her, no one would say anything to her. 'You love seeing auntie Zoe and uncle Alfie.' She shrugs. 'Grandad is going to be there, and you love Kian and Belle. They can't wait to see you, you'll make them sad.' He pretends to pout, it gets a smile out of her.

'Okay I'll go' He beams, standing up.

'Let's go tell mummy.' She nods, grabbing his hand. He noticed she's changed to her new pyjama's. 'Mummy.' Joe calls, leading his daughter into the living room. Dianne is intently staring at something on her iPad.

'Huh?' She looks up, almost startled. 'What?'

'Amelia is going to come to Brighton.' Dianne, not quite aware of what is happening, nods and smiles.

'Oh, brilliant baby girl.' The little girl lets out a smile.

'Can I go to school?' She questions her parents, Dianne goes to open her mouth, but Joe gets in their first.

'Of course, you can angel, go and put your uniform on.' The girls bounds upstairs, as Joe dares to look at his wife. 'You said yourself that this might be something and nothing.' He points out to the older woman. 'If she wants to go to school, we let her.' She shakes her head, turning back to the iPad, as the child runs through in her uniform. 'Let's go munchkin.' 

A/N  Thoughts?