"Hello everybody, I'm Dr Pippa Hope, but you can just call me Pippa. I'll be the one in charge of Kirstie's care whilst she's here. So any questions feel free to ask." She said. All the kids said hello, apart from Kirstie who just waved. 
                          
"I'm Henry and this is my wife Melissa." I said, shaking Pippa's hand. 
                          
"Nice to meet you. Now we'll be taking Kirstie for scans in the next half an hour. It will determine exactly where the hole in her heart is and where the tear in the aorta is. It lowers the risk because we would know exactly where to go and what to do." 
                          
"Okay. What surgery will you be doing?" Melissa asked. 
                          
"Well, I know Dr Carlisle told you of two options. In my professional opinion I would rather do the open heart. As she is so small, the instruments we have will only just fit for the keyhole, but it would be difficult to carry out the procedure properly." Melissa and I looked at each other for a moment. Even though it does have higher risks, it is more feasible for Kirstie to have the open heart surgery. 
                          
"Alright. Open heart it is." I said, swallowing my nervous energy. 
                          
"I like your last name." Avi said randomly.
                          
"Thank you. May I ask why?" 
                          
"Hope. That's exactly what Kirstie needs right now." Kevin said. 
                          
"Oh that's good then. You're all older brothers?" 
                          
"Matty is younger." Scott said. 
                          
"Okay then." 
                          
"I'm her twin!" Mitch yelled. 
                          
"Mitch, don't shout." Melissa said. 
                          
"Sorry Mummy." Pippa laughed a little at Mitch's quick apology and then left for a little while. 
                          
Half an hour later, she came back in followed by two other doctors. 
                          
"Okay, it's time to go downstairs for the scans. One can come with us of course." She said, looking at me and Melissa. The other two doctors were transferring Kirstie's lines onto a portable machine so nothing being monitored would be affected. 
                          
"I'll go with her." I said instantly. 
                          
"Very well, let's go." I gently picked Kirstie up and held her close to me. She looked back over my shoulder and waved to the rest of the family as we followed Pippa downstairs. 
                          
Kirstie was teary-eyed by the time we got down there and was close to screaming when I put her down on the scan bed. She gripped onto me as tightly as she could and let her tears go. She wouldn't stop moving and was wailing very loud. That can't be good for her throat. Pippa had obviously dealt with things like this before because she knew exactly how to bribe Kirstie to calm down. 
                          
"Hey sweetie, if you can stay still for me and be good whilst we're down here I can get you ice cream. How does that sound?" Kirstie stopped squirming immediately and let me hold her hand instead. She sniffled and looked right at Pippa. Ice cream trumps everything. According to a child anyway. Kirstie held her pinkie out to Pippa and looked at her with hopeful eyes. Pippa smiled and locked her pinkie with Kirstie's. The deal was sealed. 
                          
"Okay, I'm going to put these headphones on you and play some music, because the machine is a little bit loud. You can nap if you want." Pippa said. "Any music she likes in particular? We have it all." 
                          
"Disney." I replied. Kirstie nodded and clapped her hands again. She loves Disney so much. 
                          
"Okay, Disney it is." Pippa carefully got Kirstie ready for the scan and then we had to leave the room. I went to let go of Kirstie's hand, but she held on tightly. I moved one of the headphones off so I could talk to her.
                          
"It's okay. I'll just be through there, but I'm not allowed to stay in here whilst the scan is done. Just go to sleep princess." I said, pointing to the big window on the side. Kirstie nodded and let go of my hand. Such a brave little girl. 
                          
"Okay, this is a new form of scanner that will create a 3d image of her heart and arteries. It's very detailed so it will show us where the issues are. No guess work needed. It will also take a 3d scan of her brain and show us all the synapses and connections. It's an easier way to see if there is a higher chance of her having epilepsy, which I know Dr Carlisle did discuss with you." 
                          
Kirstie was as good as gold the whole time, the promise of ice cream keeping her still. That or she did actually fall asleep. An hour later, the scans were complete and I just wanted to cuddle my baby girl. So young to have already gone through so much. Kirstie was yawning as we walked back to her room and fell asleep the second she was lying on her bed. 
                          
"I'll be back a little bit later to discuss the results." Pippa said. "And I'll bring her some ice cream if she's awake. I did promise after all." I felt very confident that Pippa was going to do everything she could to help Kirstie get better.