Over the next week Jafari got checked out at the doctors' office, and she spent alot of time with Brian. Since the night he'd given her the stuffed animal, she'd been glued to him. When he hadn't wanted to come to her doctors' appointment, she cried. He ended up going, and even made her quietly giggle while they were there. "Now, we just need to do three shots, and those are the last ones. Okay Jafari?" the doctor asked on her third visit on her second week with the Littrells. She nodded, but didn't want three more. She'd already had six. Brian held her tiny hand as the doctor poked the last three needles in, one by one. "Good, now, do you want a sticker?" the doctor asked. She nodded, she had two already, why not add a third? This time the sticker said, I was brave today. Brian smiled as he led her back to the waiting room where Jackie was. "Look, she was brave!" Brian said and pointed to the sticker on her shirt. She was wearing an overly long shirt of Brian's that said Kentucky WildCats and a new pair of shorts. "Do you have any homework?" Jackie asked Brian as they walked to the car. "Yup, I always do." he replied. "Well at least it's March tenth, only three months kiddo." Jackie assured. Brian rolled his eyes and pulled Jafari onto his shoulders. She giggled again, this time louder than before. Jackie noticed, and desperately wished she could talk in the volume instead of giggle.
The next day, Jafari had to see a heart specialist. Jackie was nervous coming back to the same place her baby boy had been to. Brian had suffered from a VSD, and still did, but he was declared healthy. She treated him like glass, remembering how much he'd suffered at such a young age. "So, Jafari, where does it hurt?" the lady asked. Jafari pointed to her chest, and with her second hand she motioned around her abdomen. "Does it hurt alot?" the doctor, Mrs. Kai asked. Jafari nodded. "Well Mrs. Littrell, we will need to run a series of tests, since we do not know her medical history." the doctor concluded. "We do know she's broken nine bones and had phneumonia multiple times." Jackie said. "We still need to run tests Mrs. Littrell. I'm sorry, but I know this runs in the family. I remember when Brian was in here. She may have the same thing, or something different." the Doctor said. Jafari looked at the doctor and wondered if this lady would also give her a shot. "So, we'll run some tests today, keep her overnight run some more and if it's necessary, she'll stay another night." Mrs. Kai explained. "Over night? In the cardiac unit? Couldn't she just go home and come back?" Jackie asked. "No, we may run tests while she's sleeping." Jafari looked at the two and then down to her stuffed duck. It was a sign that she wanted Brian. She took the doll wherever she went, and when Brian wasn't around she'd look at it to mean that she wanted him there. "I'm sorry baby, but he's at school. When he gets home maybe he'll come." Jackie said. Jafari looked at the doll and hugged it tight. She'd developed a weird bond with Brian. In fact, he was her only bond. She didn't trust Jackie or Harold, and Harold Jr. tended to scare her. Brian was the one she loved and trusted.
"Bri, baby, can you come over to the old heart clinic for a few?" Jackie asked about three hours later. "Why?" he asked. "JJ is over here getting tests, she'll be staying over night. She just really wants you." Jackie explained. "What about you? You're there." Brian said. "I know, but she doesn't like me as much as you." Jackie cried. "Oh, Mom. You know she likes you." Brian assured. "Not as much as you honey, can you just drive over for a couple hours?" Jackie asked. "Of course. I'll be right over, what room?" "Level four, room four eighty-two." So Brian drove over in his red and yellow truck, which his friends had nicknamed the Bleeding Banana. When he got into the hospital the wave of smells hit him hard, and he remembered all the rough times he'd spent there. It scared him to have his little sister there, especially since she didn't speak and was new to America. It reminded him of his uncle also, who'd died from cancer in the very same hospital. That haunted him to the day. When he reached her room he saw her dressed in her t-shirt and hospital pants. They were decorated with dinosaurs. He could tell she was tired with everything there already, she was fiddling with her i.v. when he decided to come in. She looked up and reached out for a hug, big smile on her face. "Hey JJ!" he exclaimed and hugged her tightly. "Hey honey." his mom greeted, while watching Oprah on the television. "How many tests has she had?" Brian asked. "They EKG'd her, took a blood test, and she'll have an ultrasound in a few minutes." Jackie responded. Jafari layed back in her bed and sighed. "It's okay JJ, ultrasounds don't hurt. They just take better pictures of your heart." Brian assured. She already knew that, but nodded all the same. "Is that the last test of the day?" Brian asked. "No. Then she'll have the basics. X-ray and MRI." Jackie replied. Brian sat on the bed and colored on one of Jafari's coloring books. She smiled and watched him color. "Hello Jafari, it's time for ultrasound." So Brian carried her to the ultrasound room, Jackie wheeled the iv and Jafari chewed her nails. The doctor was sweet, and she was gentle with Jafari. But everyone freaked when Jafari's liver showed trouble. "Oh." the doctor whispered as she looked things over. "What is it?" Jackie asked, sitting straight up. "It looks as if she has lung and liver problems, and her heart is leaking through one of the main vessels. We may need to do emergency surgery on her heart, it's leaking into the chamber, and pressing on her lungs." the doctor explained. Jackie sat back in her chair, shocked. Brian was stunned and looked at his baby sister, her heart was leaking? Emergency surgery? "We need to look into her lungs, her heart is leaking. Once fixed we can cross it off the list. But the lungs worry me, as well as the liver." the doctor said. "So emergency surgery?" Brian asked. "We need to take a test and see how much is leaking, if it's a dangerous amount, then yes, surgery is the option." So that test was done, and when the results came, surgery was their only answer. It wasn't really surgery, they wouldn't cut her open or anything like that. She would just be put to sleep while a tube was placed in her heart to take out all of the fluid build up. It was a simple procedure and would only last about half an hour. The tube would be in for about a day. But it was the first in a long list of tests and treatments. The doctor had to find out why her lungs were troubling her, and why her liver looked so bad.
