“I know you don’t want to do this,” He said softly. “But don’t you want your bad dreams to stop?” She looked down at the floor. Of course, she wanted them to go away. She was obviously tired of waking up every night crying, needing to be cradled by her uncle. Every time she closed her eyes she could see her mother’s throat being slit. She could see the bullet exiting her father’s head. Could the doctors really get rid of them?

“I do but,” She shook her head and looked up at him. “What about all the good things? Will I remember the good things?” He wrinkled his eyebrows. He didn’t know. He was just tired of hearing her wake up screaming every night. The doctor was vague, but he said that she’d forget what was causing her nightmares. The thought of them poking around in their head disgusted him. They wouldn’t be doing that for the boy because he could just take a second medicine along with the anti-convulsant.

“Yes, baby.” He told her. Even if he had lied, it was in her best interest.

“Are you sure?” Before he could say another word, in walked the doctor. A cool breeze hit them both in the face. He didn’t say a word to either of them as he sat down at his computer. After a few minutes of complete silence, he turned to them.

“Would you like to follow through with this?” He asked. “It’s a limited time offer. You can’t come back in a week and ask for the surgery.” The little girl looked at her uncle, and then back to the doctor. Both men tapped their feet. One in annoyance, one in anxiety. She glanced at both of them once more and then moved her eyes back to the ground.

“Yes. I would like to.”