The doctor just sighed as she looked at Lola who had been sleeping while they had discussed Mal's weight. "Well like I was telling your sisters earlier, we're concerned about her weight as she keeps drastically losing weight and not gaining any at all. It was suggested to have her placed on a feeding tube," the doctor told Lola who looked at her like she was insane.

"Wait so she's just going to eat from a tube now!" Lola asked with a bit of an attitude as she didn't like any of this. April just rolled her eyes as she looked at her slightly younger sister who had no clue what was even going on and was now trying to act like she did.

"Look, trust me none of us are happy with this!" April practically yelled out as Lola was really starting to get on her nerves. "Then why are we doing this?" Lola asked as she began to raise her voice in frustration causing Evie to lose it as she was sick of all this.

"She can't keep anything down! It's either tube feed her or just let her die of starvation at this point! Is that what you want!" Evie cried out causing Lola to back up a little as she held her hands up.

"Dude, chill, no need for that. I was just wondering," Lola told Evie who just rolled her eyes as she was about to continue her ranting when Ava decided enough was enough. "Can we please just stop arguing right now. We're in the middle of an important discussion," Ava told her sisters as she then turned her attention back to the doctor.

"So what are our options at this point?" Ava asked the doctor as she just wanted to get this over with already. The doctor just sighed as she looked over at the sleeping toddler in the hospital crib/bed.

"Well considering our goal is temporary I say we're looking at an NG or NJ tube," The doctor told Ava who just nodded as she honestly had no clue what that meant but didn't want to seem like a non informed parent.

"So um I'm sorry but um what's the difference," Ava asked the doctor as she wanted to know more about her options, but she didn't want to admit how confused she was right now. The doctor just laughed a little as she could tell Ava had no clue what she was talking about, but didn't want to admit it.

"It's okay to be confused, no need to feel bad about it. Well the ng tube is inserted through the nose and goes directly into the stomach and the nj tube is also inserted through the nose but goes down into the small bowl," the doctor told Ava and the others causing April to step in as she wanted to be involved as well.

"Well which one do you suggest at this point?" April asked the doctor. "Well I would say ..." the doctor began but was interrupted by the young blue haired teen who couldn't help herself.

"NG!" Evie practically screamed out causing Ava to sigh as she loved how much Evie wanted to help, but Evie was interrupting the doctor. "Evie, will you let the doctor speak please," Ava told Evie as she tried her best to stay calm and not go off the younger girl.

"I'm just saying the NG is easier to manage and she can still eat or drink when she wants to," Evie told the others as she was getting sick of being ignored just because she was younger than the others. Evie had been volunteering there for almost a year before she stopped. She had seen and heard everything there was to know about this stuff.

"I'm with Evie then," Lola told the others as she had to admit that she trusted Evie and it was obvious that the younger girl knew what she was talking about. Evie just smiled as she stood by Lola.

"Finally someone that listens to me!" Evie said out loud making Lola laugh as she found her little sister to be adorable. "Well of course," Lola playfully told Evie as she hugged her, making Evie laugh a little before April stepped in again. She knew Evie wanted to help, but she didn't like how much Evie was doing. The poor girl was only 15 and trying to take on the responsibilities of something she shouldn't be at this age.

"Okay you make valid points but maybe we should listen to the doctor and what she has to say first. And Evie for real it's getting late and you have school in the morning. We can handle it, please just get some sleep. You need it," April told her little sister as Evie was really starting to worry her.

"Fine but just know I'm right," Evie told April as she sat down on Mal's hospital bed/crib and began to start falling asleep as she didn't want to admit it, but the poor girl was exhausted and burned out.

"I'm sorry about that. She just wants to help, but it goes too far sometimes," Ava told the doctor as she was feeling bad about how Evie was acting towards her. The doctor just laughed as she looked over at the "sleeping" teen.

"Oh no it's fine. She used to volunteer here so we know how she is. She's very smart and really puts in all she can to help these children and even people older than her," the doctor told Ava who just smiled as she felt proud of her sister.

"Yeah that's definitely true anyway as you were saying before," Lola told the doctor as she was getting impatient. "Oh right. Okay well as I was saying I actually think an NG tube would be best for now, so Evie was actually correct," The doctor told the three sisters making Evie jump up in victory as she loved being right.

"Told you so!" Evie practically screamed out excitedly making Lola laugh as she put her arm around Evie. "I love this kid," Lola told the others as she couldn't help it. Ava and April both just shared a look as Ava looked at the young blue haired girl.

"Evie I thought you were sleeping," Ava told her younger sister as it was obvious that Evie was depriving herself of sleep which she didn't like. It wasn't Evie's job to be dealing with this situation and Ava hated that Evie felt like it was.

"I was but then I heard the words Evie was correct. I told you!" Evie told the others as she couldn't help herself. She was feeling proud and excited that she had been right even though no one except for Lola wanted to listen to her.

"Yes you were. You're definitely very smart. Anyway I will go and get the stuff you will need and someone will come in and show you all how to insert it and how it works," the doctor told Evie and then the others.

"Okay thank you," April told the doctor who just gave her a small smile as she went to the door. "Just doing my job," the doctor told the others as she left the room. "I knew I was right! I told you!" Evie told Ava again as she wanted Ava to admit she should have trusted her.

Ava just sighed as she had to admit that Evie was right even though she still didn't like how much pressure Evie was putting on herself to be involved in situations she was way too young to be dealing with.

"Okay you were right I'm sorry for not listening to you. Now seriously please get some sleep," Ava told her sister as she was getting to the point where she wanted to just force Evie to sleep and she didn't want to have to do that.

Evie just nodded as she let out a yawn. "Okay fine for real this time I promise I will. Good night," Evie told the others as she layed back down and crashed as soon as her head hit the pillow.

"I seriously love that kid," Lola told the others once Evie was passed out asleep with Mal and Carlos making Ava and April look at the young teen in sadness. "She's overwhelming and stressing herself out," April said out loud as she didn't like seeing her sister like this.

Ava just nodded as she looked at Evie as well. "I know she shouldn't have to worry about this stuff, she's only 15," Ava told the other two. "So who's going to be the unlucky one that has to wake the tot from her sleep," Lola playfully asked the other two making both Ava and April just look over at her not saying anything.

"Why are you... okay no! I'm not doing that!" Lola called out when she finally put together what Ava and April were doing. "It's your turn," April told Lola who looked at her like she was insane as she held her arm up to show the bandage from when she had her blood drawn.

"Okay first of all Ava is basically her mom. I just met her like today! Oh and also I literally had my blood taken for her!" Lola told them as she couldn't believe they would seriously ask her to do something like that when she had just donated her own blood to help Mal and she barely even knew her.

Yes Mal was apparently her sister, but it didn't change the fact that she had just met her. "Good point Ava you should do it," April told Ava who just groaned as decided it wasn't worth arguing over.

"Ugh fine I'll do it!" Ava told the two as she went to the bed and gently shook Mal to wake her up. Mal immediately began to stir as she started crying not wanting to be woken up from her sleep making Ava feel horrible but she knew this had to be done.

"Aw Mal it's okay. I'm sorry I have to. Just for a little bit then you can go back to sleep," Ava told the poor toddler as she rocked her a little trying to calm her down, but Mal just kept crying anyway.

"I know Mal I don't like this either," Ava told her baby sister as she tried her best to not start crying seeing Mal this upset. "I wa sweep!" Mal cried out as she kept sobbing making all three of the young adults feel horrible as they all three tried to remain strong.

"We know Mal but we have to do something first," April told the toddler as she tried her best to mask her emotions. While the three young adults were trying to calm the sobbing toddler the door opened as Tessa came in.

"Hi again I was told I was needed here um again," Tessa nervously told the others as she was afraid of how they would react. This was normally something that nurses would do not volunteers, but they were short on staff and Tessa was taught how to apply feeding tubes before, so they sent her in to do it.

Mal just stopped crying as she looked over at all the stuff in confusion while Mal was just trying to figure out what was going on Lola, Ava, and April were just staring at Tessa in shock that someone as young as her would be dealing with this and not the nurse.

"Wait, they're letting a kid do this?" Lola asked after a few minutes of silence as none of them knew how to react, causing Tessa to sigh as she had expected this reaction already.

"I know it seems bad but I assure you that I'm well qualified right now don't worry, besides once I show you how to do it you should be able to do it at home on your own," Tessa told the others trying to convince them to give her a try. She was already nervous and she didn't really know how else to deal with this. Especially considering she was still questioning whether she was actually related to these people or not.

"Do wa!" Mal asked as she was confused but everyone just ignored her as they kept talking. "Do you trust me?" Tessa asked the three older girls who all exchanged looks. "I don't really trust you but the quicker this is over with the quicker she can get back to sleep," Ava told Tessa who smiled a little as April just nodded.

"I'm with Ava," April told Tessa as she wanted her to know she didn't trust her right now but was willing to give her a shot anyway. "Okay well I'll take it," Tessa told the others as she sat down by Mal and gave her a small smile. "Hi cutie," Tessa told the toddler trying to get Mal to feel comfortable with her.

Mal just giggled as she looked at Tessa. She didn't know her very well, but like how she felt with the others she was feeling a connection to her. "Hewo!" Mal told Tessa, making Tessa smile a little before getting serious as she knew Mal was going to hate her for this, but it's needed.

"Okay now I'm about to do something that you probably won't like very much. I'm going to try and be as fast as I can okay," Tessa told Mal as she really hated what she was going to have to do to the poor two year old.

"Wa go on?" Mal asked as she was confused and getting scared. Ava just sighed as she got up and placed Mal in her lap holding her close. Ava was dreading this, but she knew it would calm Mal down if she was holding her.

"Mama wa go on!" Mal asked Ava again as she looked up at her making Ava close her eyes as she held back tears. "It's going to be okay," Ava told her baby sister as she just held her closer.

While Ava was trying her best to keep Mal calm, the small girl couldn't help but wander her eyes around the room. "Mama I scawew!" Mal cried out as her eyes had been focused on the feeding tube stuff. Mal had no clue what they were, but it was definitely scaring her.

"Mal it's okay you're going to be okay," Ava told the small girl as she continued to try and stay as strong as she could.

"Okay so this shouldn't hurt. It might be uncomfortable for a little bit but it shouldn't hurt. You can have her suck on water while I insert it or usually with babies and toddlers it can help them to suck on a pacifier," Tessa told Ava once she had finished situating all the supplies she would be using.

Mal immediately stopped her crying when she heard the word pacifier as she smiled and looked at the two older girls. "Paci! I wob paci!" The small girl exclaimed excitedly, making Tessa laugh as she just found the toddler to be adorable.

"Okay well I think I got my answer. Okay now remember this is gonna be uncomfortable but I'm going to try my best to be fast," Tessa told the two year old in her gentle voice causing Mal to just nod as she wasn't really paying attention.

"Okay here we go," Tessa told Mal as she grabbed the tube, but as soon as the small girl saw it she got scared again. "Wa da!" Mal practically screamed out as she tried to move away from Tessa.

"Oh right! This is going to go in your nose," Tessa told the small girl as she realized she forgot to explain what she was going to do to Mal first. Those words just caused Mal to nod as she covered her nose with her tiny hands, so Tessa couldn't access it.

Ava just sighed as she gently moved Mal's tiny hands from her nose. "Mal I know you don't want this but this is to help you," Ava told the purple haired toddler who immediately lost it as she started kicking and screaming at the top of helittlungs.

"NO! NO! NO! NO WANNA! NO WANNA! NO! NO! NO!" Mal wailed out as she continued to just kick and scream at the top of her lungs causing everyone in the room to have to hold back tears as April and Lola just couldn't take it anymore.

Tessa immediately pulled back as she put the tube down when she remembered she should probably try again and actually explain herself. "Okay let's take a little break. It's my bad. I should probably explain what I'm going to do first," Tessa told the others, causing Mal to calm down.

"Okay I think I'm going to take Evie and Carlos home now," April told Ava once Mal had started to calm down. April wanted to be there for Mal but just watching her kick and scream was torture and she just couldn't sit and watch it any longer.

Ava just gave April a hurt look as she couldn't believe April was just going to leave her. "You can't just leave!" Ava called out causing April to point to the two sleeping teens.

"They have school tomorrow," April told Ava knowing that Ava wouldn't be able to resist that. "Okay fine," Ava told April as she knew April was right even though she wasn't happy about that.

"Thank you," April told Ava as she made her way over to Evie and Carlos and gently woke them up. "What's going on?" Carlos asked as he began to stir and Evie just nodded as she was still completely out of it.

April just carefully helped Evie sit up as she looked at her. "We're going home, it's late and you two have school," April told Evie and Carlos, causing Carlos to get up as he grabbed his stuff while Evie just nodded and stumbled up.

Carlos looked at his twin in concern as he watched her continue to stumble until April caught her. "Is she okay?" Carlos asked, making April sigh as she helped Evie back up again.

"She's fine she's just exhausted now come on," April told Carlos who just nodded as he followed after April who was still helping Evie since she was barely awake. Once April, Evie, and Carlos were gone Lola grabbed her stuff as she looked at Ava.

"I should probably go too," Lola told Ava as she also wanted to be here for Mal, but she just couldn't handle watching the toddler scream and cry again. Watching Mal get the blood transfusion had been one of the worst experiences of her life and she just couldn't handle watching anymore torture.

"Where are you going?" Ava asked Lola who just shrugged as she went to the door. "Home," Lola told Ava who gave her the same hurt look she gave April. "You're just going to leave me?" Ava asked Lola who just sighed.

"I don't want to see her crying again and it's late," Lola told Ava. "Lola please don't go I can't do this by myself," Ava practically begged Lola as she couldn't handle having to deal with this all by herself and wanted someone to stay and be there for her.

Lola just sighed as she knew she was hurting Ava by doing this but she just couldn't sit here and watch anymore torture. "Ava I just can't do it, I'm sorry," Lola told her big sister as she left the room leaving Ava alone with Mal and Tessa.

"Um well I should probably explain what's going to happen so I can get this feeding tube in. My shift is going to end soon. And I have school in the morning as well," Tessa awkwardly told Ava as she had watched everything go down, but didn't want to get involved.

Ava just nodded as she looked at Tessa. She didn't want any of this and it hurt that she was all alone now with Mal who was probably going to hate her after this. When Tessa saw that Ava wasn't going to say anything she continued.

"Okay now I'm going to measure the part of her nose where the tube will be to the tip of the ear and down to about halfway between her bellybutton and her breast bone then I will mark it so I know how far to insert it," Tessa told Ava and Mal who wasn't really paying attention as she was just staring off in space.

Once Tessa finished explaining what she was about to do she grabbed the tube as she placed it on the nose where she would be inserting the tube and then moved it to the tip of Mal's ear and down to about halfway between her bellybutton and her breastbone.

While Tessa was doing that Mal began to get fussy as she tried to get away again but Ava just pulled her closer and started whispering comforting phrases to her allowing Tessa to finish as she marked the tube.

"Mal it's okay she's not going to hurt you," Ava told Mal in her most gentle voice as she tried her best to not let the tears out. "NO WAN ID!" Mal screamed out at the top of her lungs causing Ava to pull her closer again as she started humming trying to calm Mal down.

To her relief Mal did start to calm down, but she was still crying. "Aw I know I'm sorry I have to. Okay now that I have marked how far to insert it I will wipe off her cheek with a disinfectant wipe and then I will place this DuoDerm tape on her cheek to help with placement," Tessa told both Mal and Ava again as she grabbed a disinfectant wipe and wiped down Mal's cheek.

Once Tessa finished with that she cut off a piece of DuoDerm tape and carefully placed it onto Mal's cheek which again resulted in more squirming from the toddler. "Aw I know it's uncomfortable, we're almost done," Tessa told Mal in her comforting voice before turning back to Ava.

"Okay now this next part is probably going to be the hardest," Tessa told Ava who just sighed as she nodded again. Ava just wanted to get this over with as she was just starting to feel numb and empty at this point.

"Okay now I'm going to dip the tip of this tube into the water. Do not ever use any gels or Vaseline that will clog it," Tessa told Ava who just nodded again. "Got it," Ava told Tessa.

"Okay good now I recommend holding her closer to you and I would give her the pacifier as that will help with this next part," Tessa told Ava as she grabbed the tube and dipped the tip into water.

Ava just nodded as she pulled out Mal's pacifier and placed it in her mouth. She then began to hum again. "Hey it's okay Mal it's going to be over soon," Ava told the toddler as she continued to hum and whisper comforting phrases.

While Ava was doing that Tessa took a deep breath as she really didn't want to do this, but it was too late now. Once Tessa finished preparing herself she placed the tube in Mal's nose and started gently inserting it.

This immediately caused Mal to lose it as she started screaming and crying at the top of her lungs. "I know Mal it's almost over," Ava told Mal as she pulled Mal closer and tried to hold back her tears despite some falling down anyway.

"Okay it's in now let me just check to make sure it's placed right. You do this by attaching the syringe to the tip and pulling back," Tessa told Ava a few minutes later once she had finished inserting the tube to the right spot.

"Now you see that cloudy stuff?" Tessa asked Ava once she attached the syringe to the end of the tube and pulled back filling it with a cloudy colored liquid. Ava just looked at the syringe in confusion as she had no clue what that was.

"Yeah what is that?" Ava asked Tessa who just smiled a little as she unattached the syringe and threw it away. "Stomach contents that means it's placed right," Tessa told Ava who looked at her in shock.

"Wait, that's some of her stomach contents," Ava asked in shock, making Tessa laugh. "Yeah don't worry that's normal and actually what we wanted to see. Like I said, that means it's placed right. Now we just tape it down and there we go," Tessa told Ava as she grabbed some purple tape and applied it over the tube in order to tape it down.

Ava just gave Tessa a small smile as she placed Mal down. "Thank you," Ava told Tessa who smiled as well. "Of course anyway I should really go now my shift is ending. Good luck. I hope things go well. Oh and make sure you look for any signs of choking or signs of breathing issues as that could be a sign that it's in the lungs not the stomach," Tessa told Ava as she quickly left the room. It was still hard for her to be around them when she still didn't know if that was her family or not and she was too scared to do anything about it yet.

Once Tessa left the room Mal continued to cry as she tried to take the tube out causing Ava to act fast as she quickly pulled Mal's hands down stopping her. "No Mal you need that," Ava told the toddler in her stern voice causing Mal to cross her arms as she refused to look at Ava.

"You a meanie! I no wike you no mow!" Mal screamed out causing Ava to start crying as she knew Mal would be mad at her but it still hurt. "Mal don't be like that," Ava told her little sister who continued to cross her arms and face away from her making Ava cry more.

"Mal please," Ava cried out but Mal just refused again. "NO!" Mal yelled out as she went back to sleep while still crying and facing away from Ava. Once Mal fell back to sleep Ava broke down sobbing as she grabbed her flask and just started chugging and chugging wanting to numb all the suffering.