"Hello. We are here for our appointment with Dr. Parker", dad tells the receptionist and she nods. She hands us the visitor IDs again and we take the elevator and go to Dr. Parker's office.

Dad knocks on door and she tells us to come in.

"Hello Hazel. I see you have made your decision", Dr. Parker smiles and gestures me to sit. Dad sits beside me and holds my hand in his and gives it a squeeze.

"Yes doctor. I have".

"May I know what that is? Are we going with option one or two?"

"Option two. I don't want the operation. I can deal with medicines for the entire life but not with a transplant".

"I hope this decision is not based on the fear of surgery? Have you thought about everything properly?"

"Yes I have. And I'm not scared of surgery, it's just that I don't want it. I have accepted the way I am".

"Okay Hazel. We will start your new medicines from tomorrow. Today, I'll tell you all about them and what they exactly do and when you have to take them. I will give you a schedule to remember the timings, alright?", she asks with a sweet smile and I feel relived. I feel like I have made a right decision.

"Sure thing".

"Before that, would you please come with me? I want to show you something", Dr. Parker gets up from her chair and asks me to follow her. Dad to gets up but she stops him.

"I just want Hazel to come. We will be back in a few minutes", she tells mom and dad and they nod their heads.

"Come on Hazel", she opens the door and gestures for me to pass through.

"Where are we going, if you don't mind me asking?"

"We are going to see children suffering from the same medical condition as you. I want you to understand that there's nothing wrong with you. Yes you have a medical condition, weight gain is one of the side effects but that doesn't define who you actually are", she says and looks at me and I am sure she knows about my insecurities about myself. I don't reply and follow her into the elevator.

"Hazel, now you will see many children like you. As you see, hypothyroidism is a really common medical condition today. I just want you to understand that, your appearance doesn't matter if you are pure from the inside. Come", she takes my hand and leads me to the first room.

"Her name is Gail. She's 13 and has advanced hypothyroidism. She doesn't have an option like you did. She needs a transplant to survive. But, she's been here for three years now and as I have told you, thyroid transplant takes time. All the time she's been here, her weight never stopped increasing even after our best efforts. She's accepted that and loves herself just the way she is. Her parents are just like yours, supportive and loving. Her friends too come to visit her regularly and they even have a little party thing once in a while", she continues telling me but I block her out and just look at Gail. She is much more healthier than me but she smiles and laughs way more than I do. She wears the clothes that I would never even dare. I can see she loves herself and that's the difference between us. Even if I say I have accepted the way I am, I haven't and my heart knows that. It just didn't want to accept it.

"Shall we go see her?", Dr. Parker's voice interrupts me.

"No it's okay", I don't want to go into the room and damper her mood.

"Okay. Let's go meet my favorite patient then", saying so, we start walking towards the end of the hall. We pass many patients, some in worse condition than mine.

"Good morning Harriet. How are we feeling today?", Dr. Parker enters the room and gestures me to follow her.

"Dr. Parker. Good morning to you to. I'm feeling really well, thank you. Well, I can see you have a guest with you", Harriet looks at me and gives me a sweet smile. I smile back and nod my head.

"This is Hazel Campbell. I was just giving her a tour and then brought her to meet my favorite patient", she smiles at her and checks her vitals.

"Hi Hazel. I'm Harriet Lynn and this is my mom, Rina Lynn", she introduces me to her mom and I nod at her with a polite smile.

"Hello. Nice to meet you both".

"Rina, why don't we give these girls some time to bond?", Dr. Parker says and looks at me. My eyes widen and before I could process anything they both leave the room.

"Hazel, come and sit. I could use someone to talk to", she gestures for me to take a sit at the edge of her bed. I sit down and look at her. I am so not a person to start a conversation. I hope she says something or this is going to be really awkward.

"So, how old are you?", she asks and I am glad she did.

"I'm 18. You?", the conversation flows between us and I feel comfortable around her. She has a positive vibe surrounding her.

"At what age did you know?", she asks and I exhale deeply.

"13. Since when are you in here?"

"I am here since I was 8 that is 10 years now", she says this so easily as if it's nothing.

"Damn! That's a long time. Do you know when you are getting out?"

"Not until I receive a thyroid. My case is unique. Thyroid of my match is not easily available so I'll be here for a while but I am fine with it. If I had an option I would've been the happiest person alive but I don't, so I have to deal with this", she laughs at the end and I just continue staring at her. This girl is suffering way more than I am.

"You know, I am straight", she says out of no where and I can't help but I laugh out loud.

"What?", I wheeze out, still laughing.

"You were staring at me", she too starts laughing and now we both are laughing.

"So, you must have completed your high school right?", she asks me and I stop laughing.

"No. I'm yet to complete my last year. We moved and I'll complete it here".

"I was home schooled so obviously I don't have the experience so tell me all about it, please".

"I don't have much to tell", I feel like I should tell her the truth. I could have lied but my mind and heart doesn't want me to. It's the first time I have someone of my age with whom I could be the way I am. I don't have to hide anything from her.

"Why do you say so?"

"I was bullied my entire school life. That's one of the main reasons why we moved here", I tell her in a small voice. Her hand finds mine and she squeezes it.

"You know what I think, we are the way we are because we have some purpose. Maybe we have somthing to do that no one else could. No one knows what our future brings us, but we have to accept the way we are and love ourselves no matter what. Only we have the power to hurt ourselves, no one can hurt us until we let them. If we are strong enough, no one can hurt us. Trust me on this", she says and I know there's a story behind this, but I don't ask. Her words really moved something in me. I have tried to accept myself the way I am. I have convinced others that I have, but I know better. I haven't. I still look at myself in the mirror everyday and the insecurities, the anger always erupts within me. I can't look at myself without getting angry about my condition.

"I know you have your set of insecurities but you have to let them go and accept the way you are", she says and opens her arms. I hug her and after a long time I feel at ease.

"Hazel, we have to go now. You're parents must be waiting", Dr. Parker enters with Rina and I smile at her. Harriet and I exchange numbers and I promise to visit her soon.

"Bye Harriet. Thank you so much for today", I hug her one more time and follow Dr. Parker back to her office.

"Hazel, these are your new medicines. You can start them from tomorrow. Everything is written here and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me anytime", she says and hands me the prescription.

"Thank you so much Dr. Parker", I say and nod my head at her. She knows I am thanking her for what she did for me today. I still have my insecurities but with time I will leave them behind and move forward and learn to accept myself the way I am.

"Anytime Hazel", she smiles and I cannot be more grateful to know her and have her as my doctor.

"Let's go dad", we all leave the rom after saying our goodbyes.

"Where did you go with her Hazel? We were worried", mom asks and I smile remembering my new friend.

"I'll tell you all about it when we go home".

"You look happier. Whatever Dr. Parker did definitely worked", dad says and hugs me to him.

"It sure did".

"Let's go shopping", Ace squeals like a girl and we all laugh and mom ruffles his hair.

"Ready?", we all nod and drive towards the nearest shopping mall.

One thing you should know about me is, I love shopping. I can shop for hours without getting tired. My mom and I sure the same enthusiasm when it comes to shopping but my dad and Ace are least interested. They went to sit in the food court while we shopped.

I bought some really nice clothes for myself as well as Ace. I even got an amazing Captain Marvel T-shirt that I always wanted and Iron Man one for Ace.

As we juggle the shopping bags, dad and Ace approach us. Dad takes some bags from me and Ace helps mom with hers.

"Are you done now?", Ace asks us, clearly annoyed by the fact that we spent four hours inside the mall.

"Yes we are, dear brother. I would've told you what I got for you but you seem annoyed", I tease him.

"Please tell me you got the Iron Man T-shirt I wanted?!"

"Maybe", I smile at him and literally squeals. He starts talking about Iron Man and Avengers. I too contribute in between but he does all the talking. Mom and dad are ignoring us and talking amongst themselves.

As we make our way towards the exit, dad abruptly turns towards me.

"You were talking about some gym right? Where is it? We will go there today itself and register you in and maybe Ace, if he wants to", dad says and I tell him the address of the gym that is really near to our house. Ace too agrees to go with me.

We register at the gym and finally go home. Ace races to his room with his shopping bags, eager to take a look at what all I got for him.

"So honey, what did Dr. Parker show you today?", mom asks as we three set the bags down on the chairs.

"She took me to meet some children who have the same medical condition like me. I met a girl named Harriet and I am stunned by her. Dad, her hypothyroidism is much worse than mine. She's been at the hospital for a 10 years now and still, she didn't get the thyroid transplant. Talking to her felt like I know myself more now. She helped me to look at this medical condition as something that was given to me for a purpose. She helped look at the positive side of this. She's amazing. I promised her I will visit her soon. Can I go and visit her mom?"

They both look at each other and smile. They hug me to them and kiss my forehead.

"We are so proud of you sweetie. We knew you could do this. And of course you can visit her. Even we would like to see the girl who changed our baby girl's perspective", mom says, a few tears leaving her eyes.

"I love you both so much".

"We love you more baby. Now go to your room and sleep, okay?"

"Yes dad. Good night", I kiss them both on their cheeks and leave the room.

As I get ready for bed, all I could think about was how Harriet helped me see the light in the darkness.

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A/N

Phew! A long chapter for you all! I'm so sorry I couldn't update sooner.

So, what do you think about Harriet? Isn't she just amazing?!

Let me know your thoughts.

Laters people!