Henry (Open Heart)

Henry, a character in the Open Heart series, was Dr. Bryce Lahela's patient and friend. He makes his official appearance in Book 3, Chapter 8.

Appearance
Henry has green eyes, short wavy brown hair, and fair-to-tan skin. He wears an olive-green Henley shirt.

Book 3

 * Chapter 8: The Die Is Cast
 * Chapter 11: Wedding Belles (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 12: Steady Hand

Bryce Lahela
Henry is Bryce's former patient and current friend. He has complex spina bifida with tethered cord syndrome. He has undergone several surgeries but it keeps returning. He is in the hospital to try to convince Bryce to perform a new surgery called S.S.V.O. which is a spine-shortening procedure. It is a risky surgery but if successful, it would lessen Henry's pain and also reduce the number of future surgeries he may have. Bryce is reluctant because there are too many risks. Henry already has a lot of scar tissue on his spine that will make even regular surgery difficult, and his body is less able to handle major surgery due to his condition.

In Chapter 11, Bryce is informed by a message that Edenbrook is going to perform the spine-shortening procedure with Henry and that his attending wants him to be part of the surgery team. Bryce asks Harper to take him off the team, but starts to research the procedure in an effort to talk Henry out of it.

In Chapter 12, Bryce refuses to intervene in Henry's surgery because he considers it too risky and that is why he can't take the lead in it. Later, if you convince Bryce to talk to Henry, you help them to make amends before the surgery and to have one last good memory in case it goes wrong. Henry tells Bryce that he still wants to try the surgery because the alternative is worsening pain until he cannot take it any more. He wants Bryce to do it because he knows Bryce will do everything possible up to the last second. In his heart, Henry knows if anyone can get him through it, it will be Bryce.

In any case, Henry dies during the surgery. If Bryce had been the lead during the surgery, he tells you that they did everything right and did not hit any snags. However, Henry's blood pressure plummeted, and they did everything they could but could not bring him back. The surgery was too demanding on his body and it could not hold out. Bryce is happy to have had one last good memory of Henry and he knows that in his heart that Henry had no doubts and no regrets.

Your Character
You first meet Henry when he visits Bryce at Edenbrook. They invite you to join them in an escape room mystery, which they do whenever they meet up.

In Chapter 12, Henry comes to you to ask you to help him talk to Bryce. Henry wants to have a final good memory with Bryce in case the worst happens. When the worst case does happen, you and your friends can choose to help Bryce through his grief and talk about old patients of your past.

Trivia

 * He shares the same first name as Henry from Home for the Holidays, Henry from Distant Shores, and Henry Zhang from Bloodbound, Book 3.
 * He is the third wheelchair-bound characters in Choices. The other characters include Elijah Greene from the Open Heart series, Alma Velasco from Mother of the Year, and Luz Salazar from Getaway Girls.