Children's Doctor, Shy Nurse

“If you have no objection, Mark, I’d like to try some aromatherapy oils on the injury, too.” She chewed her lip, not sure how he would react to that request. Many doctors didn’t understand, or agree with, the benefit of treatments that weren’t created in a chemistry lab.

“Aromatherapy?” Mark asked with a quick glance at her, brows raised, silently asking for more information.

Clenching her hands together, she prepared to support her case. “Yes. I know it’s considered an alternative treatment, but I like to think of it as complementary. I’ve used it successfully on a variety of ailments. No adverse reactions, either.” Mostly she’d treated her dad and a few friends, but she truly believed in it. Heart racing, she hoped he would agree. She might even be able to document the use of oils on a burn for others to follow.

“Any objections from you, Bear?” Mark asked and turned the man’s wrist slightly, looking at the wound that ran all the way around his wrist. “Otherwise, we’ll just send you off to the ER in town.”

“Nope. She said it’s kind of like folk medicine, and I’m okay with that. Anything to take the sting out of it is okay with me, and I don’t want to go to the ER. I got stuff to do.”

“Aromatherapy is widely used in Europe, and I’ve used it before on burns, though not one as large as this.” In the kitchen she was a klutz and had succeeded in burning herself in myriad ways, so she kept a bottle of lavender essential oil handy to treat herself with.

“Okay, Nurse Ellie. Do your thing.”

Mark issued the order, and she was suddenly energized by his open-minded nature. Working with him might not be so bad after all.

“I’ll be right back.” She raced to her room, grabbed her kit of aromatherapy vials and quickly returned to the lodge. Unzipping the protective neoprene case, she pulled one bottle out and clenched it in her hand. “Keep holding your arm over the sink, will you? In case anything drips off,” she said.

“I think you did a good job of cooling the injury right away, Bear,” Mark said and stood to observe Ellie’s treatment.

“Hurts like hell though,” he said, grumbling, but allowed Ellie to minister to him. The first few drops of oil hit his skin and the fragrance permeated the kitchen. “You didn’t tell me it was perfume!” Bear cried and tried to pull away from her.

Grabbing him by the apron front, she kept him in position. “It’s not perfume. Now live up to your reputation and hold still, will you?”

“Oh, man. The guys will never let me live this one down. My wife, neither.” He bowed his head and shook it in disgust, certain his fierce reputation had just been torn to shreds.

Beside them, Skinny snickered, but quieted after a glare from Bear.

“It’s better than being in pain, and it’s certainly better than a burn that could scar badly and prevent you from cooking for all these campers.” Gently, she used her fingers to rub the oil over all areas of the burn. “There are wonderful healing properties in this oil, as I said. Who cares what it smells like, right?”

Bear gave a sniff of lingering disapproval, but relented. “I guess.”

“If it will make you feel better, you can tell people I held you down while Ellie poured it on you,” Mark said.

Bear gave Mark’s thin frame a glance and snorted. “Now, no one’s gonna believe that one.”

“I’m stronger than I look,” Mark said and flexed his left bicep.

Bear barked out a laugh and shook his head. “I make biscuits bigger than that, Mark.” Bear relaxed, and Ellie knew that had been Mark’s intention.

The tension between the three of them eased. “Did Ellie get her doughnuts?”

“No. I burned myself just as she walked in. They’re still in the cooler.” He nodded to indicate which one.

Mark rubbed his hands together at that information. “Any others that you want to get rid of, like Boston cream? Breakfast was a long time ago.”

“Yeah, help yourself. There’s a couple left.” Bear held still while Ellie wrapped a light gauze dressing to his injury.

“That ought to do it.” She applied one strip of tape to keep the end of the gauze secure.

“I can’t cook wearing this thing. I look like a mummy.”

“Leave it on through the afternoon. Step back and just supervise for a meal, then come see me before dinner. We’ll take it off then and see how it’s doing. You might not even blister,” Ellie said, pleased that she’d been able to help him right away with her essential oils. The more she used them, the more uses she found for them.

“I’ll see you in a couple of hours, then. Get your doughnuts, and I’ll clean up this damned mess I made.”

Skinny stepped forward with a grin. “I can help you, Bear, since you have a sore paw.”

Bear turned quickly with a growl. “Now, don’t be making cracks about me bein’ lame…” Bear said and grabbed a towel with his left hand and snapped it at Skinny, but he missed by a long measure. “Put that broom to good use and help me clean this mess up.”

The two engaged in what appeared to be a long-standing, good-natured argument. Thus dismissed, Mark and Ellie gathered their medical supplies and returned to the infirmary.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE chaos of the morning settled down and Ellie was able to prepare the allergy shots as well as get the normal lunch meds organized. Accomplishing the task ahead of time made her feel more in control of herself and more comfortable with the job she was supposed to be doing.

While the kids who had received allergy shots waited the requisite fifteen minutes in the infirmary to see if they were going to have a reaction to the injection, Ellie waited with them. A local reaction of warmth and swelling sometimes occurred, although there was always the potential for a serious reaction with each injection. She kept a number of EpiPens handy for true allergic emergencies. Something she dreaded happening to anyone, but especially a child.

Screams and shouts heralded the arrival of someone to the infirmary, and she was on instant alert. A counselor carrying a screaming child in his arms hurried toward the building. Ellie rushed to the door and opened it for them.

“What happened?” The boy screamed as if he’d had a leg cut off, but it was clearly intact.

Mark arrived directly behind them. “I heard the commotion from across the soccer field. That kid’s got a good set of lungs. What’s going on?” He instantly switched to physician mode, and Ellie was startled to see the visible change in front of her. The intensity and his energy were totally focused on the situation in front of him.

The counselor sat the boy in a chair and dropped into the one beside him. “Bee sting.”

Ellie knelt as the boy held out a hand with a bright red welt forming on the back of it. He continued to cry and tremble despite the efforts of the counselor and Ellie to comfort him.

“I don’t see a stinger, so that’s good.” She applied a numbing spray to the site as Mark watched over her shoulder. “This will make it feel better in a jiffy,” she said and stroked his arm above the sting, trying to soothe him a little. “What’s your name?” With a gentle hand, she wiped his tears away and pressed a cool cloth to his face.

“This is Adam,” the counselor said when the boy didn’t speak. “And I’m Eddie.”

“Nice to meet you both. Is this your first year at camp, Adam?”

The boy nodded and leaned closer into the counselor, who hugged him. Tears continued to flow, but the hysteria had settled down to hiccups and sniffles. Ellie suspected that the numbing spray had begun to do its job. The fear would take a little longer to subside.

Then Adam giggled. And his eyes lit up. And then he pointed over Ellie’s shoulder, and she turned. And she clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the totally unprofessional giggle that threatened to burst out of her.

Mark looked like a rooster. He had taken a large exam glove and placed it over the top of his head. The fingers flopped over to one side, but each time he moved they jiggled like a rooster comb.

“That’s more like it,” he said and knelt beside them, still wearing the glove on his head. Adam reached out and batted the fingers, trying to make them stand upright. Mark examined the injury closely. “You’re right. No stinger, so couldn’t have been a honeybee. Looks like there might be two stings though. Must have been a hornet or a wasp. They’re a lot nastier.” He looked at Eddie. “Where was he when this happened?”

“Over at the edge of the new soccer field.”

“Okay. As long as it wasn’t in your cabin, although I think the maintenance guys checked all of the buildings for unwanted critters already.” He patted Adam on the leg. “Ellie, got any more of that lavender oil handy?” he asked.

“Sure. Want to put some on the sting, too?” She brightened at the thought. Another use for her oil.

“Yes. The numbing spray smells so medicinal, and the oil is a much better fragrance for the kids.”