Riley

Chapter nineteen: Stupid adults

The infirmary smelled of lavender, the sky-blue tiles surrounding the four walls shone as if they were glass cases under spotlights, the small desk and crib had been freshly polished. The medicine refrigerator was also in perfect condition, perhaps Nurse Yvette had just changed it.

The young woman was reading a medical manual when the door opened violently. It was Ferg who had thrown it open like that; he called out her name. Yvette rushed toward him without hesitation.

Her eyes fell on the little girl she held in her arms. The little girl hid her face, sobbing softly. She preferred not to start a discussion; her priority was to help the poor little girl.

"Leave her, I'll take it from here," she told him in a firm tone, then looked at the little boy for a moment. She noticed a line of blood dripping from his right temple. "You are bleeding, take a piece of paper and hold it against the wound."

Yvette sat the little girl down on a stool. She took a deep breath, grabbed her forearms slowly and began to speak to her softly, "It's okay. You are in the infirmary, I am Nurse Yvette, what happened to you?"

The little girl did not answer, the sobs began to slow down. Feeling the very slight pressure on her arms, the little girl pushed them away from her face with slow, shaking movements.

The nurse understood the reason for the urgency. She told her "I'll be right back," went to the refrigerator, from which she took out a bag with a bluish liquid inside, and returned to the suffering little girl.

"Take it and bring it close to her eye, don't press it hard," she handed it to her and she obeyed.

She groaned. She told her in a low voice, "Thank you."

Yvette smiled weakly at her. She turned her gaze toward her friend. Ferg was watching them worriedly. From the way he pressed his lips against each other, he was resisting the intense burning of the wound.

"I'll fix your friend up, you stay here in the meantime," she told her.

A few minutes later, Luz and Ferg sat next to each other. Her cut was disinfected and stopped bleeding, the only advice she gave them was to keep their hands away from the wound.

Throughout their stay, Riley remained aloof and in complete silence. Seeing them together and taken care of calmed her and made her forget that her pants were wet. Holding back a smile was impossible.

"Are they okay?" questioned Yvette, her voice nervous. She could no longer keep it to herself. She approached her friends.

The woman looked at her bewilderedly for a moment. Before her question she thought she was alone with two eleven-year-olds, she had to think again. She sat down behind her small desk, then answered her, "Fit as a fiddle. I must admit that you two are the first two serious patients I've had since the beginning of the year."

"So, can we go back to class?" asked Freg thoughtfully, involuntarily his hand and Luz's hand joined.

Yvette took a blank sheet of paper from in blue binder and a pen from the pen holder next to the computer screen. She replied coldly, "Not yet, I need to talk to one of your teachers first."

"Why?" asked Riley in a contrite voice.

Yvette looked up from the paper uncertainly.

"Because my work," she explained seriously. "I have to report my work to the teacher on duty so they can communicate it to your parents."

Ferg got up from his stool in amazement. "No! They can't do that!"

Nurse Yvette abruptly rose from her chair. Her sincere and systematic tone of voice, however, betrayed the sense of imposition that her pose instilled.