"Whumpee...?" Caretaker peeks into the bedroom with a box of medical supplies. "You know what time it is.." Caretaker trails off as they scan the room. Whumpee is no where in sight.
'Must have heard me rummaging in the bathroom closet I guess. I thought was being quiet this time.' Caretaker lamented to themselves. Whumpee hated getting their bandages changed. Caretaker couldn't blame them, they were essentially forced to sit still for a long period of time, it was uncomfortable with the possibility of hurting, and it was a reminder of everything they had gone through. Each bandage change was as good as a technicolor retelling with a front seat for Whumpee.
"I wonder where my Whumpee could be.." Caretaker mused out loud. They heard a sharp inhale from under the bed. "Could they be... in the closet?!" Caretaker swung open the closet door. "Hm. Maybe not. Could they be... behind the reading chair?!" A small giggle came from under the bed.
"Where could my little Whumpee be? I am SO confused!" Caretaker was really hamming it up this time. It was time to make their move. They lifted the blankets to see a surprised Whumpee with dried tears on their face. "Hey Bud. It's time for a bandage change." Caretaker smiled at the person they're responsible for, before grabbing the one good arm and dragging them gently out from under the bed.
"Nonononono I'm fine! I'm fine! We just did this!" Whumpee cried. "Yeah, yesterday. Doc said bandage change every day." Caretaker huffed as they lifted Whumpee onto the bed, facing them.
Caretaker looked Whumpee in the eyes and held their hands. "Hey Bud, I know you don't like doing this, and that's valid, but we have to so you can get better and so your wounds don't get infected, which would be SO much worse. I know it's scary and it brings back memories that you want to forget so let's try to make this a fun time. I have some things we can talk about, -kay?"
With a resigned sigh, Whumpee closed their eyes and held out their bad arm. "That's it," Caretaker cooed. "Now tell me. If you could always make a perfect bag of popcorn or always have the exact change for whatever you were buying, which would you choose?"
Whumpee opened their eyes. "Wha-?" "Hey I'm trying to make this a fun time, remember?" Caretaker joked. "So? Which one?"
"Um, I guess, popcorn." "Why?" "Well, it's never bad to have extra change.. and.. it's always so hard to pop every single kernel."
"Interesting points! I hadn't considered that." Caretaker engaged. "Well, what about you?" Whumpee inquired. Caretaker smiled. They thought this would be much harder but Whumpee seems to be relaxing. Maybe this didn't have to be the worst time of the day anymore.
