After I hung up I ran up to my room and grabbed a ten dollar bill, then down to the office to get a half liter bottle of hand sanitizer, and then I ran down to the van. The five campers were sitting around on the picnic table chatting or reading.
“Hey guys! Do you have plenty of reading material for the trip into town and the wait in the emergency room?” They nodded and waved their books and showed me their stacks of magazines. “Ya, well, it might be a long wait to be seen by the doctor, so make sure you have enough! Oh and, hey, make sure you wash your hands really well after your ER visit, OK?” The boys nodded again as I waved the bottle of hand sanitizer at them.
I turned to see that Chubby was packing the back of the van with garbage bags full of recycling.
“Hey Chubby. You making the trip into town today?”
 |
| http://3.bp.blogspot.com |
“Yuuuup. We are going to drop stuff off at recycling, take the campers to the ER, pick up some hardware at Canadian Tire, then to the pharmacy to get your supplies for the office and then to Tim Horton’s drive through to get some Timbits to eat on the way home.” He said with a wink.
“Sweet. Thanks for taking the kids in. Do you have their health information?”
“Yuuuup. Muddy gave me the envelope.” Chubby pointed to the envelope sitting on the driver’s seat.
“Well, I just wanted to let you know that I called the hospital and the waiting period is about 45 minutes at this point.” I grimaced.
“Cooool. I should have plenty of time to get a load of laundry done at the laundromat too then!” Chubby said with a thoughtful look.
 |
| http://content.costco.com |
“Lucky you! Oh and Chubby, be sure to have everyone wash their hands really well after they leave the hospital. There’s a bad germ going around and I don’t want anyone getting it and bringing it back to the camp. OK?” Chubby nodded his understanding as I plunked the half liter bottle of hand sanitizer into his hands. “Oh and maybe at Tim Horton’s could you buy the staff the biggest can of ground coffee you can get? And use the change to buy your box of Timbits as a way of me saying thanks for your help today!”
I pulled out the ten dollar bill and waved it in front of Chubby’s face. His eyes sparkled as he plucked the ten from my fingers and tucked it into the pocket in his shorts.
“Yuuup. I think I can arrange that. No worries, Anne, and you’re welcome!” He gave me the thumbs up. I gave him the thumbs up back.
“Bye guys. See you later.” I called to the campers as I left to run back upstairs.
I needed to get my first aid supplies and get going on my rounds. My lungs and thighs burned again as I jogged up the stairs to our room. My kids were already long gone, off to their first instruction, so I had the room to myself. I pulled on my bathing suit and tossed a t-shirt and stretchy cotton shorts over top. I put on some socks and running shoes. I grabbed my back pack and a towel. I ran down to the health office and threw some first aid supplies into my back pack. I was zipping it up and turning to leave the office when a young female counselor stepped into the office.
“May I speak to you privately, Nurse?” she asked in hushed tones as she closed the office door behind her.
I felt a chill go down my back and all the hairs on my arms stood up. I had a bad feeling about this.
Memoirs of a Camp Nurse 