I wiped down the counters and then sat down to document in my nursing notes.

“Hepatitis B vaccine administered.” I summarized. I paused and then I put the pen down. Seemed quite simple but that had been a real struggle for the poor young man. I shook my head.  

I glanced at the clock as the bell rang. It was time for general swim. I shivered in my damp clothing and remembered that I really needed to have a shower and get changed. I locked up the office and ran upstairs. I peeled off my outfit that I had been wearing for over 24 hours now and hung each item on our dryer line. I considered, briefly, having a shower and then dismissed that idea as I pulled on my bathing suit. Why bother? It was not like I was dirty, per se. I figured I might as well just join everyone at general swim.

I pulled on some dry shorts, a clean-ish t-shirt and slipped my slightly soggy sandals back on my feet. I grabbed a towel and headed down toward the beach.

Building castles

When I arrived, general swim was in full swing. I was checked in a the gate and found Himself seated in his folding chair, reading in the shade on the edge of the beach. My backpack and an empty folding chair awaited me beside him. I eased myself into it and let myself relax. The kids were very busy building more sand castles with a group of campers I recognized from their last effort. Seems they had their own little sand castle building core team of regulars now. One of the Deer hut campers appeared to be in charge and was giving out orders.

“That took a while.” Himself commented as he put down his magazine.

“Yup.” I nodded. “It did indeed.”

“Not much of a vacation really, is it?”

“Nope.” I sighed. “But the price is right.”

“It is indeed.” Himself echoed. 

“Juuuust keep repeating that in your head.” I said as I watched as one of the Deer Hut campers make his way towards me.

“Oh boy. Here comes a new customer.” Himself whispered as he spied him too.

“Nurse Anne? Does this look infected to you? Robert says it’s gangrene.”

I looked at Luke’s proffered foot. He had a mosquito bite. Just a regular itchy mosquito bite on his dirty little foot.

“No, my friend. Not gangrene. It looks like a dirty foot with a mosquito bite that you itched a lot, yes?”

“Yes.” 

“OK. Go soak your foot in the cool lake water, wash off some of that dirt, and then come see me in the office before bed and we can put some cream on it to stop it from itching tonight. K?”

“OK. Thanks Nurse Anne.” Luke grinned with relief and he ran back to Robert who was sitting on his towel on the beach playing Solitaire. “It’s not gangrene Robert!” Luke yelled at him. “Nurse Anne said so.”

Robert paused in the midst of his game and looked over at me. I raised an eyebrow and shook my head slowly. Robert shrugged his shoulders and gave me a crooked smile. I watched as Luke ran down to the water and sat in the shallow end and began rubbing the dirt from his foot. 

“Incoming. Two o’clock.” Himself said as he looked over his sunglasses. Sure enough. Cameron was headed my way. 

“Nurse Anne! I have a sore throat.” I had him kneel down, took a look down his throat and palpated for nodes.

“Cameron, can you please drink some extra juice at dinner and from the water fountain? Then before bed come by if it still hurts or you feel sweaty. OK?”

“Thanks!” Cameron said as he got up and went back to his towel to read. 

“And…nine o’clock…” Himself whispered. 

“Nurse Anne. I just got water in my ear and I can’t get it out.” Max told me as he stood in front of me, dripping in his bathing suit, and shook his head in an attempt to drain his ear. Water droplets from his hair flew everywhere. I stifled a smile as I noticed Himself try to cover his magazine from the cascade of water.

“Come on bro. I have a little trick we can try.” I motioned him to follow me to the water front shed. I found an alcohol swab in the first aid kit. I had Max tilt his head to the side and squeezed just a couple of teeny tiny drops into his affected ear. “Now see if the water drains out.” I told him.

Max tilted his head to the other side. A huge grin spread over his face.

“Awh ya! Thanks!” Max said, gave me a rambunctious high five and ran back to the water. 

I sat back down in my chair as I massaged my hand. It kinda smarted from the high five. 

“Seriously?” Himself whispered to me.

“Seriously, what?” I asked. I shrugged. 

Cry babies?

“Can’t they leave you alone for a minute? They are relentless. What a bunch of babies.”

“Nah. They aren’t babies. They just need reassurance. They are away from home, they are worried, and they want an adult’s opinion. I am basically their surrogate mother.”

“Whatever!” Himself smirked at me and shook his head.

“Dude. This is my job here. It’s why I get paid the big bucks.”

“Oh. Ya, riiiight.” Himself answered as he picked up his magazine and continued reading his article about retirement savings. 

“Well….we are saving a loooooot of money and you’re welcome.” I said and I leaned over and flicked his magazine into his face. 

Saving $$$