I wiped down the counters, prepped the evening medications and locked up the office. I giddily ran up the stairs to my room. The kids were off with the child care counselors, just as Barb had promised! I rifled through my clothes trying to find something that looked presentable and didn’t have an overwhelming ‘camp’ smell. It was a challenge!

I managed to find a long sleeved t-shirt, some shorts, and I tied a sweatshirt around my waist. I slapped on an extra layer of deodorant and performed the sniff test –bare pass. I adjusted my baseball hat on my head. I grabbed my backpack and started out, down the stairs and out of the main house.

I passed the Rock Hut campers who were busy with an obstacle course. They were shouting out directions to blind folded campers who were flailing their arms and bumping into each other.

As I walked past, Cameron broke away from the group and walked quickly over to me.

“Nurse Anne! Can you please look at these spots?”

“Sure!” I stopped and nodded. Duty before wine. Cameron pulled up his shirt to expose his abdomen.

I got in close and squinted. He had a rash all over his chest and abdomen. It was sparse, and the spots were teeny tiny but slightly raised. It looked a bit like the rash Jack had last week.

“When did that start?” I asked Cameron. I wanted to touch it, but I didn’t have any gloves, so I held back. My hand hovered over his skin. I didn’t think it was anything communicable like chicken pox or measles but I wanted to be safe.

“Three days ago, maybe?” Cameron shrugged.

“Were you in the woods with your shirt off?”

“I don’t think so. No.”

“Does it hurt or itch?”

“A little itchy.”

“Is is getting worse?”

“Nope. It’s about the same.”

“Do they ooze at all?”

“No.”

“We can try some antihistamine. It will help for the itching at least. I can give you some tonight before bed if you like? You can come up to my office. Does that sound OK?”

“Sure.” Cameron agreed. “What do you think it is?”

“It’s a rash.” I answered noncommittally.

“That’s it? Just a rash?” Cameron said with obvious disappointment.

“It’s a papular rash.” I added with conviction.

“Ohhh!” Cameron nodded, now satisfied. He pulled his shirt down and headed back to the group.

“See you at bedtime!” I called after him. Cameron waved back at me.

I needed to do some research. I wondered if any of the 80 lbs of books that I brought to camp would have the answer I needed?