Page 42 of Grumpy Sunshine

“I’m scared,” he said.“What if I don’t wake up?”

This kid was too young to be worrying about that.

Just as I was about to explain in detail what I was waiting for, Dru arrived with the medication that I usually administered to young patients.

I liked Dru.

We worked well together, and she knew what I’d ask for before I asked, though technically it wasn’t allowed.

I checked the dosage, then confirmed with her that it was what I actually wanted, then turned around to the kid.

“This stuff is kind of sweet tasting.When you drink it, it’s going to make you calm,” I said.

He was reluctant to drink it, but the kid’s dad helped him out.

Once he had it down, I started to explain to the kid what would happen next.

When I’d first started out, I’d do all the explaining to the parents, thinking that it was best to address them.However, I found that kids liked to ask questions, and this way I could explain it in a way he would understand.

“What’s going to happen,” I said to the kid, “is you’re going to put a mask on your nose, and the stuff that you start to smell is going to make you really sleepy.”

The kid’s eyes widened.“And I’ll go to sleep?”

“You will,” I explained.“You won’t even know you’re asleep, either.”

“Wow,” he said.“I hate going to sleep, are you sure that I have to?”

I chuckled.

“Did you know that you have the same name as me?”I asked to distract him.

The medicine I’d given him would kick in quickly, I just had to wait for it to calm him down.

“What?”His eyes went huge.“That’s so cool.I didn’t know that anyone had our name but me!And sometimes my momma calls my dad Chevy.His real name is Ford, though.Not nearly as cool as Chevy.”

The two parents across the room in their chairs, looking nervous as all fuck, grinned despite their feelings.

“Chevy is always the superior name,” I agreed.“Back to going to sleep.You don’t have any red hair under that cap, do you?”

He narrowed his eyes.“What’s wrong with red hair?”

“Nothing,” I replied, noting his sudden fierceness.“Only, sometimes when you have red hair, you react to sleepy stuff way differently.Redheads are kind of special.”

He yanked off his cap and I saw his blonde hair.

“Nope, no red in sight,” I said.“Did you dye your hair before you came?”

He wrinkled his nose.“No, my momma used to do that.And Dad says that it’s a lot of money.So I’ll probably never do it.”

“Good,” I said.“I hear that it fries some of your brain cells each time you do it.”

The woman across the room snorted.

The dad outright laughed.

I leaned into him, my hands on my knees, and said, “Do you have any questions for me?”

“Can I bring my stuffed animal?”he asked, raising it up from the bed.

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