Page 26 of Mistletoe Dreams
She smiled at him reassuringly.
"All right. We'll be right in then."
She nodded and then pointed to something on the screen as Hannah turned and walked back through the heavy door.
She closed it behind her, waiting until it clicked before she said, "That's fine with her. When we walk in, you need to wash your hands, and I'll give you a pair of gloves." She glanced at his hands. "I think you're going to need extra large." He grinned, and she lifted her brows. "Any questions?"
"I don't know what to do."
"That's fine. Just do what I tell you to do. The most important thing is to cause no harm. So we want to keep our hands washed,gloves on, and not do anything that's going to make it worse by introducing germs or causing an infection."
"Got it."
"It's also for our protection. You've got that healing cut on your hand, and if you get any of Buster's blood on you and it turns out he has some kind of blood-borne illness, like hepatitis or AIDS, you could come down with it. So your gloves are to protect you both."
"I understand."
He reminded her so much of Ben, the way he walked, the way he talked. It was obvious they were father and son, and Hannah hid her smile. Mason probably would not appreciate being told that he was the spitting image of his dad. Not right now anyway.
Mason did exactly as he was told, going to the sink behind her and using soap to wash his hands after she was finished.
She dug out a pair of extra-large gloves for him, and he put them on as she had instructed.
He seemed interested the entire time as they administered the Novocain, made a little small talk while they waited for it to take effect, and then began to stitch Buster's eye. She explained that she was stitching some of the inner membranes together first using a suture that would dissolve without having to be taken out.
That made Mason grin, and they shared a smile, remembering how he had said he wanted to take his own stitches out.
She explained what she was doing as she was doing it, and to her surprise, Mason seemed interested in the entire thing.
After they were done, she explained that medicine was not just about healing but also about having a conversation with the patient, passing the time, getting information by asking casual questions, and paying attention to the cues that they gave off.
That was something she hadn't expected in medicine. She'd thought she'd just be doing the straight-up administering, using her skills to save lives, but it was so much more than that, because humans weren't just bodies. They were souls and spirits too.
Mason followed her as she went to two other exam rooms, one containing a little girl who had strep throat.
She was able to use the tongue depressor and show the telltale white spots to Mason.
The next was for a toddler who had an ear infection. Mason seemed fascinated as she held the scope and allowed him to view the red and inflamed eardrum.
She put it in the other ear and showed him the healthy one, with the mother's permission, of course.
After that, her phone buzzed with a text.
I got called out to an accident on the interstate. Is Mason okay? Or do I need to figure out how to take him off your hands?
She glanced at Mason.
"It's your dad. He's being called out to an accident. Are you okay?"
"I'm more than okay. I don't ever want to leave here."
She grinned. "Maybe I can arrange that. Perhaps not the ever part, but if you're serious, I might be able to figure something out."
"Figure something out?"
She gave him a grin and then sent a text to Ben.
Mason is fine. Would you be okay if I called the school to see if he could do an apprenticeship here?
