Chapter 4 Doctor Babysitter
Sakura tasked herself to help with the duties around the clinic. It wasn't long before the couple found out what she was really capable. She had an intensive knowledge on herbal medicines and not just western medicine. She had an uncanny skill in assessing patients with just looking at them as they came in for their check-ups. But she still had a lot of things to learn. The couple decided to make her an apprentice, which brought much delight to Sakura.
Finally free from the crutch, Sakura seemed to have been freed to act her normal self. Sakura would do as much as she can to help around the house, with the cooking, the laundry, the cleaning, and tending to the patients. Whatever the couple would ask her, she would try to do her best. They had never heard her complain. Sakura would always have a smile on her face.
Pretty soon, the patients got to know her to help around the clinic. She would greet them when they entered. Her smile seemed to be very infectious. Fei Xi and Pei Pei noticed that there were more patients now than it had been before. They couldn't help but laugh at the thought that maybe it wasn't that practice was improving but because people came to see something else, or rather someone. When days would come and they all seemed overwhelmed, Fei Xi and Pei Pei gave Sakura a free hand in diagnosing and treating clients on her own. Children seemed to trust her and be at ease with her more.
In one occasion, Fei Xi stood by the door to check on how Sakura was doing with the energetic young boy. The boy had been a patient of theirs since birth. He was born with extremely sensitive skin which could bruise and break easily. He had no choice but to wear protective clothing, which would mean that he would always had to wear long-sleeved shirts and pants during most part of the year. During the summer season, he was allowed to wear short-sleeved shirts and shorts but would rarely leave the house. Though he was born with such condition, he was still as active and curious as any other kid his age of six.
He would come in regularly to have his health checked as he was in extreme risk for infections. He had gotten used to it but still, being a kid that he was, he still didn't like injections that much and would need much coaxing and distraction from his mother.
That particular afternoon, young Ritsu had gotten his hand stuck at a jar he and his father were using to make model ships. His father had left him for a minute and when he got back, low and behold, young Ritsu's hand had slipped inside. They didn't want to just pull it off given the child's skin condition, though they still tried to get it off using soap and oil. Nothing seemed to work. Ritsu was already getting really anxious and was crying really hard.
His mother had him sit at the examining table. Sakura followed them inside and got a chair to sit in front of Ritsu.
She smiled at him and said, "Hi, Ritsu. I'm Sakura. Can I see your hand?"
Ritsu sobbed and slowly held out his hand inside the jar. His mother then started telling Sakura about her child's history and that maybe it was better if they waited for either Fei Xi or Pei Pei.
Sakura smiled and said to Ritsu, "Does your hand hurt?" The child shook his head slightly but still sobbing.
"Can you wiggle your fingers for me?" The child wiggled his fingers. "Good. We're going to remove that jar from your hand ok?" Sakura said.
Ritsu quickly withdrew his hand. His parents' attempts had been painful and he was afraid that Sakura would hurt him too.
Sakura smiled and said, "Don't worry. It won't hurt I promise."
"You're not…going…to use needles are you?" Ritsu asked in between sobs.
Sakura took his arm and gently placed pressure using her right hand. "No, no. No needles." She answered and with her left hand, quickly pulled the jar off. "See? It's off now." Sakura said. She saw Ritsu's eyes flew wide open, including his mother.
"How did you do that, Sakura-chan?" Ritsu asked.
"Magic." Sakura replied, placing the jar at the nearby table. "Let's see if your hand is ok. Is that ok with you Ritsu?" Ritsu smiled and nodded. Sakura examined his hand. She saw that it was red. Sakura got some aloe vera, chamomile and green tea mixture and started to rub it on the child's hand. "Ma'am, I'm putting on some aloe vera, chamomile and green tea on your son's hand. They are all herbal medicines. Aloe is for your son's skin, chamomile for the soothing and relaxing effect and green tea for fast healing of the small abrasions."
"How does that feel, Ritsu?" Sakura asked, smiling at the young boy as she continued rubbing the herb mixture gently on the wrist.
The boy had stopped crying and smiled. He then said, "It feels great! It feels better, Sakura-chan! Is this magic too?"
Sakura couldn't help but laugh. "For you, Ritsu, yes this is magic too." The boy seemed amused.
"But Ritsu, Dr. Li told me that you have to have a vaccine to help you fight off infection now…" Sakura said. The boy's face dropped and registered fear. His mother prepared to start coaxing, distracting him. "Ritsu, don't worry. We will still be doing magic. You won't feel a thing I promise, just like the jar."
"Are you sure?" He asked, inquiringly but still quite frightened.
"Yes. I promise. You trust one magician like yourself right?" Ritsu seemed a little amused. Sakura took out an injection and quickly stuck an acupuncture needle at his knee to numb his touch a little. Sakura then took some cotton and cleaned the site of injection. She quickly inserted the needle and administered the injection. She placed the cotton over it.
"There we go. Now, did you feel anything?" Sakura asked, as she gave him a smile. Ritsu shook his head. As Sakura got up, she took the acupuncture needle and discarded it in the biohazard trash with the injection. She then took a couple of different colored band aids and said, "Which color do you want?" Ritsu pointed to the blue on. "The blue one? Good choice. You know blue is my favorite color too." Sakura said as she placed the band aid on the puncture site. "We're done. Good as new."
Ritsu seemed delighted. His mother seemed totally amazed because she had never seen her son go through an examination as good as this one. She couldn't stop thanking Sakura. Ritsu gave her a hug before leaving. "Remember, the magic is our little secret, ok?" Sakura said as she extended her pinky.
Ritsu extended his pinky and said, "Ok. I pinky promise. I can come again and see magic right?" Sakura smiled and nodded before seeing them to the door.
Upon leaving the room, they met up with Fei Xi. He just smiled at the young boy. "How are you, Ritsu?" He asked.
"Dr. Li, I'm ok. Dr. Sakura-chan showed me magic. She made me better. See?" Ritsu then showed Fei Xi his blue bandage. "I picked the blue one."
Fei Xi smiled "That's great Ritsu. I also like the blue one. I'll get more blue ones then."
"Thank you, Dr. Li. You have here a protégé, Doctor. Thank you so much." Ritsu's mother said, shaking his hand.
"You're welcome, my dear. Yes, Sakura indeed has an incredible talent especially with children." This made Sakura blush like made. With that, Fei Xi and Sakura bid farewell to Ritsu and his mother.
"You used acupressure and acupuncture on young Ritsu it seems." Fei Xi said when mother and son had left.
Sakura turned to him and nodded. "It seemed that…well, I had an impression that Ritsu had this phobia regarding needles and injections so I thought that it would be better that way. Was I wrong, Ojii-san? Since I did still give him an injection and…"
Fei Xi smiled and replied, "On the contrary, my dear. You did extremely well. Ritsu is still young. With what you did, I'm sure he will grow out of his phobia." Sakura just smiled.
"Come. We need to talk about something now. You still need to learn a lot of things but I think that with your skill and talents, I'm sure you can do it. You are perfect for the job." Fei Xi said as Sakura followed. Sakura seemed confused. She didn't seem to understand what he was talking about.
"Ojii-san?" She questioned.
Fei Xi then handed her a file. "This is Lusheng's file. He is the son of Shaoran's sister. I believe that you are the perfect candidate in taking care of him now." Sakura accepted the file, still not quite understanding what Fei Xi wanted to say entirely. "You will be working at the palace starting tomorrow. He will be your top priority. You may come home but I think that it is better for you to stay there. Study the file and you will understand. Also, once there, I'm sure you will also be called upon to treat soldiers, including Shaoran and Yukito."
(to be continued…)
Didn't see that coming, did you? Hehe. I think this is where things are going to start getting interesting and stuff. You'll understand soon enough. But right now, I want to know what you think about it. Please do review. I never thought this fic would be received like this. Well anyway, I would really, really like to know what you think. Thanks.
Michiko
