Notes: Thanks to Mari and Sammy for the squeal-inducing feedback. You're the best, ladies! Thanks to SuperSammy for the title.
Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for you amazing support! It is always appreciated.
Hope you enjoy!
A Friend in Need (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
"Mr. S! Mr. S! Ashae has a splinter!" Angie yelled, running toward her teacher who had appeared outside to collect his class after recess.
"What happened?" he asked, immediately concerned. Ashae was coming toward them, teary-eyed, holding her hand to her chest as several other classmates gathered around her.
"We were playing tag by the fence and she ran around it and got a splinter in her hand," Angie told him, looking at her friend worriedly.
"Can I see, Ashae?" Mr. Seftas asked gently. He noted that Angie took her friend's uninjured hand while nodding encouragingly at her.
Ashae slowly held out her hand with her palm up so her teacher could see it.
"Ohh that must hurt," he said, taking in the redness around the splinter.
She nodded, sniffing.
He looked at his aide. "Ms. T, could you lead our class back to the room while I take Ashae to the office to see the school nurse?" He saw Ashae clasp Angie's hand tighter and Angie take a step closer, understanding her friend needed comfort. "And maybe Angie could come along with us to help her friend?"
Angie nodded immediately. "I'll go with you, Ashae, and the nurse can take your splinter out and you'll feel better."
Ashae's face crumpled. "But it's going to hurt."
"Maybe just a little," Mr. S said, nodding gratefully to his aide who was already gathering the other kindergarteners to take them back to class. He guided Ashae and Angie into the building and toward the main office. "But it's important to get that splinter out so it doesn't get infected."
"Then it will hurt more," Angie said, still holding Ashae's hand tightly. "Right, Mr. S?"
"That's right. And once it's out, your hand will stop hurting and you'll be able to concentrate on the fun activities we're going to do this afternoon."
Ashae still looked uncertain as they reached the nurse's office.
"Ms. Brooks," Mr. S said to the middle-aged woman at the desk. "Ashae here got a splinter in her hand while playing on the playground."
Kaleena Brooks immediately stood and came around the desk, focusing on Ashae. "Oh no. That must hurt." She smiled reassuringly. "But we'll have it out in no time, I promise." She glanced over at the other kindergartener.
"I'm Angie McGarrett," Angie said. "Ashae is my best friend."
The nurse nodded. "It's always good to have a friend with you when you're hurt, isn't it?"
Ashae sniffed and nodded.
"Now, let's see this splinter," she continued.
Ashae tentatively held out her hand so Ms. Brooks could get a good look.
"Poor girl, I bet that doesn't feel good at all." She smiled. "But the good news is that only part of it is under your skin so it will be very easy to pull out."
Ashae whipped her hand back, eyes welling with tears. "It's going to hurt," she said.
"If it does, it'll only be for a second. And your hand will feel much better once it's out."
Ashae took a step back, still clutching Angie's hand while holding her injured one behind her now.
Mr. S looked torn, clearly wanting to stay with his upset student but knowing he had twenty other ones waiting for him. Ms. Brooks nodded to him. "We'll be fine here. I'll send them back as soon as Ashae is feeling ready."
"Okay," he said. He knelt in front of Ashae. "Ms. Brooks is a really, really good nurse. She's going to take great care of you. And Angie will be right here with you, okay? We'll all be waiting for you back in our classroom."
"Don't do anything too fun without us, okay?" Angie said.
Mr. S smiled. "Nothing too fun. I promise." He gave Ashae an encouraging smile before standing and heading back to his classroom.
"Now, you two come over here and have a seat," Ms. Brooks said. "I'm going to do a quick check of Ashae's record and then I'll get my tweezers all clean and ready." She led them over to the padded chairs behind her desk, smiling when the two climbed up and sat in one together. She used the computer at her desk to double-check that Ashae didn't have any allergies or other conditions to be aware of and then headed to the small sink with an overhead cabinet. "Were you having fun at recess before you got the splinter?"
Ashae sniffed and nodded. "We were playing tag," she said quietly.
"Ashae is very very fast," Angie added. "Nobody can catch her!"
"Oh, that does sound fun," Ms. Brooks said. She brought a small tray on wheels over, having placed the disinfected tweezers and other supplies on it. She pulled a chair up and sat down in front of the girls. "Okay, let's get that nasty splinter out so you can get back to learning." She held out her hand for Ashae's, but the frightened girl shook her head, shifting closer to Angie and holding her injured hand out of reach.
"I don't want it to hurt," she said, eyes filling with tears once more.
"I know, dear, but that splinter has to come out."
"It's okay, Ashae," Angie said, squeezing her hand. "When I had a splinter, my mommy took it out with tweezers and then I got to use a boo boo bunny." She looked at the nurse. "Do you have a boo boo bunny?"
"I'm afraid not, but I do have a little ice pack here. Would you like to hold it on your hand for a minute, Ashae? That might help numb the pain and then we can take that splinter out."
Ashae bit her lip, still not on board with the second half of the plan, but she did take the offered ice pack. She held it gingerly against her hand, and Angie put an arm around her.
"Does that feel better?" Angie asked.
Ashae nodded.
"I bet you two are very good counters," Ms. Brooks said. "Am I right?"
"We're very very good counters," Angie said immediately. "Right, Ashae?"
The other girl nodded again.
"How about we count to sixty? That'll be about one minute. Then we'll see how you're doing."
Angie looked at Ashae. "That's a good idea. You start, Ashae."
Ashae swallowed and began to count. "One, two, three …"
The other two joined in and both girls were smiling when they reached "Sixty!"
Ms. Brooks picked up her tweezers and Ashae's smile immediately disappeared. "Ohh, Ashae, I promise I'll be really fast and then it'll be over. I promise."
Ashae vehemently shook her head, clutching her hand still holding the ice pack to her chest.
Angie hugged her tighter. "You can do it, Ashae."
Both Ms. Brooks and Angie continued to speak encouragingly for the next several minutes, but Ashae seemed petrified at the prospect of having the splinter taken out.
The nurse sighed, setting the tweezers back down on the tray beside her. "Okay, let's take a break for a few minutes." The phone at her desk rang and she looked over at it. "Excuse me just a moment, girls." She returned to her desk and answered the call. "This is the nurse's office."
After finishing the call a couple of minutes later, she hung up the phone and turned back toward the two kindergarteners. Her eyes widened to see Angie holding the tweezers in one hand and Ashae's hand in the other.
"Ang–" she began, moving to stand, but stopped herself when she saw that Ashae, though still scared, clearly trusted her friend. Angie moved calmly and deliberately, all her attention focused on the small sliver of wood. She slowly grasped the end sticking out and pulled until it came out.
Ashae let out the breath she'd been holding. "You did it!"
"And you were brave!" Angie immediately replied. "I knew you would be."
Ms. Brooks joined them, taking the tweezers from Angie. "Let me see your hand, dear." She examined Ashae's palm and smiled to see that the entire splinter had come out at once. "Would you look at that? All gone. And did it hurt?"
Ashae shook her head.
"I'm so glad." She looked at the other girl in the chair. "And I guess we better start calling you Nurse Angie. That was very impressive."
"It wasn't hard to do," Angie said.
"No, but that's not always true of splinters. Sometimes they're all the way under the skin and that's much harder to get out. Promise me if that ever happens, you won't try to get it out yourself." She smiled. "At least not until you're older."
Angie nodded. "I promise."
"Okay, let's get your hand clean, Ashae, and then you can pick out a band-aid."
Choosing a band-aid turned out to be a difficult decision, but with Angie's help, Ashae finally settled on one that looked like it had sprinkles. Ms. Brooks put it over the spot where the splinter had been and Ashae beamed, flexing her fingers.
The nurse chuckled. "It almost looks like sprinkles should come out of your hand when you do that. Wouldn't that be a great superpower? Whenever you need sprinkles, just ask Ashae!"
The girls giggled, holding hands once again.
"Okay, I'll walk you two back to class," Ms. Brooks said. "Ashae, I know that was scary, but you were very brave. And also very lucky to have a friend like Angie."
Ashae smiled, nodding emphatically and beaming at her friend.
"And Angie, the next time I have a splinter, I'm coming to you to take it out, okay?"
"Okay!" Angie replied. "But can you bring your special band-aids, too?"
Ms. Brooks chuckled. "It's a deal."
"DJ, Angie!" Catherine called that evening. "Time for dinner!"
The two kids ran from the playroom, surprised to find their parents waiting in the living room instead of the kitchen.
"Can I help grill the burgers?" DJ asked.
"Actually, there's been a change of plans for the menu tonight," Steve told them with a knowing grin.
Catherine smiled and opened the front door. Standing on the porch was Ashae and her parents, her father holding two pizza boxes.
"Is there a nurse in the house?" he asked.
"Ashae!" Angie squealed, running to hug her friend.
"We're having pizza?" DJ asked excitedly.
"We wanted to bring over something special to thank Angie, and Ashae decided pizza was just the thing," Ashae's mother, Raina, said.
"Yay!" the three kids cheered.
"I think it was really amazing that you trusted Angie to get your splinter out, Ashae," Catherine told her.
"We had a pretty bad splinter-experience in the past," Justin said, squeezing his daughter's shoulder. "Didn't we, honey?"
Ashae nodded. "It hurt so much to get out, but when Angie did it, it didn't hurt at all!"
"And we are very proud of you for helping your friend, baby girl," Catherine said, bending to brush Angie's head with a kiss. They'd talked with Angie after a brief call with the nurse and were confident the five-year-old understood she should always find a grown-up when she or someone she knew was hurt before trying to help herself.
"We are," Steve agreed. "So let's head out to the deck to eat. That pizza smells great."
"And after dinner, we brought a little dessert," Raina said, holding up a bag enticingly.
Angie's eyes widened. "Is it …?" she began hopefully.
"It's cookies!" Ashae squealed. "And they have sprinkles!"
"Like your band-aid!" Angie replied, and the two jumped up and down together.
"Angie told me about your band-aid, and how the nurse said it would be cool if you could spray sprinkles from your hand," DJ said. "Maybe we can make a comic book about it."
Raina chuckled. "Sprinkler, a new superhero."
"Already got the origin story," Justin added.
"That's a great idea, honey," Catherine said, smiling at DJ.
"The Sprinkler and Nurse Angie," Steve said with a grin. "Sounds like a pretty unstoppable duo to me."
Hope you enjoyed!
Note: Inspired by a little girl at the library this weekend who got a splinter playing outside but was too scared to let either me or my co-worker take it out. After a good fifteen minutes, we took a break from cajoling, and a few minutes later she silently took the pair of tweezers and got the splinter out herself :-)
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