Chapter Ten: Bumps and Bruises

Mipha stared at the current page of the big blue clinic logbook, which lay open on her desk.

"My goodness!" she exclaimed. "Sprained ankles, skinned knees, sunburn, poison ivy. And we're not even done with the first day of camp!"

She leaned back in her desk chair and laughed. "Oh, well, such is the life of a healer. And the children are lucky that we've got such a good clinic."

Mipha's clinic occupied a wing of the directors' building, and it had its own designated porch with a good view of the lake.

The clinic was decorated in soothing blues, indigos, and silvers, with specially designed wallpaper that seemed to shimmer like the surface of a lake. In the center of the room was an exam table with fanciful fish-shaped pillows on it. In an adjoining room were a series of screened-in cots in case someone needed to lie down for a long period of time. A Sheikah slate with a direct line to the nearest hospital hung on the wall by the desk.

Getting up from the chair, Mipha went to the supply closet and began gathering items to restock the medicine cabinet: bandages, aloe vera gel, and a special lavender and witch hazel potion for bee stings.

Then she poured herself a cup of tea, went outside to the front porch, and sat down in her favorite rocking chair.

Suddenly, there came the sound of someone crying. A very small someone, from the sounds of it.

"Mipha, patient incoming!" Riju called.

Mipha quickly got to her feet just in time to see Riju escorting a sobbing camper up the front steps. The girl was holding out a hand that was becoming red and swollen from, yes it was, a wasp sting.

"Oh, dear," Mipha said. "Oh, Aster, that looks like it hurts. Let's get that taken care of, shall we?"

Mipha ushered Aster into the exam area, scooped her up and set her on the exam table.

"It looks like there was a wasp nest in the bushes near the swimming pond," Riju said.

The stinger was still embedded in Aster's ring finger. Mipha took out a pair of tweezers. "Hold still, now."

As quickly as she could, Mipha plucked the stinger out. Aster shrieked and cried some more.

"There we go, it'll get better after this. I'll give you two things for it." Mipha opened the freezer and took out a flexible cold pack. She wrapped it in a towel and handed it to Aster. "Put your hand in this. It'll start bringing the swelling down." Then Mipha went to the medicine cabinet and took out a bottle of potion. "Lavender and witch hazel. It's a really good mix for stings."

Mipha opened the bottle and began to spread some of the potion on Aster's hand. Aster slowly started to calm down as the sweet-smelling potion and the cold pack did their work.

"You'll be all better in no time," Mipha said. "Just be careful where you put your hands next time, all right?"

" 'Kay,'" Aster sniffled.

Mipha smiled, reached into the candy jar on her desk and gave Aster a lollipop. "Now you just take that out onto the porch and sit there for a little bit with the cold pack, all right?"

No sooner had Aster settled herself on the porch swing with her lollipop and ice pack when Link and Revali came up the stairs. Walking between them was a teenage Zora boy who was favoring his right foot. It was Ralis, one of the other junior counselors.

"C'mon, Ralis, just a few steps more, we're almost there," Link said.

"My dear young sir, what part of 'No Running on the Docks' did you not understand?" Revali asked sarcastically.

"My goodness! What happened?" Mipha asked.

"Little accident by the boat docks," Link said. "His ankle's about as swollen as Revali's ego."

"Take that back!" Revali snapped.

"Don't fight, boys," Mipha said with just a hint of strain. "I wouldn't like to have you both end up in here as well."

"I tripped over something. I was helping to carry some swimming gear back to the shed, and I wanted to get it done quickly so I could go out waterfall diving with the others," Ralis said sheepishly.

Mipha gave Ralis some painkillers for his ankle, helped him limp out to the front porch, and settled him down on a deck chair with a cold compress on his ankle.

Link and Revali left, still bickering.

For the next several minutes, Mipha found herself helping assorted campers and staff who needed minor healing: a couple of headache pills for Urbosa, a few scraped knees and hands from Daruk's rock-climbing group, calamine lotion for some kids who'd waded into a patch of poison ivy, and so on.

With the last group of "bumps and bruises" kids sent safely on their way, Mipha joined Aster and Ralis on the front porch and settled down in a chair with a cup of tea.

She took a long sip, listening to the sounds of birdsong, the lapping of waves on the lake, and the distant laughter of children playing.

Maybe it was going to be a peaceful rest of the day.

"Uh, Mipha?"

"Yes, Sidon, what can I…" Mipha's mouth dropped open with horror.

Sidon had at least a dozen biting fish clinging to him. Behind him were several worried kids in Zora armor.

"They, uh, left the kids alone at least. The biting fish, that is," Sidon said with a sheepish grin.

Mipha sighed. "I'll get the pliers."

xLoZx

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