Individual accidents had landed Marcus Kane and Thelonious Jaha in the medical bay at the same time. Kane had sprained his right ankle. Jaha had a bump on the head. After a checkup, Abby Griffin determined that they had suffered only minor injuries and could soon return to work, but she wanted them to remain in medical bay for a while – just to make sure they were alright.

"You both need to rest," Abby told them.

They knew she was right, but still…neither man wanted to be there.

"Pam," Abby called to her staff. "Bring Kane a cold compress for his ankle and change his dressing."

Pam Bronson was an eighteen-year-old nursing aide. She was new on the job and thrilled to be working with Abby Griffin. Pam had a friendly smile, a light dusting of freckles on her nose, and strawberry blonde hair pulled back in a conservative bun.

"Yes, ma'am."

Pam fetched the cold compress for Kane whose hurt foot was propped up on pillows for elevation. Jaha already had an ice pack on his head. The two men sat side by side. They had each other to talk to, but neither of them looked very happy.

Pam wanted to cheer them up. She told them some funny jokes that she had heard recently. After a few minutes, Kane and Jaha lightened up and chuckled a bit.

She loved to make people smile and laugh. She believed that keeping patients cheery was a very important part of medical care. So, the young lady was more than happy to stay and entertain the men.

"How did you both get hurt?" she asked.

There was a moment of silence as Kane and Jaha looked at each other, both clearly a little embarrassed about what had happened.

Finally, Jaha spoke up.

"Let's just say that we're a couple of clumsy oxes," he said with a half-smile.

"I see…Well, anyway, like Dr. Griffin said, you both need lots of rest and relaxation and I'm going to make sure you get it."

She brought them each a drink of water and made sure they were comfortable. Then, she sat down with Kane to change his dressing.

"You remind me of Florence Nightingale," Jaha commented. "She was the greatest nurse of them all."

"I would love to be a doctor someday," Pam said as she wrapped the bandage around Kane's ankle. The bandage covered half of his foot, leaving his toes and the ball of his foot exposed.

"Is that so?"

"Yep! I've dreamed about being a doctor since I was a little girl."

"Well, I think you're off to a great start," Kane said.

As Pam looked at Kane's bare foot, she began to wonder if he might be ticklish.

"Never give up on your dreams, Pam," Jaha encouraged her.

She smiled at Jaha and then looked back at Kane. After replacing the bandage, she held the ice pack in place on his ankle.

"That feels good," Kane said as he closed his eyes and laid his head back to relax.

Pam's curiosity got the best of her, and she began tickling his toes with her index finger.

Kane was indeed very ticklish, and he burst out laughing.

"Oh no! Please don't!" Kane squealed.

Pam started laughing, too. Jaha watched with a smirk on his face. How unusual and enjoyable it was to see Kane squirming and laughing uncontrollably.

"Get him, Pam. Get him!" Jaha cheered her on.

"Tickle, tickle," Pam teased, now tickling his tummy with both hands.

Kane grabbed her wrists and tried to push her hands away, but her fingers kept on wiggling against his stomach. He threw his head back and howled with laughter while begging for her to stop.

Pam stopped tickling, but she couldn't stop herself from laughing in mischievous delight. Sometimes she would meet children who were feeling down or grumpy, and she loved to cheer them up with tickles. This was the first time she had done it to a grown man.

"What's going on here?" Abby demanded.

Pam spun around to face her boss. Her smile disappeared.

"I'm entertaining the patients, Dr. Griffin."

"We have other patients here that need attention," Abby reminded her.

"Right. I'm sorry," Pam said, blushing a bit.

Abby watched her go, and then Abby turned her focus to Jaha and Kane.

"She's a nice girl," Jaha said.

Kane caught his breath and smiled sheepishly. "And she's a tickler, too."

Jaha chuckled. "Marcus, I never knew you were so ticklish."

"My mother used to tickle me when I was a little boy," Kane said, sighing happily as he recalled the warm memories. "It was lots of fun."

Abby cracked a sly smile. She did think that was kind of cute.

"Well, anyway, how are you both feeling now?" she inquired.

Jaha reached up to feel the bump on his head. "I'll have a bump on the head for a while, but at least my headache is gone."

"My ankle is feeling better," Kane said, wiggling his toes. "I think I could walk on it…"

"Just the same, I would prefer you both continue to take it easy…but you're both going to be just fine."

As Pam went on with her work, she smiled to herself. The young nursing aide felt happy knowing that she had made two of her patients smile. As cheesy as it may sound, to keep them smiling would always remain her favorite part of the job.

The End