The next day, at school, my hand was still too sore to write, so before math class started, I went up to my English teacher.
"May I go to the nurse's office? I had a splinter yesterday while doing homework and my right hand is too sore to write," I said. "I managed to finish it."
"Sure you can," said the English teacher as she gave me the pass.
"Thanks," I replied as I left to go there.
At the nurse's office, she took a look at my hand and it was red.
"I could tell it's sore," said the nurse. "I'll wrap the bandage around your hand."
"Okay," I said.
She did and added, "I'll excuse you from gym for awhile until your hand gets better."
"Alright," I replied.
She wrote the note to give to my gym teacher, Ms. Rosenburg. At Gym, I gave it to her.
"Okay. That's fine," said Ms. Rosenburg.
I sat at the bleachers to watch the rest doing activities. Later, at lunch, Kristy offered to help me out by bringing my lunch to the table.
"Thanks, Kristy," I said.
"Not a problem," said Kristy.
"It's from the splinter I had yesterday afternoon. I noticed it while I was doing my homework," I explained. "I have some news to tell you."
"Okay," said Kristy.
After school, I told the girls the news and they were thrilled.
"We'll be cleaning the attic, but Dad said if it's sore, he'll let me rest it," I said.
At home, I did some chores. Then, I did homework. I did my best to use my right hand. Somehow, I ignored the sore and finished it.
"Is it better today?" asked Dad.
"It's been sore, so the school nurse wrapped the bandage around it and excused me from Gym for now until it gets better," I replied.
"You can be excused from helping me with the attic for today, Mary Anne," said Dad.
"Okay," I said. "I've been writing and ignored that hand."
"That's good," said Dad.
"I know," I said.
"Where's Dawn?" asked Dad.
"She's with Stacey. They said they were going to the mall to have an after school treat at a diner. They'll be there until five this afternoon for the BSC meeting," I replied.
"Okay," said Dad.
Later, at Claudia's, it was five-fifteen when Dawn and I arrived there. I was getting the record book ready like I always do. At five-thirty, the phone rang as Kristy answered.
"Hello, Baby-Sitters Club. Oh, hi, Mrs. Newton. Okay, hold on," said Kristy. "Who's free Thursday afternoon from three to five?"
I checked and said, "It's all yours, Mallory."
"Okay, I'll do it," said Mallory.
"You're all set, Mrs. Newton, Mallory will be there for three," said Kristy. "Okay, bye."
She hung up and sat in her director chair.
"Okay. New business; we'll be hosting a BSC fair a month from today. Everything's all set, so all we need to do is make flyers for the clients and families. We'll be having it for three days from May 22 to 24 from ten in the morning until eight at night. It's the Memorial Day Weekend, Saturday through Monday," announced Kristy.
We were talking about it when the phone rang as I answered.
"Baby-Sitters Club. Oh, hi, Mrs. Prezzioso. I see, huh-huh. How long do you need a sitter for Jenny? Okay, hold on," I replied as I checked. "Here's the thing. Mrs. Prezzioso is going to be operated on her stomach on Friday and would need her rest for the next six weeks and needs a sitter during that time. Her husband is on a business trip until next month. Claudia, Kristy, and I are free."
"Count me out," replied Claudia quickly.
"You can take it, you're closer," said Kristy who doesn't mind Jenny much.
"Okay, Jenny can be with me at my house to make it easier for her mom to rest," I said as I got back on the phone. "Okay, Mrs. P., you're all set, I'm free. She can stay at my house to help you rest if you want."
"Good idea," said Mrs. Prezzioso.
"You can bring her on Thursday night," I said.
"I'll feed her dinner so you won't have to," said Mrs. Prezzioso.
After we finished talking about it, I hung up to sit back on the bed.
"What was wrong with Mrs. Prezzioso?" asked Kristy.
"She was having a gallbladder attack. She's going to have them removed," I said.
"Tell her I wish her luck on her operation and hope she'll get well soon," said Kristy.
"I will," I promised.
After the meeting, at home, Dawn was setting the table while I was making steak; medium rare, which is easy to do with garlic bread and broccoli. That was my idea to add that. Dinner was almost ready when Dad came home doing errands.
"Good timing. Dinner will be ready shortly," I told him.
"Okay," said Dad.
A minute later, dinner was served.
"We'll keep food warm for Sharon in case she gets hungry when she gets home from work. Is she having any dinner at work this week?" I asked.
"She's going to try to eat supper there," replied Dad.
After dinner and the kitchen was cleaned up, I went to Dad and said, "Mrs. Prezzioso is going to have gallbladder taken out and will be on bed rest for six weeks. I told her that I can watch Jenny, so we're having her over here."
"Okay. That was a good idea to let her rest," said Dad.
"I agree," I said.
"When is Mrs. Prezzioso planning to bring Jenny?" asked Dad.
"Thursday night, but she's saving us time by feeding Jenny first," I replied.
"No problem," said Dad.