Page 65 of The Strawberry Patch Pancake House

‘No, no. That won’t be necessary. I’ll be right there.’

‘Very good. Thank you.’

Iris opened her mouth to thank her back, but she’d already hung up. It occurred to her that being a school nurse was up there with school bus driver as possibly one of the hardest jobs in the world, so she decided not to be insulted by the hasty hang up.

She glanced at the buddha. ‘Well, I guess I have to go figure out how to take care of a sick kid. Wish me luck.’ She snuck back into the class and brought her students out of their relaxed state as quickly and gently as she could.

‘Okay, and bring your senses back to the room. Blink your eyes open and go live your life. See you next week!’ Okay, so maybe not that gently, but she had to get out of here. That school nurse sounded serious, and Iris was worried she’d get in trouble if she was late. In trouble with whom, she wasn’t really sure, but she didn’t really want to find out.

Half the class was still blearily sitting up as she skipped out of the room. On her way out to the car she sent a quick message to one of the other teachers from the studio, Tara, to see if she could pick up her next class. She got a quick ‘Sure!’ in response so that was one issue taken care of.

Iris dialed Bex and put her on speaker as she got into her car.

‘Hey, what’s up. Shouldn’t you be teaching?’

‘I was,’ Iris responded as she pulled out of the small parking lot behind the yoga studio. ‘But Olive got sick. I need to pick her up at school.’

‘Oh, so why are you calling me?’

‘I don’t know! I thought you might have some ideas on what I’m supposed to do with a sick child.’

Bex snorted. ‘Why on earth would you think that?’

‘I don’t know! Because I’m panicking a little bit.’

‘Just put onThe Price is Rightand make her drink juice. That’s what my mom used to do.’

‘Okay, yeah. That makes sense. Thanks.’

‘Are you regretting this nannying gig now?’

Iris pulled into a parking spot in the front of the school. ‘Not yet, but ask me in twenty four hours.’

‘Good luck.’

‘Thanks.’

Iris had to ring the bell and get carded by the office assistant before she was allowed through the locked doors. She pushed all the reasons why this was the state of American elementary schools out of her mind. One crisis at a time, and a kid with a fever felt slightly more manageable than the gun lobby.

She walked down the colorful hallway to the nurse’s office. Elementary schools still smelled the same, at least. Some combination of peanut butter and crayons. A teacher with a line of twenty, sweaty kids filed out of the gym and walked past her. Iris waved to the little girl at the back of the line who kept falling behind because she was too busy trying not to step on the cracks between the floor tiles. She smiled at Iris with a gap-toothed grin.

The nurse, as expected, was a frazzled older woman who looked very relieved that Iris had shown up. Three other kids sat lined up on chairs waiting for their ride out of there.

‘Ready to blow this pop stand, Olive?’

Olive just looked at her with a glassy-eyed expression that did nothing to ease the worry in Iris’s gut.

‘Come on, kid.’ Iris took her backpack for her and led Olive out the door.

‘She can’t come back until she’s twenty-four hours fever-free!’ The nurse called after her.

‘Hear that, Olive? Twenty-four hours with no school! Lucky you.’

Olive just looked at her and coughed pitifully. Yikes. Okay, time to get her home and cozy on the couch. That was what Iris would want if she was sick. To be in her jammies in front of the television with a cup of tea. Can kids drink tea? Hmm, she should google that. She was going to have to google a lot of things.

* * *

Archer’s phone started blowing up right as the lunch rush started.