111 Isaura
Dr Sheila was trying her very best to keep an extremely confident and calm expression at that moment as she viewed the young girl lying motionless on the single bed.
Being the medical doctor assigned to this primary school had been both a blessing and a curse.
Every doctor would naturally want to be at a place that they can fully utlise what they have learned and also hone it, but at the same time, not tire oneself out.
Most of the time, however, the two can hardly be equal and one would naturally equate being a doctor with being working overtime or overworked.
How does a doctor gain experience?
By being in the thick of it.
Hospitals would be the best as the various departments and cases that come in everyday cannot be denied.
Heck, even clinics would be okay even though the cases they would see would be the normal and common cases like the flu.
But a primary school?
No doubt, the pay was good.
The atmosphere was relaxed.
But high skills were not really needed.
The most 'serious' case would be a sports injury with a broken bone.
Now, however, Dr Sheila was perplexed with the case in front of her.
This was something completely new and different.
She flipped through the medical reports that she had about the child.
Well, perhaps calling it 'medical reports' was a bit far fetched as it was nothing but the normal declaration of health that the parents would give concerning the child.
The normal form that each parent would have to sign – first, declaring what sort of condition or medication that the child could have, then giving permission to have them treat the child and dispense medication such as paracetamol or anti histamine.
In this form, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
So why was this child unconscious until now?
Fainting can be caused by a number of reasons and she did not have the data to check. So, other than making sure there was nothing blocked in the airway and that the pulse was normal, there was nothing much that she could do other than put the child in a comfortable position and wait.
Dr Sheila looked at her watch.
However, if the child still does not wake up naturally in another few minutes, she would have to do more.
A slight sound made her turn around and her eyebrows shot up in surprise before she could stop it.
Another child stood there.
Of course, as this was a primary school, seeing children was turning up was rather normal.
No, it wasn't the fact that it was a child that was there.
It was the fact that the child was so striking looking that she had to look twice.
It was also the fact that he had this really serious look on his face and worse, even his entire demeanour seemed to be cold and unrelenting.
What sort of children does the school produce?!
Or perhaps, what sort of children come to this school?!
That was not a child.
That was … like …
"How is she?"
The cold, immature voice broke her out of her rambling thoughts and Dr Sheila blinked.
"You are?" she asked as she stepped back a bit to allow him to see the 'sleeping' girl on the bed.
"Classmate," he answered, walking closer to the bed.
"Shouldn't you be in class right now?" Dr Sheila questioned him, "I know you're worried about your classmate, but she is in good hands here. You shouldn't skip class."
Without even looking back, Alex replied, "I have permission."
He didn't need to explain that as a student of the Accelerated Class, the 'normal' rules didn't apply to them. So long as they completed the work or task assigned to them, they were basically left to their own devices.
He just had to inform the Head Teacher that he was going to visit Isaura and Klauss just waved him off. No questions asked.
Dr Sheila didn't have an answer to that, but before she could say anything else, she heard him ask her, "Why isn't she awake yet? A normal faint shouldn't last this long, right? Is she not reponding to anything?"
Dr Sheila frowned, though was surprised.
Why would a child know this sort of knowledge?
Sure, it was basic first-aid aspect when dealing with a fainting person ie knowing the condition, how long the faint lasts and when to call for a medical personnel.
But this was a child!
How could a child know this?
When he did not receive an answer, Alex frowned and turned to look at the doctor.
Why was this doctor so unreliable?
Sure, she may be 'just' a doctor in a primary school but shouldn't she have some basic skills?
Why was she just standing there, dumbfounded like an idiot?
"Doctor?" he called out when he saw her just staring at him, and repeated, "Why isn't she awake yet?"
Well, the last thing Dr Sheila would say is 'I don't know' so instead, she responded with a perfunctory, "It will take some time."
"Why?"
The dreaded 'why' made Dr Sheila sweat a bit but she just waved at him and said, "Just leave her to me. Don't worry about it. I won't let anything happen to her."
Alex wasn't happy hearing that.
In fact, he wasn't happy at all at the way she was just treating him like how most adults treat children: just saying things to placate them. Not explaining anything on the assumption that they wouldn't be interested or would not understand.
Just leave it to the adults.
He had been so used to the treatment at home, and even in the Accelerated Class, that he had not met with such treatment for a long time.
Even when he first started school, due to the fact that he and his friends were just so ahead in the syllabus that the teachers didn't need to pay much attention to them. They were basically left on their own and they didn't have to be subjected to 'slow' talk or 'detailed explanations' on the subjects.
Well, since the doctor wasn't going to explain anything to him, then Alex would ignore her.
He turned to face Isaura again, noting with relief that she wasn't pale.
He touched her wrist, feeling for her pulse and was also gratified to note that it was a strong pulse and not weak.
He didn't have much medical knowledge but he knew a bit about fainting.
Especially since his father liked to make people unconscious.
Fainting and being knocked unconscious were two different things, of course, but the basic treatment was essentially the same.
Alex had yet to be able to knock people unconscious, simply because he was too young and not strong enough. He knew the theory, and had seen how his father did it to show him the method, but he couldn't achieve it.
It was frustrating, really.
Now, though he may not be able to do it, he still knew the medical treatment for it.
He looked at his watch and noted that it had been more than 10 minutes since assembly.
Normally, a person would faint for a few seconds or several minutes; but it was not normal to still be 'asleep' after ten minutes. How long was the doctor going to monitor her?
"Isaura?" Alex called out, but there was no response.
Alex pressed his lips tightly together and then said in a firm voice, "If you don't get up now, I will ignore you."
Dr Sheila rolled her eyes, thinking that the boy was a little boy after all – desite his overly 'adult' aura around him. Would one person just wake up simply because he was threatened in such a way?
And such a childish way?
"Don't ignore me," came a soft voice and Dr Sheila nearly fell backwards from the shock.
What?
It worked?!
She stared at the girl who was now awake, her eyes rather misty as if she was sleepy or had just woken up.
Alex gave a rare smile and patted Isaura's head, "Well, since you got up, I won't ignore you."
Isaura gave a weak smile of happiness and nodded, closing her eyes, "I'm so sleepy."
"Then, sleep," Alex said and she did.
Alex waited until her breathing was low and deep before he turned around to go. Now that she's awake and just sleeping like normal, things were fine.
Without glancing at the doctor, or acknowledging her in any way, he left.
Dr Sheila just looked at the back of the boy who was leaving, then back to the sleeping girl, then sighed and gave up.
Whatever.
At least, things were fine now.
The girl was awake, after all.
Well, conscious, that is.
Dr Sheila did one last check-up of the girl's condition and was satisfied that the girl was showing normal signs.
When the doctor turned to go and sit down at her table, she did not notice that the 'sleeping' girl opened her eyes slightly.
