Hiccup Hurdle

[Jolly Cooper]

Right after her Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Jolly hurried directly to the Hospital Wing. The class had been a fiasco. Due to her stupid hiccups, she had said the spell wrong and had set fire to Professor King's desk. Stupid, stupid, Jolly, she scolded herself mentally. Jolly had always had a hiccup problem. If someone made her laugh very hard, she'd have hiccups for a long time. "Nurse -hic- O'Brien!" called Jolly, pushing open the doors of the Hospital Wing and walking inside.

 

[Patrick O'Brien]

Patrick was just restocking the potions / medicine cabinet when a familiar voice called. Sighing and smiling to himself he turned to face Ms. Cooper. He noticed she had a bad case of the hiccups and couldn't help but laugh. It was always something. He looked about her and frowned.

"No Ms. Rodriquez today?" he turned back to the cabinet and took down a porcelain jug, he uncorked it and brought it to the large table. From there in filled a small vial and passed it to her.

"For your hiccough. Then you can tell me what is wrong with you" he smiled.

 

[Jolly Cooper]

Jolly frowned. "No...hic...why would Lexi -hic- be here?" she asked, quite rhetorically. Nurse O'Brien looked amused. She couldn't blame him. Many people teased her for her hiccup problem. She gratefully took the vial from his hand and tried to drink its contents. But she kept hiccuping whenever she touched the vial to her lips. "Shoot -hic- it!" she said in frustration, looking helplessly at Nurse O'Brien.

 

[Patrick O'Brien]

Patrick sighed and smiling at her said,
"Ms. Cooper take a deep breath and as you take a deep breath swallow the potion at the same time. It will take effect instantly".

He watched and waited for her to do as he asked.

 

[Jolly Cooper]

Jolly did as she was told. She took a deep breathe and promptly brought the vial to her lips and swallowed the contents down in a gulp. A moment later, she gave another small "hic" and then waited for more. To her pleasant surprise, her hiccups were gone. She turned to beam at Nurse O'Brien. "Oh my gosh!"

 

[Patrick O'Brien]

Patrick smiled with her then kindly asked,
"Now that your hiccough's have gone you can finally tell me what is wrong with you today?2

 

[Jolly Cooper]

Jolly broke into an explanation about what had happened in Professor King's class. "I set his desk on fire, Mr. O'Brien," she told him, shaking her head and biting her lip inanxiety. "I have a hiccup problem. Whenever someone makes me laugh too much or if I eat something really spicy, I get incessant hiccup. They don't feel good," Jolly said truthfully. Her stomach always started to ache when the hiccups had gone on for a long time and refused to stop. "They lasted whole night."

 

[Patrick O'Brien]

Patrick couldn't help himself he broke into a roarous laugh and shook his head.
"Ms. Cooper thank you for brightening my day. From all the broken bones, boils and what nots I get in here, a good old dose of the hiccoughs was what I needed" he smiled kindly at her and hoped she would understand.

Treating badly injured kids was terrible, you never wanted to see them in so much pain. Making them feel better and healing them was worth it in the long run. But occassionaly, the job got too much and just a simple case could tip the balance back in favour of the job at hand.

"Just do me a favour Ms. Cooper, don't go the night with them again. Come straight too me. Ok?" he stood up and walked to the large table to get her file, which was growing by the minute.

 

[Jolly Cooper]

Jolly huffed when Nurse O'Brien burst out laughing at her confession but couldn't help hiding a satisfied smile that she had made someone laugh. Making people laugh always made her feel good. That's how she was. "Alright," she said happily. "Thanks, Mr. O'Brien. Is that my file?" she asked him, suddenly noticing.

 

[Patrick O'Brien]

"Yes it is" he told her "And it is getting bigger by the minute".

He smiled as he walked to the door of the hospital wing and held it open for her.
"Please don't feel in any great rush to do yourself more damage".

 

[Jolly Cooper]

Jolly giggled at Nurse O'Brien's words. "Alright, I'll try," she said, letting him lead her to the exit. Then, she waved and hurried down the corridor, ready for her next class.

 

[Patrick O'Brien]

Patrick had to laugh when Ms.Cooper left, he figured he would give her another few days before she was back again.