I sat down on the red couch in the living room that stood to the left of the TV. Ah, that couch. Growing up, it was my favorite couch. I remember just sitting there and watching cartoons as a much younger kid with my family. Nobody could separate me from that particular soft couch. Anytime I would just sit there, I'd be so comfortable and also, so happy. However, this time it was different.
"Hahaha! I warned you bro"
He just wouldn't quit it. Yeah, that was my older brother laughing at me. I couldn't do anything about it. I had thought that coming all the way from my room to my favourite couch would make me immune to his mockeries. Well, you guessed it. It didn't do nothing. I was still regretful and scared. What did I do to deserve this?
"We warned you to take that stupid jacket off but you wouldn't listen to us. Now you've gotta take a shot."
Oh yeah, that's right. It was all my fault; me and my jacket. I loved that jacket so much. It was given to me by my uncle the Christmas before. No, there was no special design on the jacket or anything of that sort. What was imprinted on it's back was a white horse. That was it. But something about it clicked to me from the first time I saw it. I just couldn't explain it. I decided that I'd wear it almost everyday and I would never wash it so it would still be feeling new. Hey, you won't blame an eleven year old now would ya? Well, for the the next five months, I was wearing it. No, not everyday, but most days.
My mom tried so many times to get it off me but I didn't let that happen. She tried so many times to steal it from my room whenever I went to school. I was always one step ahead. She never figured out my super secret hiding spot. Hehehe. In the end, she and my dad let me have my way. Long story cut short, I had a rash now. Trust me, it was very severe.
"Hey. You better prepare yourself. Before Mom and Dad left for work, they told me that Doc would be hear any sec."
Ding dong! That was the bell.
"Speak of the devil huh?" My brother said that with an evil looking grin. I could tell he was enjoying the whole scene. Now, my brother didn't run sprint. He wasn't even too athletic. But he actually ran so fast to go get the door. "Nice one bro. I see what you're doing," I thought to myself.
Doc came in. Doc was a family friend and a doctor, obviously. I didn't know his name at that time and I was sure my brother didn't too. Almost everyone called him Doc.
"Ah, Fred. How are you doing? You know, besides the rash and all?" He added that last part with a wink.
Yup, typical Doc. He and his 'sense of humour.'
"Alright. I actually have an appointment with a senior staff in the next forty minutes so let's make this quick, alright?" As Doc said these words, he began unpacking and searching his medical kit. "Now where exactly did I drop that doohickey? Ah, here it is. Already loaded." At that, he pulled a syringe filled with a liquid out of his box.
I instantly began to feel woozy. I could just see how my brother stood behind Doc, making gestures at me as though knew sign language. He was making fun of me.
"Doc, what is that?"
"Oh, this is penicillin, Fred"
"Is it gonna hurt?"
"Oh, Fred. It will hurt you. In fact, so bad. But you've gotta take the shot. Not just for today, but for the next two days too. It'll be all worth it in the end, okay?"
"Okay Doc." I said that with a faint smile. "At least I'm on my favourite couch. I won't feel the pain too much."
"That's nice dear," Doc said looking at his timepiece. I could tell that he didn't even hear what I said because he was in a rush. "Now turn your butt, would ya?"
Well, I did just that. In went the needle and down went the fluid. I'm sure the whole neighbourhood heard me scream. Woah, nobody told me that penicillin was going to be this painful. I was literally weeping while my brother was literally taking pics!
Oh well. One down, two more to go.
edited on Canva
