Academy Island

Bathed

The room wasn't so crowded and I slumped further, relaxing on the table while Punky and the doctor busied themselves around me, one with finishing the treatment of my feet and the other pouring what looked like salt into the tub. I watched Punky dig through a small wooden box next, curiousness winning over my usually shy manners.

"What are you looking for?"

"This."

He pulled a small cloth bag out, lumpy on the bottom like it was full of marbles. He held it out to me and tipped his hand like he was going to pour whatever it was out. I cupped my hands under the bag's opening and three dry clay balls rolled out onto my palms. I tumbled them around, feeling how smooth they were and noticing they had cute little creases all over from getting hand rolled. He smirked at my confusion at what they were and gestured to the tub with his head.

"Go ahead, put them in."

I looked to the doctor to see if it was all right for me to get up, getting a head shake as an answer. He put his box of bottled iodine down and grabbed the edge of the table, pulling it and me towards the tub. I giggled at the bouncing, all of us laughing when Punky came to help scoot me closer. I put out my loose fist to let the little marbles fall down into the water, making little plops when they dunked under and sank. I watched, fascinated, when they all began fizzing and dissolving, making the water hazy with suspended bubbles. He put the bag away in the box and came back to the tub, swirling the water around with his hand and shaking the drops off after he'd finished mixing it up.

"All right. It's ready. Get in."

He turned his back to me, putting his hands on his hips, willingness to wait patiently written all over him, from his khaki shorts to the nape of his long neck. My mouth dropped open. Did...did he mean for me to take my clothes off and get in with them in the room? I looked to the doctor for help, no, for saving. He shrugged at me and finished dragging the table back to it's place.

"I'll leave. It's best to just do as he says, as cute as you are you still need a bath."

This wasn't happening. I wasn't sure whether it was worse to have two men together in a room with me while I was bathing, or to be alone with one. He seemed oblivious to my internal screaming, adjusting the table so it was more flush with the prickly wall. "Do you need anything else before I go?"

"Yeah, grab some of that leftover dry grass, I don't want her feet to get dirty when she gets out."

"Good idea."

The doctor hurried himself out the door, leaving it halfway open and shuffling around the corner with something before toeing the door back open and coming back in with an armful of shedding long hay. He dumped it at my feet, spreading it out so the tub had a nice carpet of the stuff in front of it. It was the biggest, hairiest bath mat I'd ever seen. He tamped on it to flatten it in the places it stuck up too far and then stepped back to admire his handiwork. I didn't want him to go. He was a doctor. They took some kind of oath that kept them from doing weird things to people, right? He patted my shoulder, giving me a reassuring wink that's effects only lasted as long as it took him to walk to the door.

"I'll be close by. Just whistle if you need me."

He closed the door behind himself, leaving me clutching my t shirt tightly to my chest. Punky glanced back at me, eyeing my tense handful. "What's wrong?"

So many things entered my thoughts of what was wrong with this scenario that it was difficult to pick just one. I finally settled on the one that related the most to what the doctor's parting words were, admitting the irony of my handicap with a whisper.

"I don't know how to whistle."

He stared at me, then laughed. "If you need to whistle for him, I'll do it for you."