Mrs. Craig smoothed Jack’s forehead. “Well, he first had the sniffles, and then a sore throat and then a cough. Pretty much like all his colds. Then, a while later, he got another sore throat. He ran some fever.”
“Uh huh,” Ted said, nodding his head.
“Mother, my head aches,” Jack moaned.
Ted sighed and stood up. “Well, we can’t do anything here. If you don’t mind, I’d like to run him over to the clinic and let Dr. Barsch and Dr. Jenkins have a look at him. I came on a social call, and I don’t even have a stethoscope with me.”
Mrs. Craig straightened up. “Is it serious, Ted?” she asked.
Ted hesitated and then nodded. “It might be, Mrs. Craig,” he said. He picked up Jack’s wrist and looked at it. “There’s some swelling here. You see?”
Mr. and Mrs. Craig both nodded.
“Well, let’s get him to the hospital,” Ted said. “If we can wrap him up in blankets, we don’t need to bother him with clothes.”
Mrs. Craig picked up Jack’s blankets and wrapped them around the bewildered boy. Ted smiled at him and said, “Cheer up, son. These things happen to the best of us. We probably won’t keep you at the clinic very long.”
Mrs. Craig started for the door. “I’ll get my coat,” she said.