Little Sister Academy:The Doctor

"Miss Ellie? My tummy hurts."

At first Eleanor had simply dismissed the complaint as a result of indulging in too much food before going to bed. But This was now three complaints in as many days and she had been very careful to lock up the food the night before. Something was wrong, and neither her nor Elizabeth were equipped to handle it.

"Sally has to see a doctor, that much is obvious." Elizabeth announced.

"Of course, but they aren't exactly...legitimate, no matter where or when we go."

"You can leave that part to me." Elizabeth said with a mischievous grin. "But please do me a favor and be the one to take her, the Luteces are stopping by and-"

"Say no more." Eleanor replied with a wave of her hand. "I shall dutifully 'miss' seeing the Luteces."

Elizabeth took on a stern look and placed her hands on her hips. "Eleanor, be nice."

"I'll have you know I'm quite nice." Eleanor said, mocking her pose.

While Elizabeth wrote out the necessary papers Eleanor made the girls a quick lunch. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were a messy choice, but it was the quickest way to get the girls to the dinner table. Cleaning up the aftermath, Eleanor relished the thought that the girls would one day be doing their own dishes.

After dishes came tracking down Sally, who had disappeared upstairs. This was thankfully quick, as Claire was quick to rat her out. Sally had hidden herself in one of the storage closets, but relented as soon as it became obvious that her game was up. Elizabeth met Eleanor and Sally on the stairs as they both were making their descent.

Elizabeth handed Eleanor a small folder full of papers. "I've got everything you'll need in this folder. Take good care of it."




Elizabeth, Eleanor, and Sally stood on the lighthouse dock. It was sunny out, with a calm breeze. Eleanor wished she could stay and enjoy the weather, maybe take a few of the girls out on their boat. Eleanor and Sally jumped back slightly as Elizabeth opened a tear.

"See you two soon." Elizabeth said, wiping some stray jelly from Sally's lip.

"By Miss Lizabeth!" Sally waved.

"Later princess." Eleanor quipped, vaulting through the tear with Sally.

Elizabeth hated that. That was, of course, why it was so delicious to call her princess. You could hardly ask for a better reaction from her, with her furrowed brow and scrunched lips. But she would have to savor that later, she had an appointment to keep.



Eleanor took out her purse and scrutinized her papers. She was impressed, for such a square she really did have a talent for forgery. The detail was meticulous, she certainly hadn't skimped on her research, she even came up with a spouse. Johnathan Lamb? Eleanor could practically hear Elizabeth's snort as she thought up that little joke. Groaning, she placed the papers back in her purse.

In the corner of the room Sally was playing with some of the other children. They relished the opportunity to let the little girls interact with other children, but unfortunately the girls had a tendency to alienate themselves from other children by regaling them with the adventures of Mr. Bubbles and stories of giant mechanical monsters. Sally was in the process of doing just that to her new audience: a small red-haired boy and an African-American girl, both of their features rapt in horror at her descriptions.

Finally the receptionist called Eleanor's number. The receptionist was a serious-looking woman in her 60's with curled hair and horn rimmed glasses. She raised an eyebrow at Eleanor and Sally.

"Adopted." Eleanor said with a start. "When I saw her I just knew we had to take her home."

Sally simply giggled. She considered the whole affair a wonderful little game and was more then happy to play her part.



"Mrs. Lamb? The doctor will see you now."

Sally had been brave and cooperative up until this point, but it was obvious from her fidgeting that she was nervous.

"Mrs. Ellie?"

"What is it?"

"Can we go back?" Sally asked, a pleading look in her big green eyes.

Eleanor crouched and put a hand on her shoulder. "We can go back after the appointment. I promise you, nothing bad will happen."

"But...doctors." Sally looked at the floor, despondent.

"Well, you like Auntie Rosalind and Uncle Robert, right?"

Sally raised her head slightly. "Yeah..."

"Rosalind and Robert are doctors."

This revelation seemed to cheer her up a great deal. Eleanor and Sally sat down and waited in the small off-white room. Sterile would be the kind way to describe it, but Eleanor could only imagine how bored Sally must be waiting in this drab room. She gave some serious consideration to joining Sally in playing with some small farm animal figures.

A man in his early 40's stepped into the room, interrupting that train of thought. He wore a white coat and had light brown hair that was greying around the temples. Eleanor stared into his green eyes, the man was handsome. Far too old for her, but handsome.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Burke. You must be Mrs. Lamb?"

"Yes, I'm Eleanor."

"And this must be Sally. Hello Sally, so I hear you've been having tummy troubles?"

"Yeah..."

Doctor Burke turned to Eleanor. "And how many days has this been going on for?"

"Three, as far as we can tell."

"Hm, now Sally I'm going to run a few tests so come sit up here. There you go. Isn't Sally being brave?"

"Very brave." Eleanor replied, giving the expectant Sally a reassuring smile.

The doctor ran her through a small battery of tests. Swallowing some kind of liquid to test her reaction, feeling her stomach to see if caused her any pain, breathing in and out as hard as she could. Finally he pulled his chair back and turned to Eleanor.

"Hm, I think I found the problem."

"What is it?"

"It looks like Sally has developed an ulcer."

"An ulcer, but isn't she a bit young for that?"

"Well, despite what you might hear ulcers are actually caused by a bacteria. But we can manage it with some medication. I'll write up a prescription."

"Thank you so much Doctor Burke."

"Of course." Doctor Burke replied with a smile. "And thank you for being such a brave girl, Sally."

Sally smiled at this. The three of them made their goodbyes and Eleanor took Sally by the hand to go get Sally her new medication. Before they made it to the pickup Sally pulled on Eleanor's pant leg and cupped her hand like she wanted to tell her a secret. Eleanor obliged her and crouched down to her level.

"Miss Ellie, can we do this again?"

Eleanor tilted her head a bit in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I like it when you play my mommy."