Hurricane Gregory

H U R R I C A N E G R E G O R Y� Part 25

Jenny led Jamie down the hall to a small office that had been set up as an exam and treatment room. There were two chairs, one fitted with arm rests, a padded exam table and a temperature and blood pressure monitor a small refrigerator and a large locking steel medicine cabinet.

Jenny motioned Jamie to take a seat in the arm chair as she rummaged through the ice box for a vial of flu vaccine. She drew out a tiny bottle and set it atop the ice box. Then she rummaged through the medicine cabinet for a fresh disposable syringe. She donned a pair of rubber gloves, opened the sealed packaging and pulled out the syringe. She inserted the needle through the rubber cap of the vial of flu vaccine and drew the solution into the syringe.

“Nurse Jenny..?” Jamie asked.

“Yes, Alex?” she replied. “What is it?”

“Could you please close the door?”

“Yes. Of course,” she answered. She got up and gently closed the door.

“I don’t want anyone to see my cry when you stick me with that thing,” Jamie explained.

“Oh, come on…” she smiled. “You look like a pretty strong, healthy boy. These flu shots might sting just a little bit but, really, they’re not much, nothing to be afraid of. Sometimes I’ve had patients who said they never felt a thing.”

Jamie decided to just remain quiet and to play along.

Jenny took the syringe and stepped up to Jamie.

“Alright… Now, go ahead and roll up your sleeve. Just relax your left hand and try to remain very still, you’ll feel just a little sting,” she instructed. Jamie rolled back the long, thick sleeve of his grey sweater revealing the skin tight blue sleeve of his Superboy costume.

Nurse Jenny commented. My, you’re very muscular! Most grown men don’t have muscle like that! You need to roll up that sleeve on your jersey, too!” she smiled.

Obediently, Jamie rolled back the sleeve of his blue costume. Of course, the nurse had no idea that the sleeve was attached to the costume of the world famous “Boy of Steel.”

“Roll you sleeve up all the way!” she instructed. “Show me your muscle, Alex!”

Jamie rolled back both sleeve revealing his left bicep.

“There you go!” she said. “I can’t get over your arm. I’ve never seen that kind of muscular development in a boy your age. Do you work out a lot?” she wondered out loud, as she brought the needle closer to Jamie’s arm. “I bet you must lift a lot of heavy things…”

“Yes, ma’am, sometimes I lift stuff that I guess might be kinda heavy.”

Jenny positioned the needle to administer the injection.

When the needle failed to penetrate Jamie’s super hard skin on her first attempt, she tried again, the second time applying more pressure. The needle snapped in half, breaking on Jamie’s super hard skin!

“That’s odd…” she murmured. “I couldn’t get the needle to penetrate your skin. It broke!”

Jamie just nodded in reply. Of course this would never work but he decided to just remain quiet and allow Nurse Jenny to come to this conclusion, on her own.

“Hmm… That’s never happened before…” she mumbled to herself, while she held up the syringe and stared at the broken needle. “I guess the needle must’ve been defective. I’ll try it again…”

She took a fresh syringe out of this sealed, cellophane wrapper. She charged the syringe with a fresh does of flu vaccine and tried again and again the needle broke on Jamie’s super hard skin.

“That’s odd… What’s happening? What’s going on here?” she asked Jamie.

“You can’t give me a flu shot, or any other kind of shot!” Jamie answered. “My skin is just too hard for the needle to poke through!”

“What? How is that possible?” she wondered. She was completely astonished over the fact that she was unable to poke the boy’s arm with the needle.

“I’ll show you…” he answered, as he rose from the chair.

Jenny gazed at the boy wondering how he would explain his impenetrable skin.

“How did you do that? Nobody has skin as hard as that! Who are you, anyway?” she asked the strange boy.

Jamie pulled down the sleeves of his blue jersey, then the sleeves of his gray sweater. Then he removed his gray sweater by pulling it up and over his head.

“Oh my God…” the nurse exclaimed. “Y-You… You’re… You’re…”

Jenny gazed at the familiar figure of the short, muscular boy decked out in his Superboy “plumage”.

“Hi, Nurse Jenny. You can’t give me a flu shot, because I’m Superboy…” Jamie smiled.

“I-I thought your name was Alex…” she whispered. She didn’t know what to say to the strange boy in the colorful suit.

“Sssshhhh! Nobody’s supposed to know that I’m staying here, at the shelter!” Jamie whispered in reply. “I’m just here to make sure that everyone is alright, while the hurricane is passing through this area!”

“Wow…”

“So you see now…” Superboy said smiling. “You’d never get that needle through my skin. Besides, I really don’t need flu shots, because I’ll never catch the flu!”

“Wow… Well, I’m sorry for making Jake chase you around the shelter in order to get you to come here and get a flu shot… I had no idea who you were…” she said apologetically.

“That’s alright! Nobody’s supposed to know that I’m here… So, please, keep it a secret, okay?” Superboy asked her earnestly.

“I will… I won’t tell anybody. As far as I’m concerned, I gave you your flu shot, and you’re good to go…” she replied.

Superboy took his sweater from the chair and slipped it over his head. Then, he slipped his arms through the sleeves, slowly covering his blue and red costume with the grey sweater.

“Well… I’m sorry about the confusion…” she said, as she opened the door to the small room.

“No problem… Please, just tell Jake that I’ve had my shot, so that he leaves me alone from now on, okay?” the boy requested the nurse.

“Okay! And, Superboy?” Jenny asked the boy.

“Yes, Nurse Jenny?” Superboy responded softly.

“Thanks for looking out after us!” she smiled, just before she opened the door.

The two walked out of the room and strolled back to her desk, where the big, heavy security guard was patiently waiting for the boy to come out.

To be continued


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