Chapter 9
Doctor Stephen Strange pulled into the parking lot and looked around with an expression that was a mixture of distaste and chagrin as he pulled his expensive sedan into a spot in front of a building that was dominated by a large porch running the length of it. The parking lot only held a few cars and they were already dusty. Not surprisingly, since the parking lot itself was simply gravel and dirt. He knew his car wouldn’t fare any better, but didn’t think it would be wise to use some kind of repelling spell to keep it clean when all of the cars around it wouldn’t be shiny and new.
No sense sticking out, after all.
He sighed and got out of the car, stiff from the long drive and ready to stretch his legs. A large black dog came running up to him, tail wagging, excitedly. It didn’t look like it was planning on eating him, but he held a hand up – just in case.
“Tiny! Be nice!”
Strange and the dog both turned at the shout and the doctor saw a wiry young woman walking over to him.
“You must be Doctor Strange,” she said, smiling up at him while reaching down to rub the dog’s ears.
He forced a smile of his own.
“Guilty.” Then he scowled at his own choice of words, since that was how he’d ended up doing this community service, wasn’t it? “How did you know?”
She shrugged.
“Lucky guess. I’m Katie. One of the lifeguards, this week.” She held out a hand and he shook it, cautiously. Not because she made him nervous, but because he did everything cautiously when it came to his damaged hands. “Did you hear about Doctor Brown?”
“I’m not even sure who that is,” Strange admitted.
Her smile widened, and he noticed she had very vividly blue eyes that set off against her tan and he decided that every young male in the camp was going to be near the water any time she was.
“The camp doctor,” she told him. “The one you’re supposed to be playing nurse to.”
“I’m not playing nurse at all,” he said with as much dignity as he could muster. “What happened to the doctor?”
“He broke his leg, yesterday. Was in town and tripped over a loose board.”
Oh.
“Are they going to cancel the camp?”
“Why would they do that?”
“Because there isn’t a doctor.”
“You’re a doctor, aren’t you?”
“I’m signed on to be the nurse.”
Katie shrugged and made a broad gesture toward the building she’d just exited.
“I guess you’ll have to talk to him and Jay.”
“I guess so.” He looked down at the dog and wondered what idiot had named such a large creature Tiny and then looked back at her. “Thank you.”
She smiled, and wandered off, with the dog ambling beside her. Strange turned and headed for the entrance that he saw at the top of the stairs and looked around as he walked into the building. He found two men sitting at a nearby table. Both had stacks of papers in front of them but one had his leg propped up on a handy chair and there was a pristine white cast on it.
Strange headed toward them, and the brown-haired man stood up as he joined them.
“Doctor Strange, I assume?”
“Yes.” He shook hands with both men and glanced at the leg with the cast. “I just heard about your accident.”
The doctor scowled.
“I’ve walked that boardwalk a hundred times,” he said. “And never had a problem. Yesterday one of the boards gave way and down I went.”
“He can’t function as camp doctor like this,” the other man said, and Stephen decided that he was the camp director. “We’ve been trying to get a last minute replacement.”
“Without any luck, though,” Brown said. “Doctors like coming out here for a week or two, but they also can’t just leave their practices at the drop of the hat.”
“What are you planning on doing?” Strange asked.
“You’re a doctor,” Brown pointed out. “You can take over for me.”
“I’m a brain surgeon,” Strange protested.
“And I’m a gynecologist,” came the immediate response. “But I did a rotation in the ER, and I bet you did, as well.”
“Of course I did.”
“Then you know how to handle any emergency that will come in.”
“We wouldn’t expect you to shoulder extra responsibility without compensation,” Jay said. “In addition to signing your community service form, the camp will pay you $200.”
“It isn’t the money,” Strange told them. Lord knew he didn’t need money, now did he? “It’s just not something that I planned to do while I was here.”
He liked his plans to be made and then to happen just as he expected them to. He didn’t like surprises.
“One thing you need to learn about summer camp is that sometimes you need to be willing to be flexible. My wife is coming up and can be your nurse,” Nor told him. “She’s a CNA, so she can handle anything small – with supervision. You’d just be around for any emergencies.”
“Or we can tell the folks at the courthouse that you’ve declined your community service,” the doctor added. “You can go back to the city and pick up garbage in the parks…”
Ugh.
The doctor already had him figured out, didn’t he? A week at camp – even as the doctor – was still a far cry better than any of the other community service options that had been on the list.
Strange bit back a comment that wouldn’t do him any good to make.
“Fine. I’ll be the doctor. But just for this week,” he said, quickly.
Nor smiled.
“We’re glad to have you.”
Brown gestured for him to take a seat and slapped the small stack of papers in front of him.
“This is a list of our incoming campers,” he said. “And any allergies they may have. You’ll want to familiarize yourself with it – and the medications that they take. The files will be in the doctor’s office, which is also where you’ll be staying. There’s a small room attached to the office that is pretty nice considering it’s temporary quarters.”
“Joy.”
Nor smiled at the lack of enthusiasm.
“You’ll have a good time, doctor. I promise. No one leaves summer camp with a scowl.”
“Right.”
OOOOOOOOO
The black truck pulled into the parking lot not long after Stephen Strange did.
“Now remember,” Coulson said. “You have to pretend to like it here. No one wants a dark and broody counselor.”
Bucky rolled his eyes.
“I don’t brood.” When Coulson stared at him maybe a moment longer than necessary, the Winter Soldier shrugged and put the truck in park next to a gleaming sedan. “Much.”
“Just try to have a good time. Peter and Ned can help you. Think of it as a vacation.”
“We could trade places and you can have the vacation.”
“Not likely.” He looked at his watch. “We’re a little early, but the other staff people should be trickling in this afternoon.”
Both men got out of the truck and looked around with interest. Not so much at the camp as a pace to enjoy themselves, but already looking for defensible positions and places where an ambush might happen. Or worse.
“Hey, guys!” Both turned and saw Katie walking over to them, a big dog walking next to her as if he’d been glued to her side. “How was the drive?”
“Dull,” Coulson said. He looked down at the dog, offering it his hand to smell. “What do you know?”
“A million things,” the young SHIELD agent said with a bright smile. “This place is nice.”
Coulson gave her a look similar to the one he gave Barnes in the truck. She was already in the roll of cheerful college lifeguard and while it was impressive that she melded into it so easily, it was annoying to deal with already.
“What do you know that we need to know?”
“Doctor Strange just arrived.”
“Are they going to have him take over for Brown?”
“I assume that’s what they’re discussing, now. He’s in the cafeteria with them.”
“We need to go check in with Nor,” Coulson said. “So we’ll find out how that goes.”
“Have fun.” She scratched the dog’s ears. “I’m going to go look around a bit.”