The two brothers watched as Tammy slipped into the foam-filled bathtub. It had taken them quite some time to heat all the water required to fill the old thing, but it had been worth it.
They’d done some simple tests on her; taking her temperature and looking in her ears with what Tammy had informed them was called anotoscope. Obviously, neither of them had known what to look for, but Conor could feel that Tammy was grateful to them for looking after her.
It helped that Tammy had written: ‘I’d like to do medical play as the patient’ on their contract, too. The longer their little examination went on, the better she’d seemed.
‘This is so nice,’ she breathed as she sank into the tub.
‘Glad you’re enjoying it,’ Finn said.
‘You know,’ Conor said to his brother, ‘it’s getting close to opening time at The Den. How d’you feel about working in shifts today? One of us manning the pub, the other manning… Tammy?’
‘Sounds good,’ Finn nodded. ‘In fact, I’ll probably head to the bar first. Honestly, I kind of feel like writing. I’m glad that the thing with my lungs doesn’t seem to be too serious, but whenever I have any kind of brush with mortality, it really loosens the old writer’s block.’ He scratched the top of his head sheepishly. ‘I can set myself up at a table when no-one needs serving.’
‘Great. Don’t keep anyone waiting, mind. And keep the place clean.’
‘Alright, Doctor Healy,’ Finn said, sarcastically. ‘I’m sure I can manage it.’ Then he stepped in close so that Tammy wouldn’t hear. ‘And make sure you dowhatever it takesto make Tammy feel better.’
‘Message received, loud and clear,’ Conor said, winking at his brother.
‘You look cute as a damn button,’ Conor grinned. It was a couple hours since Finn had headed off the to pub. Tammy had spent a long time in the bath, but after getting out and having her teeth brushed, she seemed to be ready for bed.
It was too early for bed really, but she wasn’t very well, so he’d made the executive decision that an early bedtime was probably best for her. He was a little worried that she hadn’t eaten a meal, but she was probably still full from the snacks. Perhaps he could bring her supper to bed in a little while.
‘These are my favorite pajamas,’ Tammy said. ‘My favorite nightie is an Aladdin one, but these are my go-to PJs when I want something super-snuggly.’
The fluffy white outfit was covered in tiny pink unicorns, prancing their way up and down Tammy’s body.
‘You look lovely. I could try to make up a story about a unicorn before bed, if you’d like?’ suggested Conor.
‘I wouldlovethat,’ Tammy replied, nodding vigorously.
‘Right, you get in bed — if you can find the space next to all those stuffies.’
‘There’s always space for me!’ Tammy said. She sounded a little groggy, probably tired out from the virus or whatever it was. She slipped under the covers, surrounded by a sea of soft, fluffy bodies.
‘Looks that way. So. Unicorn Land. It’s a special place. Very colorful.’ Conor’s brother was so good at making up stories — always had been. It was more of a struggle for Conor, though. He silently cursed himself for suggesting it.
‘I love it,’ Tammy said.
‘Well, the King of Unicorn Land was called… Big… Horn Horse.’
Tammy chuckled.
‘So, Big, um, Horn Horse was galloping through a field of shamrocks when all of a sudden he felt all… woozy. Turns out he was allergic to flowers.’
‘He sounds like a real bad boy,’ Tammy joked.
‘He was, actually. Flowers were his only weakness. Well, flowers and the sight of a particularly cute female unicorn called… Tamicorn. Now Tamicorn was a—’
‘Genius?’
‘A nightmare. She was a real free spirit. She was forever running through the gardens of the unicorn palace. That would agitate the flowers, which would release a ton of flower dust—’
‘Pollen?’
‘Right, and then Big Horn Horse would sneeze and sneeze and pass out.’
‘Sounds like a recipe for disaster.’