Life in Urgent Care - 5 yr olds are brave!

I had to suture ("sew") up the lateral border of a 5 year old girl's little lip today. She fell in gym class and actually bit through her lip. I could see through her chubby cheek. She was more annoyed by the fact we didn't want her to talk then by the fact I was going to stick a sharp needle into her face to numb her up, and then place two stitches. She was just as brave as most other kiddos her age, and definitely had a stiffer lip than most of the middle-aged men I have to sew up who drop things on themselves (or get hit in the face with a hockey puck!). I stuck a 1/2inch needle into the hole in her cheek and injected the anesthetic. She took it like a champ. Only one small tear roled down her cheek! Then I placed two stitches and she was done! I wiped off her face, she went to the bathroom to check out her new accessory and told her to wait until her tongue stopped being numb before she ate anything. I don't know. I like being the one to walk someone through difficult things. It was really simple, and she was really brave, and that is why I like my life. Then there was that person that "needed" an antibiotic for their one-day history of a 99 degree temperature....