Free Save the Date by Laura Dower

her head gently. “Someone will be right here,” she said. “Please just relax.”
    Aimee rushed back instantly with Ranger Lester and Mr. Danehy. A crowd of kids was gathering around the bench.
    “I think she got stung, and maybe she’s allergic to bees,” Madison pronounced to everyone with authority.
    Mr. Danehy leaned toward Fiona and gently felt her head for fever. “Help is on the way, Fiona. You’ll be fine.” He asked Madison to get up and step away, but she stayed.
    Chet pushed his way in toward the bench. “Fiona!” he shouted. “Oh no! What happened?”
    “Is she allergic to bees?” Ranger Lester asked him seriously.
    Chet shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s allergic to rabbits, I think.”
    Jimmy dashed over. “The medical station is coming right now. I’d advise everyone to step back.”
    Ms. Ripple and Ranger Lester helped the seventh graders to file out of the butterfly and bee house. Madison, Chet, and Aimee stayed behind.
    “I thought all the bees were supposed to stay behind that glass,” Madison said.
    Jimmy nodded. “They should,” he said, looking back toward the room, where the hives had now been sealed up again. Doug the beekeeper was putting everything away so no more accidents would happen. No one was really sure how Fiona had gotten stung.
    Aimee waited on the other side of the bench, tapping her feet. “What’s going on?” she kept saying. “What’s going on?” She and Chet stood shoulder to shoulder, watching as Fiona struggled to breathe.
    A doctor and his assistant rushed in moments later. He leaned over and looked carefully on Fiona’s arm, where he quickly located the bee’s stinger. “Gotcha!” he said, pulling something out of his satchel. He started to scrape Fiona’s skin.
    “Why aren’t you just pulling it out?” Madison asked.
    “Because,” he said, still scraping to make sure he’d gotten all the venom, “only by scraping do you stop the bee’s body from pumping poison into its target. Otherwise the stinger keeps on stinging.”
    His assistant took Fiona’s other arm for a blood-pressure reading. She read the result aloud. Blood pressure wasn’t dropping. Madison knew that was good news. Everyone else breathed a little sigh of relief, too—until the doctor pulled out a big needle.
    “What’s that for?” Chet asked.
    Mr. Danehy grabbed Chet by the arm and pulled him off to the side. “Let’s go call your mom and dad, okay?” he asked, sensing the boy’s nervousness.
    Chet nodded. “Is my sister going to DIE?” he asked.
    Mr. Danehy threw his arm around Chet’s shoulders. “Of course not,” he said, leading him toward the door. “But we need to call your parents now. They’ll need to pick you both up.”
    Madison watched the doctor ready the needle. “What’s that?” she asked.
    “Adrenaline,” the doctor said. Gently he pushed the needle into Fiona’s arm. “This will stop the swelling.”
    “You’ll be fine, Fiona,” Madison whispered.
    Aimee was sniffling.
    “I’d like to take her over to the infirmary now,” the doctor said to his assistant, raising Fiona up off the bench. Jimmy and Ranger Lester helped lift Fiona onto a stretcher.
    “Is your infirmary for animals and people?” Madison asked.
    “You sure do ask a lot of questions,” the doctor said, smiling. “I like that. And yes, it is an infirmary for people and critters. We usually get a lot more problems with them than us.”
    Madison wished she could see it. Was it anything like the clinic at the Far Hills Animal Shelter, where she liked volunteering?
    “What’s going on now ?” Aimee asked Madison as a man carefully wheeled Fiona away.
    “They’re helping her. She’s going to be fine,” Madison said.
    “Oh-em-gee,” Aimee said, now breaking into tears completely. “How can you be so calm? She’s swelling up like a balloon!”
    Madison and Aimee followed the doctors and Fiona out of the apiary and butterfly house. As they exited, the entire