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Every fall, at the care home, Magdalena invited public health nurses in to give the flu vaccine.
Her kind rarely got human flus, so they had a choice. Either receive the mostly-useless vaccine, or get a forged vaccine record from Paul. Too bad there were no vaccines for the flus specific to her kind, which occasionally showed up. Magdalena had never had the flu until she started the care home—it was the downside of having so many of her kind grouped together, illnesses could travel.
The human staff and residents got no choice. Not even religious exemption—only a medical exemption would get you out of getting the vaccine. The flu was more dangerous for the residents, due to lack of cleanliness, incontinence, and for some, inability to walk.
So, when the nurses came with their vaccines, everyone got one, whether they wanted it or not.
Rudolf and Agata got theirs together. Ever since Magdalena had made them roommates, they’d been inseparable, with Rudolf following Aggie wherever she went.
“OK, just a little prick.” The public health nurse said, and Aggie gave her a drooly smile in response. She swabbed Aggie’s upper arm, getting a giggle. Then she plunged the needle in, and Aggie whimpered. “All done.” The nurse reassured her, pressing a swab to the spot and covering it in a band-aid.
Rudolf, meanwhile, was more uncertain. “Buh?” He asked as they directed him to sit down.
“It’s OK, Rudolf. See, Aggie’s already feeling better.” Magdalena said, indicating the woman in question. Aggie was staring at the band-aid thoughtfully, but she looked up and smiled at Magdalena when she spoke.
Mollified, Rudolf sat down and let the nurse swab him. But when she plunged the needle in, he screamed. “Guh! Nuh! Uh!”
Magdalena and Solomon hastily held him down. Magdalena was tempted to kiss him, get him in the feeding daze, but the nurse currently bandaging him was pretty much completely immune to their power, and she dared not show any suspicious behavior in her presence. So instead they held the sobbing Rudolf until the band-aid was on, then let him up. “Go on, Rudolf. You’re all right.” Magdalena said. Aggie, who’d been watching the whole scene in concern, offered Rudolf her hand, and he took it.
Josef was next. He clapped his hands with excitement when he saw Magdalena. “Mah-dah!” He exclaimed.
“Hey, Josef.” Magdalena smiled. “Vaccine time. You know the drill.”
Josef obligingly sat in the chair, and took Magdalena’s hand as the public health nurse injected him. “You’re OK.” Magdalena assured him, and he nodded. She should probably feed from him soon, she mused. He was recovering pretty far. But she’d wait until they knew if he was having any vaccine reactions, to avoid having to show the nurse a sudden change in his abilities.
Next was Tobias. He was wheeled in, chewing his hand and eyeing his surroundings in suspicion. When the nurse gave him his dose of vaccine, he just frowned, but didn’t protest.
Bradley came next, toddling along in his walker. Magdalena helped him sit down, and he promptly tried to grab the needle from the nurse. “Brad, no.” Magdalena grabbed his hand. He moaned in protest and tried to pull his hand free. Magdalena held him still as the public health nurse swabbed his arm and gave him the vaccine. “OK, Brad, time to go.” Magdalena said, and proceeded to wrangle him back into his walker as he tried to get to the garbage can the nurse had dropped the needle into.
Patrick chewed on his bandanna the whole time, muffling his whimpers.
And then there was Ari, her newest resident. Still confused and uncertain, Ari’s face cleared as he saw Magdalena. He moaned and approached her, wiping the drool from his face with a cloth wristband. “Ari, it’s vaccine time.” Magdalena told him. “I want you to sit down here, OK?”
Ari obeyed, looking at the nurse prepping the vaccine with an expression like he was sure he should understand what she was doing, but he didn’t. When the nurse swapped him, he was startled, and then he whimpered and held Magdalena’s hands as the needle went in. “All done now, Ari.” Magdalena said as the nurse bandaged him. “You did great.”