Mr. Claus

Chapter 2

  At first, Elmore felt pain so hot his body was frozen, and then he was screaming. The head chef ran over and pulled his shirt off to get the boiling soup away from his skin. Mr. Cranberry ran into the kitchen immediately after, and after he saw what was going on, he and the head chef picked Elmore up and ran him to the nearest bathroom. The chef filled the bathtub with cool water, and Mr. Cranberry lowered him into it. He was shaking so hard the water was rippling, and tears were streaming down his face. The chef and Mr. Cranberry talked, and the chef walked out, probably going back to the kitchen.

Mr. Cranberry sat in the bathroom with Elmore for at least an hour, refilling the water every time it started to warm up. Sometimes he called people to the bathroom door, and took things from them, but he mostly just sat there and read a book. Every once in a while he would look to the door, as if he was waiting for someone to appear. He was on his fourth refill, when he decided to try to push himself to sit up in the tub. The moment his burned skin touched the warm air, he cried out and fell back into the water with a splash. Mr. Cranberry startled and the door behind him burst open.

Mr. Claus stood by the door, looking angry and confused. Elmore hadn't seen Mr. Claus in person since July, but he looked exactly the same as always. He was tall and muscular, he had deep black hair with a large grey streak running along his head. His eyebrows were pointed, but not in a mean looking way, and his eyes were a dark brown that shone when they caught the light. "What's going on?"

Mr. Cranberry replied, "One of the young chefs tripped and poured boiling stew on this boy. He's been here for two hours now. I applied ointment on the affected area while he was asleep an hour ago."

He was asleep?

"Why was a young chef carrying a whole pot of boiling stew?" Mr. Claus looked tired. Elmore wanted to know the answer to his question too. Only the real chefs were trusted with the food, young chefs were only to help with ingredients and stirring until they reached a certain level in their training.

"I've been calling people from the kitchen to explain the situation but they all just say they didn't notice the young chef carrying anything."

Mr. Claus wasn't happy. "And did you talk to the young chef responsible for the incident?"

"He's been here twice to apologise but given the current circumstances, I told him he could come back later. He said he had accidentally dropped cinnamon into the pot of stew and was taking it out to dump it behind the kitchen." The circumstances, being Elmore partially naked in a bathtub barely able to form coherent sentences.

Mr. Claus looked down at Elmore from the door, and then stepped in and shut it behind him. Presumably to prevent further embarrassment. "What has been done to treat the boy?" He asked.

"He's been in cool water since the incident. The burns on his hands, jaw, torso and right leg are not terrible, but the burn on his neck and shoulder is more severe. The ointment has been applied once, and will be again once he can be exposed to air again without screaming to the heavens." Mr. Cranberry was a great guy. He was older than Elmore, one of the oldest elves in the capital, but much younger than Mr. Claus.

"Where are the doctors? Why are you the only person here treating him?" Mr. Claus asked.

"Dr. Bell was here earlier, but there's nothing they can do further than what I've already done. And the poor boy doesn't need a crowd of people staring at him while he's vulnerable. I was going to leave him with a trusted friend of his but nobody knows who he's close with other than young Ms. Fritz and she's busy covering for two sick elves."

"Don't you have to meet with the mayor of one of the smaller towns out west in ten minutes?" At Mr. Claus' question, Mr. Cranberry checked his watch and swore. "Go meet with the mayor, I'll sit with the boy until his friend gets here."

"Sir, are you sure? I can postpone the meeting or send someone in my place." Mr. Cranberry said.

"There's no issue, I'd rather die than read more papers, and I have nothing to do until tomorrow."

Mr. Cranberry thanked Mr. Claus and wished Elmore well before running out of the room quickly. Mr. Claus looked at Elmore, and then sat down on the stool near the sink. He picked up the book Mr. Cranberry had been reading and read only the cover before tossing it back on the counter and looking back to Elmore. "Can you talk?" He asked.

Elmore tried to nod his head, which resulted in stretching the burn on his neck and making him cry out. "I believe I asked about your ability to talk, not to move." He teased lightly. Elmore appreciated the casualness of the joke. It distracted him from the burning sensation on his neck. "How long ago did Mr. Cranberry apply the ointment to your burns again?" He asked.

"An hour ago?" he rasped. His throat was scratchy from screaming, and if he opened his mouth too wide the burn on his jaw ached.

"That's what I thought. It needs to be applied every hour. Do you want me to call a doctor to do it now or would you like to wait for your friend?" Elmore didn't think Mr. Claus knew that the work Fritz had taken up was in the next town over, and she wouldn't be back until late tomorrow.

"Doctor."

"Alright, I'll send for Doctor Bell." Doctor Bell was a nasty woman. She was a good doctor, but her attitude was worse than a starved reindeer on Christmas morning. He'd only ever been treated by her as a child, and every time he had to go, he would scream until he couldn't talk. The lady was terrifying.

"Thanks." He muttered.

Doctor Bell arrived exactly ten minutes later with a clipboard and her signature scowl. Once she stepped into the bathroom and saw Mr. Claus was sitting with Elmore, her nasty frown literally turned upside down and her face lit up like a teenage girl looking at a celebrity. It was disturbing to say the least.

"Any discomfort Elmore?" She asked with a forced smile. Doctor Bell didn't like him at all.

"No ma'am." He rolled his eyes. She glared at him and told him to get out of the tub sternly. Her earlier attempt at charm for Mr. Claus' sake was dropped and she was back to normal. He tried to push himself out of the tub, but the burns on his hands shot sharp pains up his arms and he crashed back down slamming his back against the edge of the tub. When he cried out, Mr. Claus stood up and Doctor Bell sighed rudely beside his head.

"Doctor Bell, I apologise for calling you, but I can take it from here." Mr. Claus said. He looked shocked.

"Suit yourselves." Doctor Bell rolled her eyes a second time and walked out.

"What the hell did you do to that woman?" He asked. Elmore had already gathered that he'd never seen her real attitude before today.

"What did anyone do to that woman?" he retorted. He shook his head. The water in his tub was getting warm, and his burns were starting to feel hot again. The cloth he kept against his neck wasn't cool anymore either, and he couldn't cool it down in the water. He drained the water in the tub and tried to turn the tap for cold water on but couldn't hold it tight enough and just rubbed his burn further. His body was starting to sting as it was exposed to warm air.

"Stand up for a moment." He followed the instruction, with the help of Mr. Claus' support on his forearms. Mr. Claus grabbed the ointment and lightly spread it over Elmore's torso and leg, then moved to his jaw, shoulder, and neck. Lastly, he grabbed his hands and spread it carefully over his palms. The relief was immediate. Then Elmore had to sit with it on for a few minutes before Mr. Claus filled the tub with cool water again.

Once the pain was finally dulled, he rested his head against the back of the tub. Mr. Claus laid the cold cloth over his neck and shoulder and picked up a book someone had brought. Elmore felt his eyes drift closed from the relief.