Both Selena and Pierre stared at their daughter speechlessly. "I don''t want you to only think about helping me with my pregnancy, Juniper. I want you to really think if you would like to be a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. Doctor Werner wants to teach you all about acupuncture and moxibustion, so you''ll have to learn how to use needles." Selena brought up the topic of needles as she knew that Juniper was afraid of them. She hoped that it would be able to scare the young girl off.
"Really? That''s perfect!" Juniper pped excitedly. "I''ll be able to conquer my fear of needles, then! I want to be Doctor Werner''s apprentice, Mommy! Is that okay?"
Selena and Pierre stared at her exasperatedly. "Look. I told you; it''s useless trying to talk some sense into her. We should just make the decision ourselves. Let''s leave the mountains now. I''m not staying here anymore!" Pierre uttered as he walked over to pick Jameson up into his arms. He called for Joaquin as well.
"I want you to be honest with me, Juniper. Do you really like it?" Selena asked.
Juniper nodded. "I do. I like the scent of herbs."Belonging ? N?velDram/a.Org.
"Why would you like the scent of herbs? It stinks!" Pierre cried.
"Herbs smell great!" Juniper protested. Pierre hastily brought the young girl into his arms when he saw how stubborn she was acting. "Listen to me, Juniper. That old doctor is a bad guy, okay?"
She shook her head. "Doctor Werner is a nice man. He''s not a bad guy. He''s a doctor, isn''t he? All doctors are good people because they treat patients and save lives."
"Other doctors save lives; this old doctor doesn''t! He''s evil!" Pierre argued.
Selena pulled Juniper away from him then. "Is this how you''re supposed to educate your children?" she grumbled.
iet
"What''s wrong with my method? Are you really nning to leave Juniper here so that she can be that old doctor''s apprentice? I''ll never agree to that!" Pierre said in a firm tone. He couldn''t bear the thought of allowing his daughter to suffer at such a young age, especially since she had already suffered a great deal.
Selena ran her fingers through Juniper''s hair while ignoring Pierre. "Tell me, Juniper. Are you sure you want to learn medicine from Doctor Werner?"
Juniper nodded. “I think learning medicine is a really cool thing to do, Mommy!"
"Cool?" Selena was rather surprised by Juniper''s choice of words.
"Yeah. I''ve always thought that the doctors and nurses who cared for me at the hospital were cool. They had the power to ease your
struggles whenever you suffered et
the power to make you fall asleep when you couldn''t, and the power to take away your pain when you hurt. Isn''t that really cool? ording to the stories I''ve heard, only Gods are able to do such things!" Juniper stared at Selena proudly.
Selena saw where the young girl wasing from then. Juniper has spent so much time in the hospital, and she got along well with all her doctors and nurses. It''s no wonder she has such immense respect for the medical profession. "But things aren''t as easy as they seem, Juniper. Medicine is an extremely tough subject, you know? Traditional Chinese medicine is particrly challenging since you''ll have to remember the names of the herbs. There are many, many herbs in this world; you wouldn''t even be able to finish counting all the types of herbs..." Her voice faded as she
gently caressed Juniper''s hair.
Nothing Selena said seemed to dampen Juniper''s spirit. "It wouldn''t be challenging if I enjoyed the process. My brain hurts just seeing Joaquin learning all the endless things aboutputers every day, yet he seems to enjoy it a lot."
Selena realized that she had underestimated her daughter''s abilities then. "Alright. If you insist on it, then I''ll have to agree with your decision."
"What agreement is this? Do I look dead to the two of you? Am I not the man of this family? Do I even have the right to speak?" Pierre was evidently frustrated after he heard the conversation between mother and daughter.