"Ok Anna. Let's get you numbed... I need you to stay very still even though it hurts. Can you do that for me? It won't hurt as much as the lancing did but it will burn for a fews seconds until the medicine takes effect. Are you ready?"

Anna howled as the doctor skillfully inserted the needle into her calf and intradermally injected a little of the serum before moving deeper into her muscle. He lied. The injection hurt just as much as the lancing needle, the serum was like liquid fire as it poured into her leg but it lasted only a few seconds and then the seering pain vanished until he moved to the other side with a new syringe.

This time Anna closed her eyes and dug her nails into the padded cushion beneath her as the needle was inserted. She held her breath, counting silently in her head whilst she waited for the pain to end. There were four injections needed in total. Each one seemed to Anna to be more painful than the last and by the time the last needle was discarded into the sharps bin, her face was red and blotchy from crying.

Eventually though, she was properly numb and able to tolerate the Dr thoroughly cleaning the wound by flushing it with saline and using tweezers to remove a large splinter of rotten wood and other unidentifiable foreign bodies from the wound.

Next the Doctor skillfully stitched her leg. She needed four stitches to close the edges of where the abscess had been and the doctor also applied some steri-strips.

When he was satisfied with the state of her leg, Dr Jeffries finished by applying a sterile dressing and then he carefully put on a bandage. Anna was just beginning to relax when the doctor announced what needed to happen next, and it wasn't good news.

"I'm afraid there's got to be some more shots now Anna. Your records show you are over due a tetanus vaccination and you will also need some antibiotic shots to properly get on top of this infection."