Chapter 12

Chapter 12 NURSE YOUR WOUNDS, NOT YOUR GRUDGES! WOUNDS HEAL, BUT GRUDGES JUST GET WORSE. Morgan spent a good part of the afternoon in the nurse's office. He had twisted his ankle. The pain had been excruciating—even worse than the first injury— but there was good news. "Nothing's broken," said Doc. "And you didn't do any permanent damage. But you have got to rest, Morgan. You'll never heal if you keep landing on it funny." Morgan nodded. "I've learned my lesson. Pain is a great teacher."

"As long as this great teacher isn't a pain!" said Doc. She chortled at her own joke, but Morgan could only moan. "It sounds like he's in pain!" cried Jodi as she pushed her way into the cramped office. Harper, Theo, and Po were right behind her. "I'm afraid we can't save his sense of humor," said Doc. "But his foot will be fine… in a couple of weeks." "Doc?" said Harper. "I didn't know you were our school nurse."

"Just filling in while Glenda is on vacation," Doc said. "As long as nobody needs a kidney transplant, I can handle it." She seemed to sense some tension between Morgan and his visitors. "I'll let you all talk, but I'll be right outside if you need me." Po waited until Doc had left, and then he turned to Morgan. "Dude, we were so worried!" he said. "When you weren't in class, we didn't know what happened." "We even called Ash," said Harper. She held up her phone. Morgan could see the face of their long-distance friend, Ash, on the screen.

"Hi, Morgan," said Ash. "I'm glad to see you're okay. Jodi thought you'd run away to join the circus." "Or to play Minecraft without us," said Theo. "We actually checked the library first." Morgan shook his head. "I guess I haven't been much of a team player lately, have I? But I wouldn't have gone behind your backs like that." "Can you tell us why you've been so upset?" Ash asked. "Well…" Morgan felt his cheeks get hot. "I guess it's because I like being a part of this team so much.

And I worry sometimes that you don't need me. Or even that I'm holding you back." "Holding us back?" said Po. "That's the opposite of what you do." "But I'm supposed to be the Minecraft expert," said Morgan. "And I've been so busy that I haven't been able to keep up like I used to. I wasn't prepared to face the Nether alone, and sometimes Theo knows more than I do." "Two heads are a lot better than one," said Theo. "When it comes to knowledge, everybody contributes." "Theo's right," said Harper. "I mean, I've always been better at remembering crafting formulas." Jodi chuckled. "That's true! Just like I'm good at taming cute animal mobs."

"And if we have to replace you on a relay race, that wouldn't mean we're replacing you as a friend, you know," Harper continued. "We don't even care that much about winning the race. We just didn't want you to get hurt again." "Mission not accomplished," Po said, pointing at Morgan's freshly rebraced foot. "I guess I took it too personally," said Morgan. "I was looking forward to being on a team with you two for Field Day. I didn't want to miss out. But I have to