Some things a lollipop won't fix

Well, I had a pretty humbling experience today.
I was working in the doctor's office and a young girl came in for a vaccination. She was about ten years old and was sitting in the examining room with her mom and older sister.
"I don't want a needle." She said in a whiny voice. "They hurt."
She started clutching at her mother and as I drew up the syringe I attempted to reassure her.
"You know what, I give needles all the time, and I'm really good at it. It doesn't hurt at all! And after we're done, you can have a lollipop."
"Look at your sister." I suggested as I reached for her arm, her cringing and whimpering.
In my experience, the best way to inject kids is to do it quickly, before they even know what's happening to them. And I would have done it, too, except something went wrong.
I poked the needle in and as I went to push the plunger down, the barrel was not connected properly and it popped off, shooting the medicine all over out the barrel.
I think I must have said 'oops' or something, because she looked over and there was a needle hanging out of her arm. I quickly pulled it out and tried to redeem the situation.
"Uh oh, I'm going to have to do that again. That syringe was not a good one."
The mother was staring at me, as if wondering what kind of a medical student I was and what I was doing to her child.
I quickly grabbed the vial and drew up another dose, hiding it behind my hand so she wouldn't see the needle.
Well, you try telling a kid that you're going to have to poke them a second time because you screwed up the first time.
I thought, what if going in fast is not the best technique? I advanced the needle a little more slowly towards her deltoid muscle, but i must have held it at a bad angle, because the needle bounced right off. I was sweating bullets by now. The third time I jabbed, I held it there and squirted it in, withdrawing it quickly and scrambling to find a bandaid.
"There you go, all done!" I said cheerily. "You were so brave!"
If looks could kill, I would've been dead.
The mother made some comment about getting three times her money's worth. I ushered them out of the room, wondering if there was a way I could redeem the situation.
"Here, would you like a lollipop?" I asked the little girl, offering her the bucket of candies.
She gave me a very insulted look, as if to say, do I look like a little child to you who can be easily pacified by a lollipop? You just stabbed me three times in one arm!
"They're delicious." I said encouragingly. "I always get one when I can." (Actually that was a lie, I just realized that now. I don't really care for lollipops.)
She looked at me evenly and said, "I'm not allowed to have them."
As they walked out of the office I waved goodbye and thought, no wonder there is such a thing as malpractice insurance. How can a ten-year-old make me feel so defeated? If only I hadn't said all that about being so good at giving injections....
"Oh, did the needle pop off the syringe?" the doctor asked me casually, his back turned to me.
"Uh, yes." I admitted in a small voice.
"That happened to me the other day." He said matter-of-factly. "Funny things, those."
Funny things indeed.