“Oh don’t worry,” she said while chuckling, “I am the head nurse here. I was just filling in for our receptionist – he’s gone on a coffee break. My name is Kate.”
Blair nodded. Oh so that made a lot of sense.
“The doctor will see you in a few moments,” the nurse Kate said, “but until then, can you please change into a robe and lay back down on that table when you’re done?” she instructed, pointing to a flat white table on the corner of the room.
Blair nodded. She took off her jeans and shirt and slipped on the mint colored robe. Even that had that distinct medicinal smell, Blair noticed with a grimace on her face. Still, she changed quickly and went to go lie down on the table - the fluorescent lights straight overhead her, blinding her almost.
There was some shuffling and the sound a door opening followed by footsteps.
“Good evening, Miss Kate,” the voice was deep and throaty. Blair felt her enjoying the sound – she loved deep masculine voices. Well, at least there was one perk of coming to this checkup today.
“Good evening, doctor. The patient is here to see you now.”
“Very well,” he replied, “Hello, Miss Blair? You may sit up to talk to me,” he instructed. Blair straightened up her back and hoisted herself up to look at the doctor. Instantly, she was taken aback.
She could not help but notice how the man in front of her was so well kept and dare she say it, handsome even. He did not look too old – possibly in his late thirties, perhaps forty at most. But even so, he had maintained himself very well. What a refreshing change from Mrs. Gertrude – who was in her sixties and spoke with a speech impediment.
Blair suddenly realized she was staring and corrected herself. “Um – right,” she uttered out, half embarrassed as she realized the doctor had caught her staring. He just flashed her a smile though, which nearly knocked her out. God dammit.
“I take this is your first appointment with me, Miss Blair?” he asked her in that deep throaty voice of his and Blair found herself struggling to concentrate.
“Yes – well, my mom – she sort of forced me to come, really,” Blair replied shyly, her right hand flying upwards to rub her neck.
“Smart that you listened,” he replied, “Regular checkups are pivotal to maintain health – a young lady like you should be aware of that.”
Blair just nodded. “Now, I want you to get comfortable. Let go of those nerves, okay?” he told her, “I am your doctor and only have what’s best for you at heart.”
“Yes, Doctor Williams,” she found herself answering.
“Now tell me, Blair,” he said, with a purple file in his hands. Blair could not help but notice how firm and strong those hands of his looked. Quickly catching herself in mid thought though, she shook it off and concentrated on what the doctor was saying to her.
“It says in your file this is your first time getting a major exam done,” he said to her, “tell me, have you ever visited a gynecologist before?” he asked, eyes still on that file.
“Well, yes – once or twice,” she replied, “but with my mother when I was younger. To get on birth control – you know? That’s all,” she said.
“Good, okay, so I trust this is your first time having a major examination done? And that, too on your own?” he prodded.
She nodded and then uttered a small, “yeah.”
“How old are you, Miss Blair?”
Blair shot him a quizzical look. Surely, he could tell that by just looking at her file. Still, she answered anyway. “Well – I turned eighteen in February. So, eighteen years and-“but she was cut off mid-sentence.
“And four months. Yes that is what is says on the file – very well, then,” he replied back, flashing her one of those smiles yet again, “I trust you are off to college soon?”
Blair was surprised that he was going off track now but then she thought it was probably his way of making her feel more comfortable. She gulped and replied back, “Yes, actually. I got in my top choice of school - very excited for that.”
“Brilliant. You do strike me as a smart girl,” Dr. William praised and then, at the end of his, flashed her a hint of a smirk. Blair gulped loudly – suddenly the room was getting much warmer.
“So today I am going to just run a few tests on you – standard stuff, really. Us doctors have to do this every day, so I want you to feel comfortable, okay?” he reassured.
She nodded in compliance, knotting her hands together at the front of the robe. But she could not help but feel a little nervous. Previously, she had been okay with having a pelvic exam performed on her by a male doctor but since meeting Dr. Williams, she realized it might be a little harder.
Still, she gulped back her conflicting emotions and reminded herself what the doctor already told her – he was a professional and he probably did this stuff on a daily basis. She shouldn’t feel weird about it.
“Okay have you had any partners in the last three months?” he asked and Blair felt a blush creep up on her cheeks.
“Um, no actually – I’ve never -,” she said embarrassed.
“Oh – right,” the doctor replied but then smiled reassuringly, “that is perfectly okay. We just need to ask and make sure.”
Blair nodded; already feeling red faced and bothered. It should not matter to her, she reminded herself, but the rush of blood to her cheeks was inevitable.
“Okay, are you ready Blair?”
“Yes,” she almost purred back but then caught herself midway, realizing the horror of her tone.
The doctor raised an eyebrow at this but then chuckled. “Very good,” he remarked in that velvety deep voice and Blair’s two front teeth sank further down her front lip. “Please lay down so we can begin.”
“I want you to relax and try not to make a lot of movement,” the doctor said bending over in front of her and slipping on his latex gloves, “please open up your legs a little.”
Blair suddenly felt immediately self-conscious. Dr. Williams noticed this hesitance at once and began to calm her down.
“Please feel comfortable Blair,” he said, addressing her by name. “I do not want you to hide yourself way or else I will not be able to conduct the exam,” he finished.
“I’m sorry,” stuttered Blair awkwardly, “it’s just – this is weird, sort of? You know – with my mom not being here and you -,” she stopped her sentence right then but what she really wanted to say was that how he was totally not the most conventional looking doctor. In fact, he was very handsome and that was the reason why Blair suddenly felt so self-conscious.
The doctor chuckled yet again, “You are a grown woman, Blair,” he said and Blair felt something stir up inside of her at the words. “You do not need your mother to accompany you on every trip to the doctors now, do you?” he said, looming over her with a devilish smile.
“No, um,” Blair cleared her throat, “you’re right. I guess – I’m just nervous? I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Dr. Williams raised his eyebrow at her as she said these words, “Oh? Well what does that mean exactly?”
“It’s just –,” Blair was awkwardly fumbling around with her words now but thought that she might feel a little lighter and less nervous if she let it out, “you’re much better looking than what I am used to for doctors,” she admitted, the blush deepening to several shades of scarlet.
Dr. Williams roared with laughter hearing this, “Well, well, Blair. I am very flattered that you think so but I am only just your medical health care professional,” he said, still having an edge of delightedness to his tone.
“So it would be best for you to relax now, young Lady,” he told her, “besides, I think it would help you immensely if I told you that this doctor thinks that you are much better looking than what he is used to in patients too,” he said, adding a small wink at the end.
Blair nearly felt as though she would faint – had the handsome doctor just returned her shy compliment and then proceeded to wink at her? Oh my, she felt like she need
ed to go fan herself, just for that.
“Thanks – I,” she stuttered out awkwardly, “that’s good to know,” she breathed out.
“Now, can you please relax so we can continue with the exam?” he told her in his deep voice and she found herself relaxing immediately. Surely, she could get pass through this without making a total and complete imbecile out of herself. She bit back her lip and opened her legs so the doctor could carry on with the exam.
She heard a snap of the doctor’s gloves as he disappeared from her sight. Then she felt a cold spatula on her downwards. She gulped back and tried not to wiggle too much at the weirdness of the whole exchange but she also felt her breathing sped up. In her entire high school career, she had not had a boy down there but then, there he was, a man much older than her.
She reminded herself sharply that this is only an exam and she should not get so worked up about it. Finally, the doctor emerged back up.
“Very good, Blair,” he told her, holding the small spatula still in his hands and transferring the contents of it onto a small glass slide, “You did well,” he appreciated her as he put the slide away.
Blair slowly got up from her place on the stretcher, “Uh – well, that wasn’t so bad,” she said quietly, “Is it all okay down there?” she asked.
The doctor laughed, “Well, by the looks of it, yes, all seems to be fine but I cannot really say until I’ve sent your cells back to the lab and we get back the results.”
“How long will that be?”
“Not too long,” he reassured her, “I should say, a week. I’ll have the nurse make you an appointment for next week, yes?”
Blair nodded and hopped off her place of sitting, taking her cue to leave. But as she exited the door, she noticed the doctor was following her suit.
“I, oh- sorry,” she said as she bumped into him while crossing the doorway.
“It seems we are both in a rush to get out of here,” he said, sounding amused.
She noticed the rain had started pouring outside now and there was no way she could walk to the bus stop without catching an illness, she frowned.
Dr. Williams noticed this. “It’s raining quite heavily outside, I see,” he told her and she nodded, her frown deepening.
“Well,” she started, “it’s going to be a lo-ong walk.”
“I am actually on my way out right now, I can give you a ride if you please?” he offered and Blair looked at him as though he had just proposed world peace to her.
“Why, I do not want to be of an inconvenience,” she shuffled, but then leaned forward a little, waiting for his reply.
He just chucked, as per usual. Blair was beginning to realize he was a very perky doctor.
“It’s fine. Come, I’ll drop you off,” he told her and she followed him to his car. It was a 2015 Prius in matte black. They both quickly jumped in to avoid getting too drenched from the rain.
“Jesus Christ,” Dr. William’s cursed lightly under his breath, “It really is pouring, isn’t it?”
Blair nodded, shutting the door beside her. She eased herself onto the passenger seat.
The doctor had taken off his egg shell white coat now and rolled up the sleeves of his buttoned grey dress shirt. Blair noticed his skin was marked with black ink, indicating a tattoo she could not properly see due to it being shielded by the cloth of his sleeve.
“Oh wow,” she pointed it out once he had begun to drive, “I did not know doctors were allowed to have tattoos,” she stated, her gaze on the black of the ink peeking through.
He chuckled in response. “It is definitely not recommended,” he said to her, eyes fixed on the road.
“Then how come you have one?” she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
“You know, when you’re good at what you do, they tend to make a few exceptions,” he told her.
“Oh – why aren’t you modest now,” she laughed, surprised at just how easily conversation was flowing between the two of them right now.
“I am many things but modesty is not one of my best virtues, I should say,” he told her, still laughing.
“Can I see it?” she asked, suddenly; her front teeth sinking again into the plush of her lips.
“Sure, go ahead,” he told her and she slowly moved her fingers to the hem of his rolled up sleeve, pushing it up even further.
It revealed the head of a wolf on his lower forearm with some words in Latin inscribed below it. Blair found her admiring the art work and resisted the urge to run her fingers over it. “That’s beautiful,” she breathed, “what does it mean?” she said, tearing her eyes away to look up at him.
“It’s a famous Latin saying,” he admitted, “it means, as long as there is life, hope lives on.”
“That’s quite deep Dr. Williams,” she commented.
“Please – don’t call me Dr. Williams. I do not wish to be referred that outside of the clinic. I often encourage my patients to refer to me more like a friend. Call me Daniel,” he said before adding, “and yes, well it is a phrase whose meaning I hold quite dear to me.”
“I’ve always wanted to go get a tattoo,” she told him, shyly, “but my mother would freak out for sure, Daniel.” She added the last word just to see how it would feel like if she said out his first name out loud. Admittedly, it felt nice.
“Ah, teenage,” he said wistfully, “I got my first one before I turned 18,” he told her, chuckling as he remembered the memory.
“You know,” she started, crossing her legs now, “you are quite edgy for someone who is supposed to be old and have a profession as boring as medicine,” she suddenly felt as though perhaps she had crossed some line and should not have said what she did but to her relief, Daniel did not find the remark to be of any offense and instead it played to his amusement. It looked like as though he got this a lot.
“Age is only but a number. I believe a person is young as long as he remains young at heart,” he said, “and as for medicine being boring, I should not think so. It is a passion of mine that I have pursued most ardently and do not wish to relinquish due to any societal stereotypes of it being not interesting enough.”
She looked down at her feet, “I do not even know what I want to be. Wish I had a passion like that,” she admitted, almost sadly.
“Hey there,” suddenly his voice grew considerably softer as though he related to her on some level, “You seem like a smart young woman, I am certain you will figure it out. Besides, did you not mention before you had gotten some acceptances from college?” he inquired.
Blair nodded, a lump had suddenly risen up in her throat, “I did. I’m happy yes but- you know how you seem so passionate about medicine, yeah well, I don’t think I feel that way about anything,” she said.
“At your age, that is perfectly fine,” he told her, “Just whatever you do, agree not to settle on anybody else’s terms but your own,” he advised wisely.
Blair nodded, suddenly feeling a rush of relief. Perhaps this is what she has needed to hear all along and if someone as successful as him was telling me this, it must mean it is good advice indeed. She felt glad of her decision to let him drop her off.
“Thanks Dr – I mean, Daniel. I think I really needed to hear that.”
He chuckled again, “Oh no problem. Consider me a friend, more so your doctor,” he said, cheerfully, “Now where am I drop you off?”
“My friend, she said there was a party and I should come – there, perhaps?” she told him and then explained to him the directions. A few moments later, they were parked in front of the house where the party was held. Faint music could be heard blaring through the walls.
“This is your destination,” he said to her as they pulled into the front.
“Thank you Daniel. For not making me walk out here all the way in the rain,” she said, sincerely.
“Anytime,” he replied, chuckling. “happy to be of service.”
They said their goodbyes and as she watched him pull out of the gray paved road, she could
not help but think how nice of time she had with him in a few minutes than she had ever had on a date with one of her own peers. Shaking her head, she made her way into the house to enter the party.
Chapter 3
“Blair, over here!” it was the sound of Janet, her best friend, over the melody of the loud music that was playing through the entire room. The party had already well begun when Blair had made an appearance – she could tell that by the throng of drunken teenagers that surrounded her, laughing loudly and dancing.
Blair pushed through the crowds of people to be once again reunited with her best friend. Janet wrapped her in a hug upon encounter.
“I’m so glad you came, B!” she said, keeping her mouth close to the brunette’s ear so she could hear her over the obscenely loud music, “I was so sure you were going to ditch again.”
Blair laughed, “Well, I’m here now, aren’t I?”
Janet giggled in reciprocation and Blair could tell she was already a bit tipsy judging from the slur to her speech and the red cup firmly grasped between her fingers.
“How was your doctors thing?” she asked her, swinging slightly sideways to steady herself against the support of a wall.
Blair paused for a moment, looking for words to articulate her thoughts. She felt a weird rush of butterflies thinking about the incident but even Blair knew feeling that way was foolish and naïve. So, instead, she just swallowed back and replied, “It went fine – everything’s good.”
Janet let out a drawn out yawn as though she was already bored with the conversation topic, “So listen,” she changed the topic, her eyes glimmering with that same tint she always gets when she is excited about something, “James is here. He kept asking for you, actually – he’s in the back if you want to see him.” Janet was grinning wildly by the time she had ended her sentence.
Blair looked back at her with dubious contemplation – she knew her best friend was up to something and that something probably involved the unification of her and James. Still, she thought if she’d come all the way here to the party, might as well do as told.
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