Disclaimer: I do not own Sex & the Cityand its characters.
In Sickness and Misconduct
Chapter 1
59th Street General Medical Practice, Office of Dr. Sameer Kumar, M.D.
As much as he hated visiting the doctor, John James Preston figured now that he was a married man of a certain age, an annual prostate exam was unavoidable and necessary. He flicked through a Men's Health magazine as he sat in cold sterile waiting room of an Upper East Side medical clinic. He checked his watch, realising that he had been sitting there for half-an-hour.
A young African American nurse with the name 'Jane Palmer' written on her ID tag approached him with a kind smile. "Dr. Kumar will see you now, Mr Preston," she informed him. "We apologise for the delay. Unfortunately we have been short staffed all of this week. Doctors love their Hamptons vacations."
So much for the efficiency of a top class New York medical clinic.
Preston stood to attention, a little startled, realising that it was his turn. He followed Nurse Jane into Dr. Kumar's surgery.
"Ah, Mr. Preston," Dr. Kumar greeted warmly, as he stood from behind a wooden desk. "I am delighted to have you as my patient. My sister is an avid reader of your wife Carrie Bradshaw's work."
Dr. Kumar was a slightly built middle-aged Indian man with a shaved head. He approached Preston with bright eyes, before sitting on the edge of his desk. "How is your wife?"
Preston was not in the mood for idle chitchat. He just wanted the whole experience to be over as quickly as possible. "Carrie's doing great," he said.
"Does she have another book coming out soon?"
"She is working on something right now . . . but I can't give too much away. Hey listen, can we get started with the check-up? I need to be somewhere later."
"Of course," Dr Kumar obliged. He guided the larger man towards the examination table. "I'll need you to remove your clothes, first of all."
Preston did as the doctor asked in a hurried fashion, removing his shoes and socks, followed by his suit jacket, tie, shirt and pants. He nearly tripped backwards as he stepped out of his pants, but managed to stabilise himself on the cushioned doctor's table.
"Be careful, Mr. Preston. We don't want a casualty," Dr Kumar said with an amused laugh, placing a warm hand on his bare back. "Just relax."
Preston turned around to face the doctor.
Dr. Kumar looked the man up and down. "I'm afraid you'll need to remove your underwear too."
"Oh, no problem." Preston slipped out of the black satin boxer shorts he had been wearing that day, and added them to the pile of clothing on the floor.
Nurse Jane entered the surgery at that moment, nonchalant about a naked man standing in the middle of the room. Having worked in the medical field for a few years, she had seen it all before. She reached for the pile of clothing on the floor, folding them and placing them on a chair next to the examination table. "You should take better care of your Armani," she chided.
"Nurse, can you prepare a shot for Mr. Preston?" Dr. Kumar requested casually. "He will need a local anaesthetic for this procedure."
Preston's eyes widened with surprise. "Anaesthetic? What for? I thought I was only here for an examination?"
"It's just a local," Dr. Kumar assured. "An internal examination such as this can be rather uncomfortable, Mr. Preston. This is why we administer a local anaesthetic in most cases."
"Oh." Preston was dumbfounded. He never had a prostate examination before and wasn't entirely sure what to expect. He also thought it was odd that the doctor hadn't offered him a gown to wear, but then again the doctor would be looking inside his derriere after all. What did it matter? Preston tried to calm himself. He was in a rush anyways. He and Carrie were meeting Charlotte and Harry for dinner at a new restaurant they wanted to try in Chinatown.
Dr. Kumar snapped on a pair of bright blue latex gloves. "I think I know why they make these gloves so colorful," he reflected. "It's so the patient knows I'm wearing gloves in the first place." He chuckled raucously, a change from the placid demeanour he had presented with up until this point.
Nurse Jane handed Dr. Kumar the syringe she prepared.
"Bend over, Mr. Preston. This will only pinch a bit."
Preston did as the doctor ordered. He winced as the injection pierced his flesh.
"Oh yes, I like 'em a little cheeky." Dr. Kumar's voice sounded devilish, his Indian-British accent making it hard for Preston to understand exactly what was said. "Now, I need you to wait behind the curtain over there," he instructed his patient, pointing to the curtained corner of the room. He turned to Nurse Jane, indicating her to leave at this point. "I will be with you in a moment, Mr. Preston. We need to give some time for the anaesthetic to take effect."
Preston did as the doctor asked, approached the corner of the room. Dr. Kumar closed the curtain behind him. A moment went by, and Preston started to feel a little drowsy. The room was spinning and he found it hard to keep his balance, so he rested his back against the cold wall behind him.
Dr. Kumar appeared from behind the curtain.
Preston was in shock when he realised that Dr. Kumar was standing before him stark naked. "What's going on?" Preston demanded, balling his hands into fists.
Dr. Kumar put his hand on Preston's arm to soothe him, his latex gloves now removed. "You need to calm down." He proceeded to slide his soft hands along Preston's strong arms. He released a besotted sigh. "You are a very handsome man, Mr. Preston. Strongly built. You could pause the fine dining, however. Not good for the heart, you understand?" He placed his other hand on Preston's stomach, then caressed his chest, his fingers gliding through the thick hair there. "Men our age need to take care of ourselves."
At this point, Preston was unaware of what Dr. Kumar was doing. His eyes had become heavy lidded from the sedation. The drug had come on so strong, before long, Preston was unconscious on the floor. This was exactly how Dr. Kumar wanted him.
Preston awoke a couple of hours later in a small private room at Lenox Hill Hospital.
His wife Carrie stood from her seat beside his bed and rushed towards him. "I'm so glad you're okay." Tears were welling up in his eyes, as she held him tightly.
He reluctantly returned the embrace.
A minute went by before they parted. Carrie wiped her eyes and sat on the side of the bed and held his hand.
He examined his surroundings. "What happened?" He looked up at her with bewilderment.
She blew her nose into a tissue. "You had a severe allergic reaction to the shot the doctor gave you," she explained. "It caused you to have a mild heart attack."
"A heart attack?" Preston shifted his position and tried to sit up, but was stopped by the sharp pain in his rectum. "Oowww!"
Carrie stood quickly and rushed to his aid. "You're in pain?"
He recollected the events of that afternoon in his mind, and felt a pang of disgust at the realisation that not only had he been molested, but he had been raped. He knew it in his gut.
"You bet I'm in pain," Preston almost shouted. "Heart attack my ass! That bastard doctor assaulted me."
Carrie found herself confused and frantic by her husband's outburst. She had never seen him in such a state. Vulnerable and helpless.
Preston rested his head on the pillow. He still felt woozy from the drug in his system. "I need a drug test now." He said in a demanding tone. "I can still feel whatever the doctor gave me. It was not a local. It was something like diazepam or methaqualone to make me lose consciousness."
"Of course doctors sometimes make mistakes, right?"
His eyes seethed with rage, but he managed to keep an even tone. "This was no mistake, Kid. Dr. Kumar drugged and raped me." He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, then removed the IV drip from his arm.
"You think you were raped?"
"I'm not staying in this place." He attempted to stand, but he was in too much pain. "Ooowww, mother-of-god!"
Carrie latched onto his arm. "You need to stay in bed."
Preston winced as he sat on the edge of the bed. He looked into his wife's gentle eyes. "Carrie, I need your help."
Carrie noticed the blood on the back of the hospital gown he was wearing, her expression agape. "Who would do this to you?"
"Dr. Kumar, that's who. And his nurse, Jane, I'm sure she was in on it. Now listen Carrie, I need you to talk to the staff on duty. I need a blood test and a rape-kit. Doctors get away with this sort of thing all the time. I just never thought this would happen to me."
"What about Miranda? We'll need some legal advice."
"Good thinking. See if she can get the police here. I want that bastard arrested." He lifted his gown and tried to roll onto his side. "I want you to have a look Carrie. Can you see if there's any bruising?"
At that moment, the door swung opened.
"Mr. Preston," Dr. Kumar greeted. "It's good to see that you're resting up."
"You'll be hearing from my attorney!" Preston shouted with anger. "You'll be lucky if you don't get slapped with prison sentence after what you've done."
"Now Mr. Preston, there was no record of any allergies on your medical file. We weren't to know you would have a reaction to the anaesthetic."
"I know what you did. I'm no fool."
"Take it easy Mr. Preston, no need to make the situation ugly. You've had a mild heart attack. A couple of days in hospital, and you'll be ready to go home."
"You raped me you bastard! You got me to strip, you drugged me, and then you put your hands all over me. That's what I remember before I blacked out."
"What is the man talking about?" Dr. Kumar turned to Carrie. "Mr. Preston. Sometimes allergic reactions to drugs can put false memories in the minds of patients. I'm a professional, of course I didn't rape you. I performed a routine medical examination."
"What is this then?" Carrie showed the doctor the blood stain on the hospital gown.
"I can explain that," Dr. Kumar replied calmly. "You have been suffering haemorrhoids. You should have seen me sooner. The blood vessels in your rectum burst during the procedure. It's very common. This is also why you are experiencing pain."
Carrie glared at the doctor warily. "Why did you examine my husband even though you were aware he was experiencing an allergic reaction to the anaesthetic you gave him?"
Dr. Kumar glowered, frustrated by her incredulous attack. "If my efficacy as a practitioner worries you, Ms. Bradshaw, you can take it up with the Medical Review Board."
"I fully intend to."
"They will attest to you that I did everything by the book." He looked at Preston with a calm and steady gaze. "I will ask one of the night staff to give you something for your pain." He turned to leave. "Good evening."