Dallas, Texas

"I see here your last prescription was filled three months ago", sitting in a different examination room than the one she was used to seeing Doctor Krane in, Sue Ellen nodded and answered, "yes" to the question Doctor Turner asked her as he flipped through her notes.

"You wish for another now?" reiterating what she'd come in for, Doctor Turner spoke in a tone that made her uneasy; she had no concrete reason why she felt the way she did, but having met the man only minutes earlier she suspected it had to do with his directness and lack of friendly conversation before getting down to business.

"Yes", nodding again, receiving a short "hm" in response, she began to regret the decision she'd made to take the first available appointment of the day. At such short notice, she'd been willing to see anyone at the medical practice, underestimating how greatly she appreciated Doctor Krane's bedside manner.

After walking out on JR in the heat of the moment the previous evening, she'd done a lot of thinking, eventually returning to their bedroom a little while later with her mind made up. JR didn't need to be tasked with taking care of things if she could do it herself, so she would.

"May I enquire why?" setting her notes down, Doctor Turner enquired about the reasons behind her visit, reasons she didn't particularly feel like disclosing to him.

"Is there a problem?" never having had a problem accessing what she required before, she resisted needlessly detailing her life story.

"A problem? No", sounding surprised that she felt the way she did, he shook his head and denied putting up barriers to assisting her.

"Good, I'll take what I came here for then please", restating what she wanted, she hoped things would be easier going forward, but the general unease she felt remained.

"Is your husband aware you're here today?" sidestepping her request, he asked her a question she was sure wasn't medically necessary and was certainly personal.

Taken aback by his question, she immediately answered, "yes".

Technically JR wasn't actually aware of where she was or what she was doing but if there was any chance that he was going to use that as a reason to refuse her request she was happy enough to bend the truth.

"Is he on board with this decision?" asking her another personal question, she knew now why she'd felt so uneasy in his presence, he was clearly under the impression that the decision wasn't one she could make on her own, despite recalling Paula telling her years earlier that women had finally gained the right to do exactly that.

"Not that it's any of your business but we've had some recent losses in our extended family and we've decided that now just isn't an appropriate time to be trying to expand our family", unwilling to answer his question directly she gave him a brief version of events to explain why she was there. She didn't feel like she owed him an explanation but she sensed he wasn't going to let it go, so in order to keep him from prying deeper into her marriage she gave him a different set of information to consider.

"I see. Are you sure you want to go the hormonal contraceptive route? There's no guarantee you'll conceive this month, but even if you wished not to, it's not the only way you could try to avoid such a situation", accepting her explanation, he returned to her initial request, offering her advice she hadn't asked for.

"We're sure", snippy, she dismissed his suggestion that they try alternatives to the pill.

"Mm", flipping through her notes again, he made a sound that he was listening but offered nothing of value to their consultation.

"Does any of this matter? All I want is a prescription. Can you or can you not write one for me?" fed up, she redirected their discussion to the one thing she thought important. If he wasn't prepared to give her what she'd come for then she saw no point in continuing their appointment, and if he was then she'd much prefer to get it over with than answer further invasive and unnecessary questions.

"I can prescribe", looking as if he thought her outburst was unjustified, he finally gave her some good news, good news he'd made it as difficult as possible for her to uncover.

"Then please, do", terse, she saw no need to say more than she had, he knew what she wanted.

"I'd be more comfortable if your husband were here to discuss matters with", hesitant, he returned to the same nonsense talking point he'd been set on since she walked into the room.

"My husband is a very busy man, not to mention a grieving one", playing into the ridiculous idea that JR's opinion held more weight than her own, she offered an excuse for why he couldn't be consulted, slightly exaggerating how deeply he'd been affected by the tragedy that had hit Bobby's family. She was the one in their marriage who was still processing what had happened to Pam and Will, but she was hardly going to confess her emotional struggles to Doctor Turner, he seemed like exactly the sort of man who'd use her feelings to justify consulting her husband because she couldn't be trusted to know what was good for her.

"I'm sorry", sounding sympathetic, he appeared receptive to what she was telling him.

"Thank you, it's been very difficult. It was our sister-in-law and nephew, she was pregnant, she got an infection, went into premature labour and delivered early, we lost our nephew and then subsequently the infection overcame her too. I'm sure you'll understand then why we're hesitant to start trying to have another baby of our own, it hardly seems appropriate considering". Feeling as though she'd found his humanity, she hated that she was stooping to the level of using deaths in the family to manipulate him into giving her what she wanted, but given her experience so far it seemed as if it were the only way she was going to walk out of their appointment with a prescription in hand.

"I'm sure it's no consolation but your brother or brother-in-law is lucky to have such empathetic family members", listening as she elaborated on the circumstances surrounding her visit, he answered her compassionately, indicating to her where his values lay. He didn't seem to have much respect for her autonomy, but her focus on family was commendable.

Offering him a polite smile she accepted his comments, closing the subject with a comment of her own, "thank you. I wish there was more we could do, but there's not".

"Mm", reverting to the tone he'd used earlier, the one that indicated his feelings differed dramatically from hers, she got the feeling that he was gearing up for another round of reasons why she couldn't leave with what she'd come for.

In no mood to discuss the specifics again, she said what she had to, "now, I'd like a prescription and I see no reason for you to refuse me one. I don't believe I need my husband's permission for anything we've discussed but regardless you have my word that my husband wouldn't object if he were here to ask. We need some time and this will give it to us".

"Certainly; we'll do the exam now and then after clinic I'd like you to visit to the lab, pending the results I'll have the pharmacy hold the prescription for you", complying with her wishes, he explained how things worked for his patients. She'd have to wait for her prescription, unlike with Doctor Krane who'd hand her the paper before she left her appointment, but she didn't care in what order things happened so long as they did.

"I understand", relieved, she agreed, keen to get things going. She and JR definitely needed to talk, about a lot of things, not just their future family, but now that she had what she wanted she hoped that particular topic of discussion wouldn't be one to argue about any longer.

To be continued…