As the weather outside worsened, so did Ray's attitude. He tried his best to not let it show, but he knew it had to. He looked at the young lady with the sprained ankle and tried to pretend he wasn't annoyed. Why is everyone annoying me today? He thought It's not like anyone has actually done something to piss me off. He sat on the stool next to the table. "How'd this happen?"
The young lady smiled at Ray. "It happened during warm ups in September."
"And you've waited this long to come and see the doctor?" Ray didn't know how he should really respond.
"Yeah." The girl's smile faded. "I know I should have come sooner, but my team needed me and I'm the most skilled gymnast on the team. I couldn't let them down." She looked at him. "We go to State next week."
Yippee. Ray silently thought. "Well, from the looks of your ankle, you'll miss State."
"Are you serious?" The girl was close to tears. "I can't miss State. I just can't."
Ray wanted to feel sorry for her, but he sighed heavily. "If you do State, you could risk even more injury than you have now."
The girl looked at him. "Like what?"
"You have a slight sprain, which would require a wrap and crutches for 2 weeks. You go to State, and you're looking at a severe sprain, which would require 6 weeks. You have a weak ankle and that could lead to a fracture or even a complete break." Ray looked at her. "What good are you to your team if you can't walk?"
The young lady sighed. "You're going to wrap my ankle, right?"
Ray pursed his lips. There was something about the way she said it that didn't make him feel comfortable. "I could get a nurse to…"
"Oh, no. Please. I don't visit the doctor often, but if all doctors are as cute as you, I'll visit more." She smiled.
Ray stood and sighed. Why is it only 14-year-old girls are attracted to me? Why can't I have someone like Sam or Abby, or even Neela look at me? "I'll be back in a few minutes." He went to the front desk. "Abby, could you take care of Exam 2? She just needs her ankle wrapped."
"Why don't you do it?" Abby looked back at him.
"I have this odd way of only attracting 14-year-old girls." He handed Abby the chart. "I don't deal well with little girl crushes anymore."