ALLY:
I had been sleeping for the past six hours. My breasts still ached, I felt really sleepy despite sleeping for six hours, I had to pee about five times today alone and about ten yesterday, I was pretty damn dizzy and I had thrown up several times yesterday since after woke up to find Austin taking his stethoscope from around his neck and taking his lab coat off and hanging it up, taking off his shirt, necktie and slacks, changing into a light grey thermal henley t-shirt with long sleeves and blue sweatpants that said Miami in yellow letters. He glanced at me and said,
"Aww, you look so adorable when you sleep."
I laughed.
"Thanks, Austin."
He asked me,
"Because it's my duty as your husband and a doctor, I need to know, are you feeling any better?"
I said,
"I still feel a little queasy and dizzy, and my breasts still hurt, but I'm better than I was this morning."
He laid the back of his hand on my forehead.
"And your fever's broken."
Austin picked up the thermometer from the nightstand and told me,
"Say ahhh."
He put the thermometer under my tongue. It beeped.
"Ninety eight point six. Your temperature is back to normal."
I asked,
"So, who'd you help today?"
Austin said,
"Well, there was this fifteen-year-old girl who had issues with cutting herself and she told me she needed an abortion most likely because she was raped. It was so sad."
I hated it when people resorted to mutilating themselves when they were depressed.
I asked,
"Why was she cutting?"
Austin said,
"Her boyfriend who drinks and does drugs is in rehab. I'm going to guess either the pain of missing her boyfriend or the fact that he uses crack, marijuana and heroin and drinks."
I said,
"I remember when I was raped by that worthless douchebag Kevin. I kind of know how she feels, except I didn't cut myself to deal with the pain."
He said,
"And you have a husband who loves you, cares about you and knows what to do when you're ailing."
Austin gave me a big kiss on the side of my head. I kissed his cheek. It was a good thing I wasn't contagious, because if I was, I wouldn't be able to kiss Austin, my caring, sweet, smart doctor husband. That reminded me- I had a physical exam with my new doctor, Dr. Colleen Jones, in three days. I had the day off from work that day so I could go in to see her.
My breasts were still sore, and occasionally I had tummy aches and nausea, and now I was starting to crave food. Pickles (my favorite snack), Ritz crackers and spray cheddar cheese, strawberries, sugar snap peas, nectarines, pluots, and a container of Dreyer's cookie dough ice cream. Austin saw me pigging out on the couch and he broke out into laughter.
"What?"
I asked, with a mouthful of ice cream.
"I've never seen anyone that hungry in my whole life!"
I said,
"I've been craving it all week, Austin!"
He said,
"You can snack when you get home. You have a doctor's appointment to get to."
That Austin was right about. I filled up my pink klean kanteen canister with water and got in the car with my husband to go to my doctor's appointment.
Austin laughed.
"This is the first time since we got married that I'm bringing you to work with me."
I smiled.
"It is."
Austin's hours at the hospital had changed since we got married. Instead of working seven days a week from seven AM in the morning to four PM, he now worked Monday through Friday from eight thirty AM to five PM. I kind of thought it was more fair for him, even though he loved his job. As he was putting the breaks on his car, I said,
"How many times have I told you that you look very hot in a lab coat?"
He smiled.
"I don't even know. But it never gets old. And tonight, what do you say I give you a gynecology exam? If you know what I mean."
He winked. I knew exactly what he meant. It meant he wanted intimacy with his wife. I said,
"Only if I can give you an andrological exam!"
Austin's medical vocabulary had kind of rubbed off on me.
"Sounds fair enough."
We walked together to the elevator. I asked,
"What are you doing at work today?"
Austin smiled.
"Well, right now, I have to do a prostate screening today. With my appointments, I end up all over this hospital- from pediatrics to andrology."
I said,
"Good luck."
My husband chuckled.
"I've done screenings on anatomical parts before. Trust me, Ally, I'm used to it."
I asked Austin,
"What floor is womens' health on again?"
Austin said,
"Third."
I said,
"Thanks."
We kissed as I got off on the third floor. Minutes later, a nurse had taken my blood pressure, temperature, height and weight, and I was in the white hospital gown with blue polka dots on it, and I was just sitting on the exam table, waiting for Dr. Jones. I must have waited for her for about twenty minutes, when she finally came in.
"Hello, Allison,"
she smiled at me. She was in a lab coat, a royal blue dress, royal blue pumps, and had a blue stethoscope around her neck, as well as having shoulder long blonde hair.
I said,
"Hi, Dr. Jones."
She asked me,
"How are you doing?"
I said,
"I'm fine now. But this week, I had a thirty-six hour bug, I was throwing up, I had sore breasts, I had a one hundred and one fever, I was feeling pretty dizzy, I had a fever and before I came here, I was craving food."