VI

Allie’s [POV]

I heard the water turn off, and I was vaguely aware of him settling down on a rolling stool, positioned between my legs. My face burned. Was this actually happening?

“I ran the speculum under warm water, so it shouldn’t be too cold,” he said. “I’m going to put my hand here—” I felt his warm palm on my left inner thigh, “and then you’re going to feel the speculum go in—” The metal was lukewarm against my skin, and the lubricant he must’ve put on speculum was cool and slippery. “Okay, there we go. It’s in.”

I wished he would stop narrating; I didn’t need to know every detail. In fact, if he stopped talking about it, I could allow myself to pretend that I was somewhere else completely.

“I’m going to just take a sample now,” he said, “and then we’ll be all done with this part of it. How are you doing?”

“Just fine!” I said, my voice a little too bright.

I hummed a song in my head and felt a strange poking sensation inside of me. “All set,” he said. “And now I’m going to take the speculum out. There we go. You can take your feet out of the stirrups and slide back, but stay lying down.”

“Oh,” I said, as I pulled my legs out. “We’re not done yet?”

“I just need to do a breast exam, and then we’ll be done and you can get dressed.”

Great, the humiliations continued. “Just put your arm above your head, good, just like that.” As I lifted my arm, the stupid paper dressing gown fell open, and there I was, completely exposed, though feeling bashful about that was ridiculous considering he’d just been poking around in my vagina.

I stared at a spot on the ceiling while he kneaded his fingers into one breast, then the other. Both times, my nipples got hard, even though the room was fairly warm. I hoped that he didn’t notice, or if he did, that it was a normal sort of occurrence. If I hadn’t been so mortified by the entire scenario, I might have been able to acknowledge the fact that the whole thing was a bit arousing.

And then finally, mercifully, it was over. He closed the gown over me, and I sat up, clasping it around me.

“So do you have any concerns or anything you’d like to talk about?” he asked.

“Um... it kind of burns when I go to the bathroom.”

“How long has that been going on for?”

“A little while now.”

“Any other symptoms?”

I tried to remember. “I don’t think so.”

“Do you feel like you need to urinate more than normal?”

“Um... no, I wouldn’t say so.”

“Any pain or feelings of discomfort in your back or lower abdomen?”

“No.”

“No fever or chills?”

“No, none of that.”

He nodded. “You left a urine sample already, right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’ll order a culture test on that and should have the results back in the next day or so. If it comes back positive, I’ll write you a script for some antibiotics and that should clear it up. But of course, give us a call if your symptoms noticeably worsen in the meantime.”

“I will,” I said. “Thanks.”

He smiled. “You settling in okay?”

“Yeah, things are pretty good.”

“Happy to hear it. Listen, I know what it can be like, moving to a new place and all and not knowing anyone. So don’t be afraid to stop by or give me a call or text or something if you need anything. Here, let me write my cell phone down for you.” And he took one of his business cards and scribbled a number on the back of it before handing it to me.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You have a good one.”

He smiled at me once more and then left, and I let out a sigh, feeling both relieved and incredibly embarrassed that this situation had happened in the first place.

I ripped the paper gown off and got back into my own clothes as quickly as possible. There was a slickness between my legs; I hadn’t wiped the lube from the speculum off. I grabbed a handful of tissue from a box on the counter and stuck my hand down my pants, dabbing in my underwear. Good enough. I exited the room, hoping I wouldn’t see Cole.

But of course, he was there in the front office, looking at something on the receptionist’s computer screen. I stood there for a second, and as I did, I watched the way the receptionist leaned toward him, gazing up at him with those puppy dog eyes. I felt a flare of possessiveness, which was completely silly.

“Am I all set?” I finally said.

They both looked over, Cole with a smile and the receptionist with an expression of annoyance.

“You are,” he said. “We’ll be in touch in the next day or two once we get the results back, okay?”

“Sounds good,” I said, and I hurried out the door, glad to be out of there as quickly as possible.

When I got in my car, I just sat there for a minute. Had that really just happened? Did I just go spread my legs for my new next-door neighbor because he had somehow ended up being the one to give me my annual exam? I shut my eyes and tried to scrub the whole thing from my memory. When I reopened them, though, the door to the office was opening, and Cole was stepping out.

“Shit,” I said, and I went to start the car but realized the key wasn’t in the ignition. I reached over to the passenger seat for my purse, only to realize that it wasn’t there. No, it was in Cole’s hands, because I must have left it behind in the exam room. After all, I’d been so eager to get out of there.

I opened the door and stepped out of the car, feeling myself blushing furiously.

“Probably not going to get too far without this,” he said, holding the purse out.

“No, probably not. Thanks.”

His fingertips brushed mine as I took the purse from him, those same fingertips that had just been taking a sample from inside of me and feeling my breasts for any abnormal lumps.

“Um, okay, bye,” I said as I dug my keys out of the bottom of my purse and got back into my car. I drove out of there as fast as I could.