It’s true what they say you know, about your life flashing before your eyes when you die. I could see it all: my first loose tooth, my first crush, every hour spent playing video games and, of course, how this all led me to here; bleeding to death on the ice and snow in the middle of the most inhospitable place on Earth. My life wasn’t always so crazy. I lived a normal life, went to a normal school, had a semi-normal family, but nothing stays the same forever; one day I decided to go to the doctor. I remember that day, a little less than a year ago, perfectly in my mind. The sounds of babies crying in the waiting room, the intercom making announcements and calling doctors to certain areas, the *Beep beep* of heart monitors, even the smell of rubbing alcohol in the air. It was weird for me because I almost never get sick; my friends always joked that it was my superpower.
I was just lost in thought, too busy thinking about my friends Jake and Sara. They were dating at the time and had an argument about something or other; they were the couple that argues about something then makes up an hour later, but this one was kind of big. They were discussing the future and the topic of housing came up; she wanted to rent an apartment and he wanted to live with one of their parents before getting a place in order to save money… it was a whole thing.
All of a sudden, I heard the nurse behind the desk say, “Miss Gomez, the doctor will see you now.” It kind of startled me.
“Back to reality, I guess.” I said, under my breath, as I collected myself. I’ve always been a little jumpy. Pretty much anything could surprise me. Drop a pen, I jump. Slam a door, what’s one heart attack a day going to do? So, I got up and went into the doctor’s little room and the nurses did their thing. They checked my heartrate, which is always a little high for me, then my body temp, which was elevated to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. They must have guessed that was why I came in today, because they didn’t ask me many questions beyond the standard ones.
“So, what made you visit, sugar?” The Nurse asked, looking down at the clipboard in her hand.
“Just feeling a bit under the weather. Actually, I haven’t felt great in a few days.” I replied.
“It’s probably just sinuses, but we will just take some blood to be sure. We want to be safe, there’s been a bug going around.” She explained. I groaned; I hate needles, so I had to look away while she drew it to keep from passing out. “All done.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Great,” I said holding a cotton ball to my arm. Gosh, it felt like she had that stupid needle in my arm for ten minutes. I scrolled on my phone during the wait for the doctor and my test results. There wasn’t much happening today, just the normal junk; celebrities fighting over something stupid, and the president insulted someone, so now my feed was filled up with that. After a while, the door slung open, and my soul nearly left my body. It was the doctor. I looked him over; lab coat, check. Tie, check. Glasses check. Good looking, che… wait, what?
He sat down in his little spinning doctor chair then looked at me and said, “Hi. I’m Dr. Steven, what seems to be the problem today?” His smile beamed like someone had put LED lights behind his teeth.
“Uhhhhhh… face... hurts.” Was all I was able to get out. After I stared at him just a second too long, I was able to pick my brain up off the floor, put it back in my head, and say, “Um specifically above my eyes and along my forehead.”
“Okay let me look inside your ears.” I could barely hear what he was saying, I was too busy kicking myself for looking like an idiot. “You’ve got some swelling and redness in your ears. Coupled with your fever I would say you have a sinus infection. Have you had a runny nose recently, or a cough?” He asked.
“No. But I forgot to tell the nurse that I do have this rash on my arm.” I said, suddenly remembering. He took my arm in his warm hand and examined it for a moment.
“Hmmm, it doesn’t look worrisome, but I’ll get you some cream for it.” Said Dr. Steven. “Now let’s talk about your lab results. There were some discrepancies with the test; your sample was contaminated somehow.”
“Contaminated? What do you mean?” I asked.
“We’re trying to figure that out.”
“Okay, so what about the test results then?”
“We’re going to discard them, and have the machine looked at just to be safe. However, your symptoms don’t match the virus that’s been going around, so I wouldn’t worry. I’ll give you a prescription for an antibiotic cream for your rash, and a steroid shot for your fever.”
“More needle?” I grimaced.
“I can prescribe pills, if your more comfortable with that?”
“Yes, please.”
“Alright then, I’ll send the prescriptions to your pharmacy on file. If any another symptoms show up, or if they don’t go away by the time you finish your medicine, you can come back.” He said, and I was sent on my way.
I got home later that day. Our house wasn’t anything fancy; it was a single story, medium sized home with small front and back yards. It had a white brick exterior with a red shingled roof. When I arrived, I saw my mother was home. Which was odd because she usually worked at least an hour or two later than that. I knew she was home because I saw her little blue sedan in the driveway. Mom has to park in the driveway because Dad keeps his lab in the garage, so I parked my red Jeep beside her and went inside.
Thinking back on it, it’s a little funny… I was looking forward to the rest of my day. If I’d known what was going to happen next, I never would’ve stepped foot in that house again.