“Thank you so much for writing the prescription,” my patient stood up, shaking my hand.
“You’re welcome Katie. Be sure to take it twice a day with water,” I said walking out of the room with her.
I shoved my prescription pad into the left pocket of my white lab coat and went dutifully to the next room, tucking a fallen strand of my blonde hair behind my ear.
“Last one...” my long time friend and co-worker Shay sighed as she walked by, gesturing toward my next patient.
I gave her a knowing look of agreement because it had been a long day and it was nearly 8:00. I was tired, but doing my job, I retrieved the folder of my next patient’s files and walked into the room. My eyes were reading over the unfamiliar file when a crisp voice broke through my concentration.
“Dr. Bryant?” the voice called.
I looked up to find myself sitting across from a very handsome man with dark blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes who looked to be in his mid to late twenties.
“Yes?” I answered, returning my focus back to his chart.
“I’m Nick Carter. I’m a new patient,” he extended his hand.
I looked up, shook his hand and smiled slightly.
“I’m Dr. Peyton Bryant. What seems to be wrong Mr. Carter?” I queried, getting up from my chair and walking over to him.
“I’m not sure exactly. Probably just a cold, but I wanted to get it taken care of before I got really sick,” he said.
“Well, let’s take a look then,” I said taking my stethoscope from around my neck. “Lift up your shirt please,” I directed. My patient lifted his shirt, showing his amazing abs. I leaned over closer to him and placed my stethoscope on his chest near his heart.
Next, I used a tongue suppressor to hold down my patient’s tongue in order to inspect his throat. “Okay, say ‘ahhh’” I directed.
“Well, I believe you were right Mr. Carter. Just a common cold. Here, take this twice a day and you should be fine in about a week,” I said hurriedly writing down his prescription and tearing it off, handing it to him.
“Thank you very much,” he smiled broadly, hopping off of the examination table.
“You’re welcome. Just go out to the front desk and you can pay up there,” I gestured toward the entrance of the office.
“Okay, thank you,” he smiled again, turning to go to the front.
I gave him one last glance and returned his chart to it respectful position and sat down to finish up a bit of paperwork before going home.
“Girl, did you see that man? He was gorgeous!” Shay exclaimed, walking into the room behind me.
“Yes, of course I saw him. I inspected him…he’s my patient, Shay,” I said levelly, pretending to take no interest in the conversation.
“Whatever….you can say what you want, but you are a woman and that was a nice looking man. Don’t tell me you didn’t check him out,” she said firmly placing her hand on her hip.
I laid my pen down and removed my reading glasses from my face. I rubbed my temples and looked up at Shay. “I’m really not in the mood for this. Sure, I noticed that he was a nice looking man. That’s it. End of conversation.”
“Fine, fine…” she shrugged, throwing her hands in the air, strands of her brown hair fallen around her face.
“I’m tired. I’m gonna go home. Can you lock up?” I asked, piling my tons of paperwork together and grabbing my car keys and purse.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll see you tomorrow. Drive safely,” she said, walking me to the door, straightening up as she went.
“I will,” I reassured smiling. “Night!” I called as I neared my black BMW sitting in the parking lot.
My drive home each night seemed to grow longer and longer each time. I lived in a secluded area, sort of back in the woods. Finally, I arrived home and locked my car in the garage and quietly made my way to the door. I carefully unlocked my front door and walked in. I was reaching to cut the lamp on when I tripped over a squeaky toy.
“Ouch!” I yelled in a loud whisper.
I quickly clicked on the lamp and reached down to pick up my son’s toy.
I checked around the room for the baby-sitter. I didn’t need to search anymore for when I looked to my right I found the baby-sitter asleep on the couch.
I sat my stuff down on the other end of the couch and gently woke her up.
“Jennifer? Jennifer!” I shook her a bit harder. She squinted and rubbed her brown eyes.
“I’m back now. You can go home. Thank you for staying with Tristan,” I said as she sat up and got ready to leave.
“It was no problem at all Dr. Bryant. Goodnight,” she said as I walked her to the door and watched her walk through the woods home. I closed and locked the door and made my way upstairs. I walked into my bathroom upstairs and quickly washed my face and slipped into my pajamas.
Then, I crept quietly into the nursery to see my baby. I spotted a tiny little figure lying motionless, all except for the rising of his chest, in the crib. I walked over and pulled his blanket gently over his tiny legs and ran my hand over his small head. I softly kissed him on the cheek and walked into my bedroom. I lay down in my bed and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I almost instantly fell asleep. Before I drifted off into a peaceful sleep, though, a very clear image of my new patient popped into my head and I had the strangest feeling of deja vu.
