Two years later....

A now 20 year old Mary was home from college for Christmas break. She had three and a half weeks with no classes, no papers to write, nothing but catching up with old friends, preparing for Christmas, and, maybe getting her folks used to the idea of her and Todd getting serious.

She went to bed early last night and slept like a log, but she still felt exhausted this morning. Dragging her self out of bed she took a quick shower, hoping that would help, and got dressed for breakfast. Her mother was making her favorite: waffles with bacon and eggs. She went down to the kitchen, snagging a glass of OJ and sat down to the table starting in with the bacon and eggs. But the eggs felt a little funny going down. And when she tried to chase them down with some orange juice, it was like drinking fire.

"Are you OK?" her mother asked. Walking over to put a hand on her forehead. "You feel warm. Are you feeling OK?" "I'm fine Mom. I'm warm from the shower and I am just not hungry because I am still tired from the drive." "Mmm", Mrs. Benson said, "Here, why don't you finish your orange juice at least." Mary tried to swallow it down, but could not swallow without wincing. "I thought so. Go back to bed and rest for a while. I'll be up after breakfast is over to check you out."

Mary wanted to protest that she was too grown up to be taken care of, but she knew it would do no good. Her mom was a nurse and was the final word on things medical in the house. Her parents had always been pretty laid back as parents went. They always relied more on lectures and "natural consequences" over punishments. (Unlike most of her peers, her parents had only resorted to corporal punishment twice: once for smoking and once for lying and sneaking out to after hours party with drinking.)

Still, while laid back, they could be amazingly firm about some things and her health was one one them. She avoided the argument she knew she would lose and climbed back into her pajamas and in to bed. Besides, she felt bad enough that a nap sounded good.

About an hour later her mother came up with her little bag of horrors .... er of medical supplies and tools. She took out a flashlight, "Open up, I want a look at your throat." After a quick look, "Ugh, that looks tender. No wonder you could not swallow the OJ." She then replaced the flashlight with an oral thermometer and started shaking it down. "Can you hold this under your tongue or do I have to bring out old faithful?"

"Mom! I am no longer a little kid."

"OK, just keep it under your tongue and your mouth closed", her Mom smirked gently as she put the thermometer in her daughter's mouth. The peds office only used rectal thermometers, which Mrs. Benson was fine with, but at home she switched them to oral temps around 12 or 13. Mostly. When she felt it was too hard to get a good oral reading, she would go back to rectal temps for the rest of that illness, no matter their age. (Even her husband wasn't immune to this as he found out one bad flu season.)

After 5 minutes, she pulled out the thermometer and read it. 100.6. Hmm that seemed a little low for how Mary's forehead felt. She might have to switch to old faithful, but for now that reading and Mary's throat were enough for her to call the doctor.

"Your fever is at least 100.6 and your throat looks awful. I am afraid I am going to have get you to a doctor. Since you are still under 21, I think Valley Care will still see you."

"Mommmmm! I don't want to go to a baby doctor. I’m a college sophomore for crying out loud."

"I know honey, but you are still on the roster there and we need to get you checked out today. You are just going to have to put up with Dr. Burnes one more time." With that, Mrs. Benson went down to make the call.

Mary was annoyed and humiliated at the though of going to her old baby doctor. She understood her mother's reasoning, but still the thought of sitting on the exam table in nothing but her panties in the colorful exam room mortified her. Worse yet was the though of lying there with her panties at around her ankles and a thermometer up her butt like all the little kids in the waiting room.

As she laid there bemoaning her fate, fragments of her mother's call to doctors office flirted up. "Yes, 100.6" "orally" "not yet" "oh yes that would wonderful. I think that would make her feel less embarrassed" "Well you know how grown up they think they are" "We will be expecting him" "thank you"

Mrs. Benson came up into Mary's room. "Well Mary, I have some good news for you. Dr. Burnes is making some house calls in the area this afternoon and he will add you as his last stop. I know you feel too big to be seen by Dr. Burnes, but at least this way you won't have to be surrounded by a bunch of little kids in the waiting room."

"Thanks Mom. That does help. I know it is silly to feel like this, but I do."

"That's all right dear. I am leaving your a pitcher of water and a glass. I want you to try to drink at least half of it by this afternoon, so you don't get dehydrated."

As she drifted back to a light sleep she thought, well, at least I won't be seen going to a baby doc. Maybe I will get lucky and avoid the indignity of a rectal temperature. She was sure though, that there was no avoiding the searing pain of the antibiotic shot in the butt.

That afternoon Mary heard the door bell ring and shortly heard her mother and the doctor come up the stairs and into her room. As they entered, she a brief ting of anxiety as she faced her fate feeling small and vulnerable in her bed.

She heard her mother describing her symptoms in her nurse mom mode as she led Dr. Burnes up the stairs."She was fatigued last night and this morning she had red raw throat and a fever of 100.6, orally. Although I wasn't sure of that reading. She has dosed on and off most of the morning and after noon."

"Well Mary, I hear that you have a sore throat and a little fever. Let's start with double checking your temperature." Dr. Burnes said as he pulled a familiar black thermometer case from his bag and unscrewed the cap. He pulled out the dreaded instrument, reveling the pair shaped bulb that had been the bane of her childhood. "Go ahead and slip out your bottoms and roll over please." he said as shook down the thermometer and then dipped it in small jar of Vaseline that he took from his bag of horrors.

"Ummm, do we have to take it in my butt? I'm not 12 anymore. Can't we try my mouth? Or even under my arm?" Mary bargained as she stared at the thermometer's glistening tip with equal parts dread and resignation.

"No Mary, I generally prefer rectal readings. It is fast and the most accurate. Under arm readings are very inaccurate, next to worthless. And between your throat and stuffy nose and the water you've been drinking there is no way we would get a good reading orally. So be a good girl and slip your bottoms off."

Mary sighed inwardly, but knew that she had lost this round. She reached under the covers and pulled off her pajama bottoms and panties and handed them to her Mom. She knew that she would not be getting them back until after the doctor was done with her. At house calls, Dr. Burnes tended to undress you has he went, using your blankets to cover you. She always ended up naked by the end of the exam and usually with an aching bottom.

Giving in she rolled over. As the doctor pulled down the blanket to uncover her slender bottom, she felt small and vulnerable.

Dr. Burnes bent over Mary and used his thumb and forefinger to spread her buttocks apart, revealing her pink anus. After what seemed like an eternity, he placed the lubricated bulb of the thermometer against her anus and waited a few seconds for it to relax. He then slid the thermometer gently, twisting it slightly and letting it find its own path. After about a third of it had disappeared into her rectum, he released her buttocks and used his had to cup her bottom stabling the thermometer and holding her safely in place. "Five minutes"

This is part that Mary hated most. His hand pressing down on her butt made feel like a little girl who could not be trusted to lay still.

After two minutes had past, Dr. Burnes parted Mary's buttocks and twisted the thermometer to see how it was rising. He then released her cheeks and put his hand back across her butt to wait for the final reading.

At five minutes, he again parted her buttocks and with drew the thermometer. With a tissue he wiped a little lubricant from her anus and then covered her with the blankets. "You can turn back over Mary." He said as he went to wipe and read the thermometer.

"102.6" he said as cleaned and put away his thermometer. "Much higher than the oral reading your mom got. This is why I always take rectal temperatures, even if it is a little more embarrassing. Now let's get a look at your throat."

He got out a tongue depressor and light and looked in her throat. "Mmmm that looks nasty. It definitely looks like strep, but I'll get a culture to be sure." And with that he took a swab of Mary's throat causing her to gag. "Sorry about that. I know it can be unpleasant, but we need to confirm the infection." He then proceeded to check her ears, eyes, and nose before gently feeling her neck.

As he got out his stethoscope he said, "Please remove your top so that I listen to your heart and lungs." Wanting to get it over with as quickly as possible, Mary removed her top and handed it to her Mom. She sat there naked, with only the blanket across her lap to provide any modesty.

Dr. Burnes moved the stethoscope all over her chest, cupping her left breast at one point. Then he moved to her back. "Breath in. Breath out". Finally, he had her lie back. He pulled the blanket down half revealing her pubic area and quickly listened to her abdomen. He then quickly felt the lymph nodes along her breasts and in her groin. He then pulled the blankets up to her neck covering her again.

"Well Mary, you definitely have a bad case of the strep that has been going around, but I think that we have caught it before it spread further. I had a couple of patients where it led to a pneumonia, but I think that one round of antibiotics should take care of you. I will send the nurse over to check you out in a couple of days, just in case you need a second shot, but I think that the one will probable do the trick."

Mary paled that the thought of a second round of antibiotic shots. One was bad enough.

"Since your throat is so raw, I don't want you swallowing any aspirin tablets as they will irritate it even more. I'm going to give you an aspirin suppository to get you started and leave a prescription for more. Mom, please use these for the next couple of days, then if her throat is feeling better you can switch to pills."

"OK, Mary. I need to roll over and be brave. We'll do the easy bit first." Dr. Burnes then reached down and pulled the blankets all the way off. He always did that when he had to give a shot to keep the younger kids from trying to yank up the blankets out of fear. It also encouraged the older kids like Mary to roll over to feel less exposed.

Mary was dreading what was to come, but knew she could not avoid it. Plus showing her butt was less mortifying than showing off her front to her Mom and the doctor. She quickly rolled over and buried her head in the pillow trying to be brave and hold back the tears.

After dawning gloves, Dr. Burnes put some lubricant on his finger and on the suppository. He used his left hand to spread her buttocks wide and rubbed some lubricant on her anus, his finger slipping in just a bit. Satisfied, he took the suppository and inserted it pointy end first into her rectum. Mary grunted as his finger followed all the way in as he pushed the suppository as far in as he could. He left his finger in Mary's rectum for ten or fifteen seconds to keep her from expelling it. He then slowly withdrew his finger and squeezed her butt cheeks together for another 10 seconds.

Despite being more intrusive, this was somehow less embarrassing to Mary than the rectal thermometer. She knew that even her mother occasionally used suppositories, so it seemed more adult.

"This is the hard part Mary. Try to relax. The more you do, the less it will hurt. Mom, can you hold her hand?" As he said this, Mary felt the cold alcohol as he swabbed her right butt cheek and then felt the pressure of his forearm on her back holding her down as he squeezed a section of butt together. Then she squealed as she felt the sharp stab of the needle. This changed to a moan and a sob as medicine was pushed into her muscle like acid laced peanut butter.

"All done." Dr. Burnes said as he put a band-aid over the wound and gently rubbed her bottom to sooth the pain and spread out the medicine. "I know it hurts, but it will make you feel better soon."

Mary stiffed a tear as she lay on her belly no longer caring about being exposed. "I'll put my PJs back on later Mom", she said as her mom offered her her bottoms. Understanding, her mom covered her with the blankets, being careful of her sore behind.

As the doctor packed up and handed Mrs. Finch a prescription he said, "Mary should be all better in the next 4 or 5 days. Keep her at home and resting until her fever and sore throat are gone for two full days. And please monitor her temperature RECTALLY for the next few days at least. I think that we got to this in time, but I have seen this strain of strep turn bad very fast. If her fever spikes up or you have any concerns call me. A nurse be by Wednesday to make sure she is progressing and give her another shot if needed, but I don't think she will need it."

"Good bye Mary. I wish that your last visit did not have be so painful."