==== Chapter 4. Meeting the Roommates ====

Billy took her down several corridors until they came to some elevators. After a short wait, he pushed her into the elevator and pushed the button for the 4 floor. On the way up, Billy said. "We are going to have to go past the open wards, but don't worry you are headed for a room with a little more privacy."

When they reached the 4th floor there was a nurses station and Billy rolled up to it and waved to the nurse there. "I've got Jennifer Finch her for the teen wing, room 468. She's a new admit."

The nurse smiled and said, "Hello Jennifer, can I see your wrist band?" After looking at it and comparing it to her notes, she said. "Yes, down with our senior patients. Jenifer, are you feeling OK. It will be a little while before your nurse is back to get you settled in, but if your feeling too bad, I can get someone down there to get you set up sooner."

"I'm OK. The air is a little thick, but I am feeling better after having the oxygen for a while. I am a little hungry though." She said weakly.

Jill looked at the teen and decided that she looked a little too pale. "Tell you what. I'll come down and get you in bed and get your O2 hooked up. Your regular nurse Janet will be back shortly and will come to get your vitals and get you all set up. She'll get you a dinner tray too."

"Amy cover the desk for me. I'll be back shortly." Jill stopped to grab a nasal canula and a female hygiene kit, and joined Billy as he pushed Jenny towards her room.

Going down the hall Jenny noticed that rooms all had open doors and that some even had windows opening to the hallway. Glancing in the rooms as she passed, she saw the large wards of 10 or more beds that her friend Linda had described with no concern for privacy.

They passed through one set of double doors into another elevator lobby with another nurses desk and then went into a smaller side hallway. The doors to the rooms here were shut. There were small windows in them, but they seemed to be blocked on the inside by something. One of them was marked "Measles: Use Isolation Precautions"

Finally they came to her room and Nurse Jill held the door for Billy. To Jenny's surprise, there was a partial curtain inside the door like the ones Valley Care. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad.

Going through the curtains she got the next shock of the day. The room was arranged with 6 beds, three on one side and three on the other. Two of the beds on one side were occupied and one of the other set did not have anyone in it, but it looked like one bed had a patient that was just out of the room. What shocked her was that one of the two patients was a boy about her age. She had not expected to be in a room with mixed sexes.

Billy took her to the empty bed between the two occupied ones and Jill spoke up. "Tim and Cindy, this is your new roommate Jennifer. She's not feeling her best, so try to take it easy on her."

She got a cheery "Hi" from Cindy and more spacey "Hi there." from Tim.

"Don't mind Tim, he's on the real good pain meds." Cindy offered.

Billy took Jenny's things and put them in the stand by her bed and then helped her out of the chair. Jill took her robe, "I'll hang this up here for you." and Billy helped her into bed. Jenny was pretty sure that Tim got a look at her butt (and maybe a little more) while she was getting into bed, but she was too tired to care. Much.

After making sure that she didn't need to use the bathroom, Jill hooked her up to the oxygen and made sure she had water in her pitcher. "Just use the call button if you need something, but the bell. Your nurse, Janet, will be in shortly to get vitals and get you settled." Taking a moment to make sure the others weren't in dire need, Jill and Billy retreated back to their posts.

"So, you're the new kid in the room. Welcome wonderland. I'm Cindy Thompson. I'd offer my hand but I'm kind of tied up at the moment." She says pointing at her leg in sling.

"She used that joke on me too. I'm Tim. Tim Jones. I'm waiting to get my appendix out. There is also another girl, Carla. She is out to get x-rays or something. And what brings you here to this fine place Jennifer?"

"Pneumonia. Double pneumonia apparently. -- cough cough -- If it's worth doing, I guess it's worth doing well. Jennifer Finch. And Jenny is fine."

"I'm a little overwhelmed. Can you tell me what it's like here? What to expect?"

"I just got here a few hours ago. Just waiting for them to cut me open and enjoying wonderful drugs. Cindy's been here since Saturday. Cindy?"

"Well I hope you're not shy. They really don't pull the curtains unless they doing something really mmmm exposing. Even then...." She shrugged. "Some of the nurses are more ... careless about it than others. And ... mmmm ... how do you feel about getting your temperature taken .... mmm ... down below?"

Just then, nurse Janet came into the room pushing a cart with some supplies. "Jenny, I see that you have settled in. Sorry that I wasn't here to greet you sooner." She said as she started to unpack things, including a cylinder containing alcohol and a familiar red topped thermometer.

"That's OK. Jill was nice and I got to meet two of my roommates."

"I just need to check your vitals, Jenny. Can you sit up for me? I want to listen to your breathing first." Janet said while putting on her stethoscope and flattened the bed. Janet untied the ties on Jenny's and spread the gown to expose her back down to the top of her butt. She then put the bell of the stethoscope on Jenny's back and reached her right hand under the gown to rest on Jenny's chest between her breasts. She moved the bell to different points just listening to Jenny's normal breathing and feeling her chest rise and fall. She then repeats this pattern asking Jenny to "Breath in deeply. Breath out."

Even though Jenny isn't being exposed, she is a little embarrassed to have the nurse's hand on her breasts in front of the other two patients. She feels exposed and knows that more is to come.

Janet moves the bell of the stethoscope to her right hand and places it just under the girl's left breast and listens to her heart for a moment, counting her heart rate. Satisfied, she withdraws her hand and reties the top strings on Jenny's gown but leaves the others untied. She puts the cuff on Jenny's right arm and measures her blood pressure. "Your blood pressure is still a little low and your pulse is still high, but you are a little better than you were downstairs. I still need to get your temperature. Please lie down and turn over on your side facing away from me." Janet says matter-of-a-factly.

Jenny hesitates for a second, realizing that she will be as exposed as the patient she saw downstairs. Trying to make her own dignity, she lies down on her side and pulls up her knees, but keeps her legs tightly together.

Janet turns back to Jenny with a lubricated rectal thermometer in hand and flips up her gown exposing the girl's pale bottom. Bending over, she lifts the top cheek out of the way to expose a pink anus and deftly slides the thermometer in with a slight twisting motion until the first half is inserted. She then let the Jenny's cheek fall back into place and consulted her watch.

Embarrassment seemed to be the theme of the day for Jenny. She was used to having her temperature taken rectally. That didn't even phase her anymore. But this was the first time that she had had it done in front of other patients, especially a male patient. As soon as the nurse had flipped up her gown, she was sure that she could feel Tim's eyes on her bottom. Still if Cindy could put up with it, so could she. It could be worse, she thought as she remembered what she saw on the way here. At least the door was closed and covered.

Jenny felt the familiar sensation of a hand lifting her right buttock. This was followed by the cold thermometer penetrating her anus and the release of her buttock. She then felt the cool hand of the nurse brushing up bottom to hold the thermometer in place. At least she had a little cover.

A few minutes pasted while the nurse made small talk with Jenny. Finally She pulled the thermometer out, but told Jenny to stay in place. This did not sound good.

"Your temperature is 102.7. It will be a little while until your next dose of Tylenol, but Dr. Lee wanted your steroid dose increased, so I'm afraid that I have a shot for you. Don't worry though; it is a very small one. You've already had a shot in the arm and in the glute today, so I am going to give this to you in the muscle on your hip. Just to spread things out."

Jenny had expected this (Lisa had warned her that she was going to be a pin cushion), but she didn't expected it so soon. At least it wasn't the same butt cheek where she got the penicillin shot. And she was distinctly aware that Tim was getting a full view of her butt right now and maybe a little more. Still she didn't want to draw more attention to her self. Trying to projected "I am a grown up who is not scared of shots", she said. "OK, should I roll over face down. That's how I normally get shots in the butt."

"No dear. This is more on the side. It's a different site than your doctor uses for big shots. It's called ventralgluteal. It can't take quite as big a dose, but I think that it is the least painful. Certainly better than the arm or thigh." Janet said as she said as she placed a hand on Jenny's hip to find her landmarks.

Jenny felt one hand on her hip and then the coolness of the alcohol in not quite the place she was used to getting shots. Time seemed to drag on as the nurse waited for the alcohol to evaporate, then she heard "Little pinch" and felt the thin needle slide into her hip, causing just the slightest hint of pain. A mild burning sensation followed this, with a quick "All done." and she felt Janet covering her up and getting her rolled back to a normal position.

"That wasn't too bad, was it?" Janet asked as she raised the bed back into a seated position.

"Not too bad." Jenny allowed. Actually for a shot, it had been pretty painless or as close as that got. She might ask Lisa about that the next time she needed a shot at Valley Care.

"Well, that is all for now, but there will probably be a couple of more sticks today. I expect an order for blood draws and maybe an IV for fluids, but they haven't come yet. I have to check in on your roommates now, but is there anything that you need now?"

"A little snack maybe? I haven't had anything since breakfast."

"The dinner trays should be here soon, but if they are not here after I finish vitals, I'll scrounge up something to hold you over."

Next Janet went over to Tim. As she wrapped the blood pressure cuff around his arm she asked him, "How are you feeling Tim. Are the meds keeping the pain down?"

"Not too bad. I'll be happy to get this thing out of me though."

"130 / 85. A little high, but that is to be expected." She said before she she gave his heart a quick listen and counted his pulse. "Now I just need to get your temperature. Do you need help rolling over?"

"Sigh. I was hoping I imaged that part. I can get over on my own." Tim said as he carefully turned over on to his stomach, preparing to get his temperature taken the way it had been taken at his pediatrician until he moved to a family practice doctor when his family moved. He was aware that Jenny and Cindy would be seeing his butt, but it was not like he hadn't just seen Jenny and fair play and all.

Jenny tried not to stare, but she could not keep from glancing out of the corner of her eye as Janet pulled the covers off of Tim and spread his gown open revealing a flat, athletic ( and cute Jenny thought ) butt. She saw Janet part his buttocks and insert the thermometer, holding it in place with two fingers and a thumb.

Tim felt the cool air on his butt as Janet opened his gown. Then, like countless times at his doctor or at home, he felt warm fingers reach between his butt cheeks and pull part them. He then felt the slippery thermometer touch his anus and penetrate into his rectum in one movement. The bulb came to rest against his prostate and he felt a little tingling and just a little growth in his penis. Then he felt his buttocks released and Janet's fingers on his bottom to stabilize the thermometer. This was different than the nurses at his doctor. They had always put on hand pushing down firmly on his bottom and sometimes one on his lower back, as if he might squirm away or roll over. Despite going back to the rectal thermometer, this felt ... less childish. Even it did leave his butt more exposed.

After a couple of minutes, Janet says. "Tim, the other case is finishing up and they should be coming to get you in about 25 minutes, so I have some medicine to give you. It's a light sedative make sure that you are relaxed. It should start kicking in about 5 or 10 minutes before they come to get you."

"It's not a shot is it?" Tim asked quietly. He was normally pretty stoic with shots, even big ones like penicillin, but the pain shot had hurt, a lot. It had been all he could do to lay still and not cry. Only a few ow ows had escaped his lips. It had eventually dulled the pain of his appendix, but it was really painful getting there.

"Don't worry. It's just a suppository. That's like a pill that goes where the thermometer goes. Just stay like you are and it will be over quickly and painlessly." Janet says as she parts his buttocks to withdraw the thermometer. "101.2. That appendix definitely needs to come out. Just lie there and I will get your medicine ready."

"OK, I guess." Tim said. He had never had a suppository before, but it least it sounded better than a shot.

"Just spread your legs a little bit for me." Janet said as she guided his legs apart, reveling the back of his testicles to Jenny in the process. Figuring that he was sufficiently lubed from the temperature, she spread his buttocks and placed the lubricated suppository against his anus. "Take a deep breath and then let it out." She said as she pushed the suppository and her finger as deeply into his rectum as she could reach.

Tim gasped as he felt the nurse's finger penetrate him. This was nothing like a thermometer. It was all pressure a fullness. Her finger seemed to linger for a while and then she slowly withdrew it. He felt her give him a wipe with some tissues and then hear the sound of gloves snapping.

"Well that went well for a first suppository. No fussing at all. This 19 year old was doing better than a lot of older adults that she had dealt with before moving to peds.", Janet thought as she removed her gloves and through them away in the near by waste basket. She then helped Tim get covered up, turned over, and back under covers. She noticed that Tim had the beginnings of an erection, but didn't say anything, not wanting to embarrass him. Males could be so overly sensitive about that sort of thing.

"Just let that take effect. They should be down for you soon." Janet said as she moved on to Cindy.

"How are you feeling Cindy? Pain OK? Do you need to use the toilet?" Janet said as she wrapped Cindy's arm in the blood pressure cuff.

"I'm OK today. The leg is a getting a little achy, but not too bad. And I don't need to go to the bathroom now. Probably after dinner. And can you check if I still have some tampons left? I think that I'll need to change it at least one more time.

Janet checked in the nightstand. "I see a couple in there, but I'll be sure to get you a couple more. Better to have too many than too few."

"That goes for you too Jenny. There should be a few medium ones in your hygiene kit. Don't be afraid to speak up if you need more." Janet said as she returned to taking Cindy's blood pressure and pulse.

"110/75." She said before taking a quick listen to Cindy's heart and breathing. "OK wiggle your toes for me." She said and then pinched Cindy's foot check her capillary refill and checked the pulse at her ankle.

"Very good I just need to get your temperature and give you your Tylenol." Janet said as she helped Cindy partially onto her side, exposing her butt and a little bit more to room.

With the girl in this position, her buttocks were slightly parted, enough that Janet could see her anus clearly enough that she didn't need to spread them. She slipped the greasy thermometer about half way up into Cindy rectum. She held on to the thermometer, ready to pull it if Cindy slipped out of position and checked her watch.

"I spoke with your surgeon. He won't decide until later today, but they are probably going to be ready to put the last pins in and cast you tomorrow or the next day, so you may escape us in a week or so." Janet said while waiting for the thermometer to register.

"That would be nice. No offense, but I am ready to blow this joint."

"None taken." Janet chuckled as she pull the thermometer out. "99.3. Just stay still while I put on some gloves."

As Janet turned to get gloves, lube, and the suppository, Jenny (and Tim) got view of Cindy's pale white bottom. Jenny barely suppressed a small gasp at what she saw. Cindy had the muscular buttocks of a gymnast or a runner, but a large bruise marred a third of her right cheek, a splash of brown, yellow, and green on pale white.

"Take a deep breath Cindy and let it out." Janet said as she pushed the Tylenol suppository up into Cindy's rectum.

Cindy felt the now familiar sensation of the nurse's finger enter her. The finger felt mostly of pressure and then it was gone as the finger was withdrawn. She felt the tissue against her anus and then Janet was helping her back into a normal position and covering her up.

As Janet is getting getting Cindy back into place and under covers, their missing roommate, Carla, is brought back to the room in a wheel chair by an orderly from transportation. The orderly parks her by the bed and sets the breaks. "Hold on a minute Carla, let me move your IV first." Stan says as he detaches the IV bag from the chair and hangs it on a pole by the bed.

Carla Torres is a tall slender girl with the lines of a dancer. Her long, dark brown hair is held by a scrunchy in a simple ponytail and her striking green eyes provide a nice accent to sharp cheekbones and and unblemished skin the color of bronze or warm golden oak. As Stan helps her from the chair to the bed, Jenny notices a bandage on her calf with angry looking bits of red creeping out from underneath it.

Carla, seeing that it is vitals time, sits on the bed with out getting under the covers as if she is well aware of what is coming.

Carla had been to the hospital many times for orthopedic surgeries, but this was the first time that she was old enough to be off the wards and in with the other 18 to 20 year olds.

Last week, she had an accident and cut her leg badly. After a trip to her doctor for stitches and a tetanus shot, she thought that she was on her way to recovery. However, yesterday, the wound on her leg started to get warm and red. Today it was starting to ooze and she had returned to her doctor.

After draining the wound, a painful experience, he had arranged for her to be admitted to the hospital for treatment. At 18, she had hoped to be admitted to an adult floor, but to her dismay she found that she was being sent back to the peds floor.

She had been resigned to her fate as she was wheeled up to the 4th floor. She had been surprised that she had been rolled past the open wards where she had spent her previous stays. They passed through to another wing where there were more smaller rooms that you could not see into. She only had a few minutes to put her cloths away and talk with Cindy, Leslie and a couple of boys who were waiting to be discharged. (Leslie and the boys, Kevin and Tyler, had all had their tonsils out on the same day.) This had definitely looked better than what she remembered. She had then been whisked away to wait (and wait and wait) to get x-rays of her leg and chest. And then sent to another exam room to have her wound cultured.

After finishing with Cindy, Janet went over to greet Carla. The tall girl was sitting on the bed on top of the covers with her back to the head rest and her legs out in front of her. She noticed the angry red marks creeping out from beneath the bandages.

"Carla, I see that you have escaped from radiology in time for dinner. I'm Janet. I'll be your nurse for a couple of more hours until Jessica takes over. I understand that you have been a patient down on the wards quite a few times. I hope that you find this end of peds floor a little more restful."

"I hope so. The wards got kind of stressful as I got older. I got a chance to talk to Cindy earlier and this seems like it will be better." Carla said.

"Well let me get a look at your leg and get your vitals. I don't have any med orders for you, other than the standard ones, but I am sure that they will send down and antibiotic order after looking at the x-rays."

"Why did they take x-rays of my leg? They could already see that it was infected. And a chest x-ray?"

"They were probably looking to see if there were pockets of infection in your leg. It's not the best at it, but sometimes it can help. They can also see if there was debrie left in the wound. As for the chest x-ray, officially it's to make sure that the infection did not spread to you lungs, but I think the doctors order them instinctively. They're creatures of habit dear. Now, lie down for me and I will check your leg."

Carla stretched out on her bed and Janet peeled back the bandage and looked at the wound. It did look ugly. She pulled out a pen to outline the redness and marked the outline with her the date and time. Moving Carla's gown to uncover her leg to the hip, but to keep her groin covered, she lifted her leg and moved it through the normal range of motion. Overall, she was not happy with the exam. If a med order did not show up soon, she would give Dr. Lee a nudge.

"Well that does not look pleasant, but it looks like they did a good job draining it. Let's get your vitals now, can you sit up for me?" Janet said as she put on her stethoscope.

After Carla sat up, Janet untied the first two ties on her gown and put her left hand on Carla's back and reached her right hand under her gown, putting the bell of the stethoscope under her left breast and settled into listen to Carla's heart. Satisfied with the strong heartbeat, she switched the stethoscope to the teen's back, keeping her right hand on her chest as she told Carla to "Breath in, breath out."

Janet then retied Carla's gown and wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her arm. Carla was a little relieved. On the wards, the nurse would have probably dropped her gown for that exam. This wasn't so bad so far. Then came the part that she had resigned herself to.

"120 over 78. Your blood pressure is normal. Now I just need to get your temperature. I'm sure you remember how we do it on the peds floor, so I need you lie down and turn over for me."

Carla signed inwardly. She had been hoping to avoid this, but she knew it was inevitable. She had thought that she was done with rectal temps, but this will be the 4th time her rectal temperature was taken today.

The first had been at her doctor. This had been a surprise, as all but two of her temps there had been oral since she turned 14, but the nurse had taken one look at her leg and said, "We better get a rectal temp on you." Carla had quickly found her self face down with the nurse inserting the flat Taylor Binoc rectal thermometer that the office preferred.

The second had been in the peds intake bay. She had found herself laying naked from the waist down with a thermometer in her butt and the curtains half open as other patients passed, reminding her of the open wards. She is not sure how many people saw her, but she had heard at least a couple people passing by.

The third had been in the room where the tech had collected a sample from her wound for culturing. The bored tech had apologized, but he said that the collection form required a temperature and since she was on the peds floor, it had to be rectal.

Now she found herself rolling over to expose herself to her new roommates. At least Tim seemed to be a little too drugged up to enjoy the show.

Jenny watched as Carla laid face down on the bed and let her gown fall open and spread her legs a bit. The relative positions of their beds let her see the girl's slim buttocks and the bottom of her vulva peeking between. She then saw Janet part the girl's cheeks and place the thermometer against her anus, pausing for a couple of seconds before pushing the bottom half of the thermometer into the teen's rectum.

As Carla laid face down, she felt Janet part her butt cheeks with a thumb and two fingers and place the cold thermometer against her anus, causing it to tighten. After a few seconds, her anus relaxed and she felt the familiar sensation of the thin hospital thermometer penetrating her. As her buttocks were released, she felt Janet settling her hand lightly on her bottom holding the thermometer in place without pushing down on her. This was a lighter touch than she was expecting. This lighter touch seemed more .... respectful some how.

"Carla, are you feeling any pain from your leg?" Janet asked as she waited for the thermometer to register.

"It's more hot and sore and tender than actively hurting, if that makes any sense. It really only hurts a lot if I bump it."

"Well, let me know if that changes. If you are uncomfortable with under the covers, I can get you something to keep the blankets up off your legs. Did they give you some Tylenol at intake?"

"I think so. The nurse shoved some sort of suppository up my butt. She didn't say what it was, just that it was for my fever."

"I'll check your chart after I get your temperature. You have the standard orders that include Tylenol for pain and fever, so I'll check when you can get it again." Janet said as she parted Carla's cheeks and pulled the thermometer out. She closed Carla's gown and told her that she could roll back over.

"102.2. That is up a little bit from your admission temperature, despite the Tylenol they gave you. You will be due for some more in a couple of hours. I'll make sure that your evening nurse Jennifer knows if Dr. Lee doesn't move it to an active order."

As Janet was helping Carla get settled, an aid came, an older woman named Edith, came in pushing a cart loaded with dinner trays and started distributing them with Jenny. Coming up to Jenny, she says, "I have your dinner for you. Since you just arrived today, you get the default dinner for today, chicken Parmesan. Here is the menu for tomorrow, be sure to select your preferences on it." After passing trays to the girls and leaving Tim with a menu form for tomorrow, she left, leaving the roommates alone to talk and eat.

Shortly after she leaves, transportation arrives for Tim and he manages to scoot over onto the gurney with out falling or flashing the girls.

After picking at her food for a while, Jenny breaks the silence. "So Cindy, picking up were we left off, what's it like here? Do they do everything out it the open? Is everything aimed at out butts?"

Carla snorted. "It sure seemed like that the last time I was here. But I was on the wards then, this seems so much better."

Cindy shook her head. "Yeah it sure does. And you are right Carla. I was on the wards when I got my tonsils out. They're not shy about OUR bodies here, but it is much better. The curtain in front of the door alone. I hated getting my temperature taken where anyone walking down the hall could see."

"So I see you handled the rectal temperature well. That freaks some people out. Leslie, the girl who had been in your bed, was always complaining about it. Of course she was also really pissed to be stuck here, just a couple month's shy of her 21st birthday."

"Yeah, the rectal temp doesn't bother me. My doctor prefers them, so I am used to them. Not used to having done in front of other people though."

"The nurses don't seem to think temperature taking or getting suppositories rates pulling the curtains. They are 50/50 for shots. Some of the nurses are better than others about it. For other things that expose you more, like an enema or a catheter or a bed bath or something, they will usually pull the curtains or take you to a treatment room."

"Catheter?" Jenny asked.

"You don't want to know!" Said Cindy and Carla at almost the same time, followed by a couple of giggles.

"Seriously. It's a thing they do with a tube to help you pee. I never had one, but I have seen one done, and you don't want one unless you really need it. Then you really want one." Carla said, remembering the talk she had had with a friend who had had one.

Cindy nodded. "Yep. Let's see what else. Oh, the doctors and med students tend to be a lot less careful about exposing you. I think Leslie almost died of embarrassment when Dr. Lee dropped Leslie's gown exposing her breasts to the room during an exam. Oh, and expect to get a lot of exams repeated by the students or residents. They kind of see us as training material."

"Gulp. My Dr. Lee? With boys in the room?"

"Probably. Don't get me wrong. She seems to be a good doctor from what I could see. She's just a little ..... obvious to nudity. She does sometimes pull the curtain, just not always and not well. Just expect the possibility of being exposed to your roommates."

With a little smirk, Cindy added. "And I saw you eyes pop out when you saw all of Tim as he was getting a suppository."

Jenny blushed, "I didn't mean to stare. It's just..."

"Don't worry, you didn't stare and we are all going to catch a view of each other. Now was that the first time you saw a boy down there?"

"Not exactly. Mmmmm. There is this pond back home where some of us have ... will do this full moon skinny dipping party. I've only been twice and mostly people stay in the water and ......." Jenny blushed deeper.

Cindy chuckled. "Then what had your eye's bulging out?"

"Well that was the first time I saw someone get a suppository. I've had them a few times before, but never saw someone else get one."

Cindy says, "Well get used to it. They seem to love suppositories here. I am not sure why."

Carla piped in, "My dad's a pharmacist, and he said that it is because they are absorbed faster and don't mess with your stomachs when I asked him. Personally, I think that is just because they don't need as much cooperation as with a pill or oral liquid."

"Let's see what else? Be prepared for a lot of boredom. They have someone come around once a day with books from a little library they have. That helps. Oh, and don't forget to fill in your menu form, or you'll get a random meal. Never choose the pizza unless you hate all the other choices. It's school cafeteria square pizza. The tea is Lipton and the coffee is ..... well I am not really sure what it is other than black and caffeinated."

Cindy thinks for a few seconds. "That's about all I have. Mostly boredom, interspersed with shots and nudity, but tons better than the wards."

"Umm, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but how did you get hurt Cindy?" Jenny asked.

"Did you see my spectacular bruise? That and my broken leg was part of the worst birthday gift ever." Cindy shook her head and chuckled. "How do I explain this? I used to be horse mad when I was little. I grew out of it, but it became a tradition of my dad taking me on a horse back trip at a ranch or something every year around my birthday. It was just me and him since Mom and my brother don't like horses. I grew out of the horse phase, but we kept the tradition up, more as a daddy / daughter thing."

"Well this was probably going to be the last year since well, college doesn't leave a lot of free time, so he found a new ranch that had some kind of fancy Arabian horses. Well I rode my horse like fifty feet and something spooked the idiot thing. He went bucking and running and threw me off, right into a fence."

"The strange thing is the pain in my butt was worse than my leg. I think that swelling held everything together. My dad looked so horrified. I think that I am going spend the next year convincing him that it wasn't his fault."

"So they knocked me out, reset the bones, and put me in this contraction." She said pointing at her leg. "And then I got to wait for the swelling to go down and what not so they put in the final screws and cast me up. And that is the sad tale of Cindy's 19th birthday present, the very stupid horse."

They were discussing other birthday related disasters, when Dr. Lee came in followed by her med student who was overburden with supplies.

"Good evening ladies. I am here to see each of you, at least a little bit. Cindy, your surgeon asked me to give you medical clearance for surgery tomorrow since they have an open slot. Since your medical condition hasn't changed since you got here, consider yourself cleared. I have noted your chart and you will be NPO after 10 pm tonight, so nothing by mouth after 10 pm."

Jenny thought she heard Dr. Lee mutter something about lazy surgeons under her breath.

Dr. Lee then went over to Carla. "Carla, I've looked at your x-rays and looked at the sample from your wound and from the fluids your pediatrician drained from your leg and that is quite an impressive infection you have going. It is going to be a couple of days to get culture results back, so I am going to start you on two different antibiotics. But let's take a look at you first." Dr. Lee said as she pulled the covers down.

Carla gave a little hiss as the blankets hit her leg. "I'm sorry, did I hit your leg?" Dr. Lee asked.

"More the blanket. The leg is mostly OK, but every time something hits it, it hurts. It's hard under the covers."

"I'll have the nurse get you a blanket lifter. That will keep everything off your legs. I'll also leave some options for pain killers. Let the nurse know if what we give you isn't strong enough. Now let's get this bandage off. I'll try not to hurt you any more than I have to."

Dr. Lee carefully peeled back the bandages and pointed out the discharge on them to her med student William. "Do you see these lines, William? They mark the progress of the area of infection." She said while pointing out the progress by the outlines that had been made of the red area. She then outlined the current area and initialed and dated it.

"It is still spreading, but not as fast and there are no lines streaking up the leg yet. We definitely don't want to wait for the cultures to come back, so we will have to pick some antibiotics empirically."

Lifting Carla's leg, Dr. Lee took the ankle knee and hip through a full range of motion. She then directed the medical student to repeat her her exam. Carla blushed as she realized that this was putting her bush on full display to the room and to the male medical student. She was just glad that Tim had not returned.

To finish the exam, Dr. Lee lifted Carla's gown up to feel the lymph nodes in her groin, pointing out to the medical student that they were slightly enlarged. To Carla's chagrin, but not surprise, Dr. Lee guided William's hand to repeat the exam.

After pulling down her gown and directing the student to re-bandage the leg wound, Dr. Lee started to make notes in the chart, including medical orders.

"Well, as I said, we won't know the best antibiotic for a day or two, so I am going to start you on two antibiotics. We will do some IV Cefazolin and some penicillin G IM. I'm sorry that the second one is going to hurt, but I want get the widest coverage until we get the culture back."

Carla sighed at this. Shots were the other part of the hospital experience that she did not like. She was hoping to get the antibiotics by pills or IV, but it looks like she is in for a sore butt.

"Since you are going to be on two antibiotics, I am also going to put you on some pills that will hopefully prevent some the .... digestive side effects. Sometimes antibiotics can kill the good bacteria in your gut. These pills, called probiotics, will help replace the ones that die off."

"You sound like my Dad. He wrote a paper on doing that for some pharmacy journal." Carla said.

Dr. Lee looked at her a little funny and then said, "Are you Daniel Torres's Carla?"

When Carla nodded, Dr. Lee gave a small smile. "Well then we will have to take extra good care of you or Dr. Torres will be quizzing me on every drug order."

Turning to her med student, "Daniel Torres, PharmD, is one of the hospital's pharmacists and a big proponent of the probiotics. When you first start proscribing he will be one of the pharmacists questioning every other drug order. This will be annoying, but you can learn a lot from them and they will keep you from doing stupid things. Several times. Take these orders to the nurses station and have them put it in. I'll check on Jenny."

As William scurried off to the nurses station Dr. Lee went over to check on Jemmy, looking at the nurses notes in her chart first. "Well it looks like your temperature is up a little. I'll make sure they have you on a regular schedule for the Tylenol and I might as well add the probiotics for you too. How are you feeling? Is it harder to breath?"

"Mostly just tired. The air is a little less soupy. I'm not sure if that is the steroids or this." Jenny said pointing to the nasal oxygen tube.

"Well, let's see how you sound this evening. Can you sit up for me?" Dr. Lee said putting on her stethoscope.

Jenny blushed as Dr. Lee casually untied the top of her gown and pulled it down, exposing her breasts. "Well at least Tim isn't here" she thought as Dr. Lee started moving the stethoscope around her chest.

Dr. Lee has moved to her back and is telling her to breath in and out as William returns with the blanket lifter. She calls William over to have him listen with her. "Listen. It's a little more dry sounding than last time. Not a lot better, but some." She said and Jenny's blush deepen.

"The steroids are definitely helping you. I will see about adjusting the antibiotics tomorrow if we get any preliminary culture results back. In the mean time I am going to have some blood work done and start you on IV fluids. You are bit more dehydrated than I'd like."

"Come on William, let's set up blanket lifter and then you can see if there are any new labs in."

After William and Dr. Lee had left, Jenny said weakly, "Well you were sure right about Dr. Lee." while holding her arms over her chest.

A little while later two people, a man and a woman pushing a small cart, enter the room and went over to Carla. "Hi Carla. I heard from your Dad that you leg isn't doing too good."

Carla smiled. John was one of the few male RNs at the hospital and friend of her Dad. Carla had know him since she was small. Her Dad had always had good things to say about John's skills as a nurse. "Yeah, not so great, but at least it gets me a little break from school." She joked.

"Well, Janet is a little busy right now with a situation down in wards, so I am doing her med distribution. Do you mind? There are pills, an IV bag, a suppository, and a shot. We can wait a little while for Jessica if it is too awkward since we know each other."

Carla through for a second. It would be kind of awkward, but her Dad had said that John was real good at giving shots and those antibiotic shots hurt a lot. And Carla had known John and his wife Tammy since she was small. He and his wife Tammy had even helped take care of her a few times after her surgeries."No need to wait. Dad always said that you were good with shots. Just be gentle with me. OK?"

"I'll do my very best. I won't lie, this one will hurt, but I'll do my best to minimize it." John told her and then turned to close the curtain around her bed.

"This is Tracy by the way. She is a student nurse who is following me today. We'll start with the easy stuff, but let me see your wrist band. Even if I know you, I can't have Tracy learning any bad habits.

Carla chuckled at this and held out her wrist. John showed Tracy how to compare it to the orders and the drugs they had, repeating the three rights: "Right patient, right drug, and right dose." After verifying them he had her do it as well.

"Swallow this Carla." John said handing her a paper cup with two capsuls and a cup of water. "These are probiotics. They replace the good bacteria in your gut that the antibiotics might kill." Carla swallowed with only a little eye roll. She had heard this from her father every time she got antibiotics at the doctors.

Next John hung small bag of Keflex next to her big IV bag. He then broke out an alcohol pad to clean a port on the side of the IV tubing before connecting the smaller daughter bag. He spent a couple of minuets fiddling before he was satisfied witht the flow. All of the time that he was doing this he was giving Tracy a running commentary of what he was doing and why.

Finally, he said. "OK. I need you to roll over now Carla. I will give you the suppository first and then the shot. Dr. Lee thought that your leg looked kind of painful, so you're getting something a little stronger for the next day or two, Tylenol with Codine. It's a little step up from what you've been getting." John said as he helped Carla get rolled over and opened her gown to expose her butt.

As Carla rolled over and felt the cool air on her butt, she blushed a little at though of John seeing her butt. It wasn't the first time. He had taken her temperature while helping with her post surgical care, but that was years ago. And now his finger was going......

As he put on a glove, John said "OK Tracy take the suppository and put it in the little pill cup and squirt some surgilube on it. Better too much than too little. Now put some lube on my finger."

"Alright Carla, spread your legs a little for me. You are going feel me spread your cheeks like I was taking your temperature. You will feel me rub a little lubricant on your anus and then I will insert the suppository." John said, as much for Tracy's benefit as Carla's.

Carla then felt John spread her buttocks apart wide and felt his finger brush her anus and push in a little bit. This was shortly followed by the feeling of him pushing the cold, slick suppository up into her rectum. She felt greater and greater fullness as he pushed his finger in as far as it would go.

"You want to push the suppository as far in the rectum as you can, while still keeping it up against the wall. Don't be shy. Put your whole finger in. And leave it there for about 20 seconds or so. If you pull out too soon, the rectum may try to expel the suppository. Then pull it out gently and squeeze the cheeks together for a few seconds." John said to Tracy as Carla felt him withdraw his finger and then lay a hand across her bottom holding the cheeks together for a short time.

"Now comes the hard part Carla. Just try to relax the best you can." John said as he cleaned off a section of her right buttock.

Carla tried to relax. She had never really had a hard time with most shots, even when she was little. The antibiotics though..... She tried to force her self to relax and focus on her breathing.

"Big stick in 3, 2, 1." Between two and one, Carla felt a sharp but moderate stabbing pain in her butt. "That wasn't too bad." she thought. Then John said, "Needle's in, here comes the medicine." and she started to feel a burning sensation where the needle was in. This kept slowly spreading and spreading as the medicine was pushed in.

Then, after and eternity of 30 seconds, the spreading stopped and she felt John hand massaging her right buttock. The nurses at her doctors office had always pushed the medicine in fast. John's slow push spread the pain out and hurt less.

As John and Tracy helped her get turned back over and covered up, Carla said "Yeah, Dad was right. You are pretty good. Still hope that I don't need any more of those. I'd rather the little IV bags."

"Well, Dr. Lee will decide that when she gets your cultures back, but I am glad that it wasn't too bad." John said, gathering up his waste and throwing it away. "Well I have to get to the others. I'll let your dad know how you are doing."

Opening the curtains, he went over to see Jenny next. "Hi Jenny, I'm John, one of the RN's here, and this is Tracy. She's a student nurse shadowing me. We have some medicine for you. Can I see your wrist band?"

Uncertain as to what was to come, Jenny held out her arm band to John. John verified it against his medical orders and had Tracy do the same.

"Well I have a few things for you. I have some of the probiotics like I gave Carla and your next Tylenol suppository. In addition to that I have to draw some blood from you for tests and Dr. Lee want's an IV started to get some more fluids into you."

"So, two more needles?" Jenny asked quietly.

"Well, at least one. No promises, but I am going to see if I can do both with one stick. Can I see your arms? And are you right handed or left handed?" John asked as he was laying out suppies on her bed tray and Tracy was putting the IV bag on a pole.

"Right" Jenny said as she held out her arms.

John looked at the veins on both her hands and her forearms before putting a blood pressure cuff on her left arm and pumping it up. "Here, squeeze this rubber ball." He said, checking the veins on her hand and forearm.

"OK, I have a good vein on the forarm here. That is my favorite spot if I can get it. It's less painful than the back of the hand and it won't kink the catheter when she bends her arm like that vein will. It's not always easy to get, but it and the back of the hand are my preferred sites if it is going to stay in for a while." John says to Tracy.

As he is cleaning the site, John says "Jenny can you keep squeezing the ball and hold still for me? You are going to feel a stick."

Jenny nods and looks away. She feels John take her arm firmly in one hand and the feels the pain of the needle digging into her skin. This is different from the pain that she has felt from other needles before. Not the worst stick, but different.

John pulled the need out of the catheter and dropped in a small basin. He was happy to see a trickle of blood coming out and reached for the tube adapter. After connecting he taped the line to her forearm.

"You are doing great Jenny. Hand me the first tube Tracy." John said. Piercing the stopper on the tube he lowered the pressure in the cuff a little as he watched the tube fill with blood. As it filled, he removed it and handed it Tracy. "Shake that gently like I showed you and hand me the next tube."

After filling the required three tubes and one for luck. John disconnected the tube adapter and replaced it with the normal IV tubing connector. After flushing the line from the IV bag, he connected it, released the pressure from the cuff, and fiddled with IV until he was satisfied with the flow.

After taping everything down he said "You did very good for your first IV. Fortunately, you have very good veins, even if you were a bit dehydrated."

"You could have told me that I had easy veins before." Jenny said, a little accusedly.

John looked aghast. "I never declare that some has easy veins ahead of time. That practically guaranties that it would take at least 3 sticks."

Pouring her a cup of water, John handed her the probiotics. "Now that you are done tempting fate, swallow these and then we will give you your Tylenol. Would you mind if I had Tracy give it to you? I would be supervising her, but it would be her first suppository on a real patient."

Jenny thought as she swallowed her pills. She wasn't sure what was worse, having another man put a finger up her butt or some student who didn't look much older than she was. "Well I guess it is OK if Tracy does it."

"Thanks. It really helps the students get as much experience as they can early on. Roll over on your side and pull your knees up a bit."

Tracy was feeling a bit like a deer caught in a spot light. She had never given a suppository before. She had never even had one herself. She had watched John do it and read about it, but this would be the first time she had put her finger inside someone’s rectum.

John knew that Tracy was feeling a little uncertain and blushing a bit. She was still adjusting to having to deal with nude bodies and he felt that making her do procedures like this was the best way to get her used to it. She wasn't ready for injections, but he was going to have to have some of the other nurses have her do rectal temps, bed baths, etc.

As John pulled the curtain part way, John started to instruct Tracy. "Make sure that you have all your supplies laid out and that you have a glove on your right hand. You want to approach this as if it is no big deal. It you approach it as nothing special. That helps reduce embarrassment for the patient."

"Now squirt some lubricant on the suppository and on your right index finger. Good. Now lift Jenny's buttock like you were going to take her temperature. A little wider and bend down a bit to see better."

"Good. Now rub a little lubricant on her anus. Don't be afraid to push your finger in a little. Good. Now pick up the suppository and hold the pointed end against her anus."

Jenny was a little bit amused to be a teaching aid. She is also amased that she is not dying of embarrassment to have two people looking at her butt.

"Now push the suppository up into the rectum as far as you can. Try to guide it to the wall of the rectum. And keep your finger there for a moment."

Tracy took a deep breath and inserted her finger into the teen's rectum. She felt the warmth of the girl's anus gripping her finger. It was an odd sensation. She also aware that her other fingers were very near Jenny's vulva and tightened them a bit.

After about a half minute, John said "Now slowly pull your finger out and then use your other hand to squeeze her buttocks together for about 10 or 15 seconds. No, use your whole hand. That's right. That's right. Now use a tissue to clean any excess lubricant and then pull your glove off, turning it inside out."

They then helped Jenny get back into position and moved on to Cindy. Jenny was a little amused by the whole situation. She was pretty sure that Tracy was more embarrassed that she was. It was amazing what you could get used to, she thought.

John decided to take a little mercy on Tracy and handle Cindy's suppository himself. "No needles for you Cindy, just your Tylenol. Can I see your wrist band?"

Cindy wasn't sure what to think about this as John checked her wrist band. She had gotten plenty suppositories since she got here and she had gotten a rectal exam from a male doctor in the emergency room. Still this will be her first suppository from a male nurse.

Putting on a glove and making sure that he had all that he needed at hand, John said, "Tracy, help me get Cindy up on her side and hold her leg in place for me."

As John and Tracy maneuvered Cindy on to her side, her gown slipped out of place leaving her bare from her belly button down.

Just as she realized that she was exposed, Cindy felt John's finger slipping in just past her anus. Then she felt him withdraw and then push the suppository all the way in. As she lay there, half naked with her legs in the air and a man's finger up her butt, she felt an odd tingle that she had not felt before. Then he withdrew his finger and it was over, lost in the moment.

In the silence after John and Tracy left, Jenny said, "Well that was an experience."

"Yep" said Carla and Cindy at the same time.

A little while later, Jenny was reading a mystery novel from her school bag. It wasn’t very good and she was pretty sure that she had figured out who did it. But it was either this or doing her homework and that was not going to happen. Tim had been brought back and was dozing. Carla was playing solitaire and Cindy had some sort of magazine from “the book lady” that she was flipping through.

Nurse Jessica, whom they had all briefly met earlier came in and cheerily announced that it was time for evening vitals. Jenny watched her go over to Tim and gently wake him.

“Hey Tim. Sorry to wake but I need to check on how you are doing. Can you understand me?”

“Yeah. I was just dozing. I am still feeling pretty tired from whatever they gave me.”

“How is your pain? Is your wound bothering you?”

“I’m kind of sore, but it is a lot better than before the surgery. Although it is kind of hard to tell with all the drugs.”

“That’s fine. As long as the drugs are keeping the pain under control. I’m going to check your surgical sight now.” Jessica said as she pulled down the covers and flipped up his gown exposing Tim from the belly button down. She then pulled up the dressing to check his surgical wound before covering it back up and flipping his gown back down.

Jenny blushed and looked away as Jessica exposed Tim’s penis. Tim, in his drugged haze was not quite aware that the girls had all gotten a view of his genitals.

Jessica then undid the top tie of his gown and pulled it down to expose his chest. She listened to his heart and reached underneath to listen to his lungs. Satisfied, she tied up his gown and went to take his blood pressure on the arm without and IV.

“OK, Tim, I’m going to roll you up on your side to get your temperature.” Jessica said as she rolled him up and moved his gown out of the way.

Tim felt himself being roll up on to his side and, still a little addled from the anesthesia, took a while to figure out what was going on as he felt the nurse part his cheeks and slide the thermometer deep into his rectum. Being relaxed by the drugs, he let himself enjoy the feeling of the thermometer bulb up against his prostate and warm hand on his bottom and became partially erect as his penis escaped the cover of his gown.

Carla in particular was in position to see Tim’s genitals as his penis grew. But like Jenny, she looked away to give him some privacy.

After five minutes, Jessica pulled the thermometer from Tim and got rolled over and covered up. “Your temperature is back down to near normal. 100.1. I think that you are one mend.” she said and moved on to Jenny.

“Good evening Jenny. How are you doing? I noticed that you didn’t finish all of your dinner.”

“Yeah, I was hungry, but then I started to eat and could only get so far before I started to get tired, if that makes any sense.”

“Yes, sometime pneumonia will do that. I figured that you would still be hungry so I snagged you a package of gram crackers to snack on. Try having one or two every now and then. You need your calories. Now let me listen to your lungs and heart.”

Nurse Jessica put on her stethoscope and slipped on to Jenny’s back asking her to breath in an out. Then she reached into her gown to listen to her heart. Jenny was glad that she didn’t drop her gown like Dr. Lee, even if Tim was out for the night.

“Your breathing sounds better. Let’s see how your blood pressure is.” She said and wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her right arm.

“110 over 75. Better. The fluids are helping. I just need to get your temperature. Over on your side please.” Jessica said as she pulled the covers down and then turned to prepare the thermometer.

As Jenny turned on her side towards Cindy and pulled her gown off her butt, she wondered if Tim was awake enough to be looking at it. Well she had certainly seen more than his butt. She wondered if all boys got semi hard like that when they got their temperatures taken or if it was just the drugs or maybe it was knowing that they were seeing his penis.

She then felt the familiar feeling of her cheeks being pried apart and the thermometer penetrating her. Jessica was a little different from Janet in that she put her hand vertically down Jenny’s buttocks. Well it gave her a little more cover in any case.

“After I finish taking your temperature, I help you get disconnected from the oxygen so you can go use the restroom. With the IV fluids, I’m sure that you can use a pee. Don’t hesitate to use the call button during the night. With the IV, I am sure that you will need at least one overnight trip. I’ll swap the fluids bag when you get back.”

“Yeah, the pressure is starting to build a bit. I’ll grab my toothbrush too. My teeth feel like they are covered in slime.” Jenny said. Despite the earlier dehydration, she had already had one trip to pee since the IV and had learned how to maneuver the IV pole and get in and out of the oxygen. Still, they like her to have help for safety. (A teen aged eye roll occurred.)

Jenny felt the odd sensation of the thermometer being pulled from her rectum. “102.2. Well it is down a little. Let’s get you to the bathroom.”

Jenny came out of the bathroom just as Jessica was taking Carla’s temperature. Yawning, she climbed back into bed and put her oxygen canula back into her nose, not waiting for the nurse. She would just close her eyes for a moment while waiting for nurse Jessica to change her IV bag. Just a moment. Just a moment as she drifted off into a deep exhausted sleep.