Evan decided to get a coffee for his wait, and knocked again soon after.

“Hey Doc, it’s me again” Evan was cheerful as always, but this time to hide his nerves. He never liked medical stuff, being poked by some stranger, anxiety about what they could find. Ever since he was a kid he would try and avoid it, but there was no chance of that today.

“Hi Evan, come on in. Thanks for being patient with me.”

The doctor patted the table in the centre of the room, grabbing some paperwork and leaning against the wall.

“Sit here while we just get some background. Any problems you’ve been having lately? Not just since the call yesterday, but anything at all you’d like me to look at while I’m here.”

“No, no I’m super healthy. No problems at all!”

“That’s great, taking any medications? Have any allergies? Family history of lung problems? What about heart?”

The questions went on and Evan answered no to all of them, until she asked when his last physical had been.

“Um, I’m not super sure. I guess when I joined the fire department. When I was 18?”

The doctor nodded, noting everything down. “Ok Evan, to make sure you’re fit for the job I meed to do a quick physical exam. I’ll explain each step as we go along, and if you experience any pain you should let me know immediately. Does that sound ok?”

Evan nodded, not really knowing what he was agreeing to, but figuring it was too late to backtrack now.

“Great! First thing to check are your vitals, so I’ll put this in your ear to check your temperature first…”

A minute later the thermometer was removed, and a blood pressure cuff wrapped around his arm.

“You’ll feel this squeeze, but just stay relaxed Evan.”

The doctors hands gently but firmly held his arm still, two fingers pressing into his left wrist as his right arm was squeezed by the cuff.

“A little nervous?”

“I’m sorry, I guess I just didn’t know what I was coming into today!” Evan smiled.

The doctor smiled back “Ok Evan, say ahhh…” Evan complied, feeling an uncomfortable pressure from the tongue depressor. “Just a little swab now.” Evan gagged a bit as the swab was run over the back of his throat. “Sorry, that can be a little uncomfortable.”

Evan followed the instructions to turn his head, look up, down, as a light was shone in his eyes, ears, and even nose. The doctor moved her small hands to his neck and started massaging around his jaw, slowly moving around his ears and down his neck.

“That looks good so far, can you take off your t-shirt? I’ll have a quick look at your heart and lungs.”

Evan silently did as he was asked. Going shirtless was pretty normal for him, often in the gym and always at the beach, so this shouldn’t be a big deal. But in this unfamiliar setting, alone with someone preparing to touch him all over… Well that usually happened in a different context.

The soft palpations continued around Evans upper chest, into his armpits, as he stared at the wall trying to focus on anything but the doctors hands. He jumped a bit when cold metal touched his chest instead of fingers.

“Sorry Evan, this will warm up in a second. Just try and stay relaxed and breathe normally.” The doctor moved the stethoscope across his chest, pausing briefly at each spot. Her left hand stayed on his back, keeping him from flinching away again. She moved on to his back, this time keeping a hand on his chest to hold him in place.

“Take a few deep breaths now, in… and out… in… out…” As he breathed more deeply, he noticed the pleasant smell of eucalyptus coming from the doctors hair. She was quite short, putting her dark hair just by his face when he sat up straight.

“That all sounds good, lie down on your back and we’ll have a look at your tummy, ok?” Evan nodded and lay flat with his arms at his sides, letting the doctor push all over, then come back to repeat it with more pressure.

“Any pain or discomfort here?” Evan answered no tot the doctor, though he was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the whole situation. But he figured this was the last step, since this is where his other physicals had ended.

The cold sensation returned as the stethoscope was placed over each area in Evans stomach.

“I need to check the bloody supply and glands in your groin, can you remove your pants and lie down again? You can keep your underwear on.”

Ok, Evan thought, it’s just like being in a bathing suit. Nothing new there. Where the hell are the glands in my groin?

Despite panicking a bit, Evan did what he was told, putting his pants and socks with his shirt at the end of the bed.