That "couple of minutes" felt like forever. Carrie wondered if Devin was sitting back there staring directly at her rear end with the thermometer sticking out. No, he would be more respectful than that, wouldn't he? Finally, he let her know it was time to remove the thermometer. She thought she could feel him twisting and rotating it as he slowly withdrew it. There is no way that's necessary, she thought. Was he trying to make this as humiliating as possible? Maybe he had been staring at her after all.

"Well, you don't have a fever," he told her. Great, she thought. She had gone through all of that for no good reason. He removed the rubber gloves and pulled her dress back down enough to cover her. "Stay there," he said, briefly touching her hip again. She heard him digging through his bag.

She turned her head as far as she could toward him. "What are you doing?" she asked warily.

"I think you probably just have a migraine," he told her. "I'm going to give you a shot of some medicine called Imitrex which should help."

So now he was going to jab her with a needle, too. This day just keeps getting better, she thought. She wanted to protest; she was not a fan of needles. But the pain in her head was far worse than any needle would be, and she desperately wanted to get rid of it. She laid her head back down, breathing a deep sigh and saying nothing.

"You're not going to fight me?" he teased as he came back to her bedside. She closed her eyes and shook her head. His tone turned softer and more compassionate. "We'll get you feeling better, I promise." She nodded, still silent. He gently stroked her hair.

Carrie had such a confusing mix of feelings toward Devin at this point. Resentment, but gratitude. Annoyance, but attraction. What was going on here?

"I'm going to uncover you again, just for a minute," he told her. She just nodded. He raised her dress to her waist again, and she heard him tear open an alcohol wipe. She jumped when the wipe made contact with her skin. "I know, it's cold," he said. "I'm sorry."

She began to tremble in anticipation of the needle stick. She knew it was silly, and she really hoped Devin wouldn't notice. She didn't want to have to explain to him why a woman in her thirties was afraid of a little needle.

She felt him squeeze an area of her buttock, which she knew was a trick to reduce the pain of the injection. Not what I had in mind when I envisioned him squeezing my butt, she said to herself. The needle stung as it pierced her skin, and she bit down on her lip. Still, she knew it could have been worse, and she appreciated that he was trying to do this as painlessly as possible. He injected the medication quickly, but not too quickly, and promptly withdrew the needle.

"All done," he said, as he covered the injection site with a Band-Aid before once again pulling her dress back down to cover her. "You can turn onto your back now if you want." She nodded to him, and he helped her turn and get comfortable, as the migraine had depleted her physical strength. He took a blanket from a nearby chair and covered her, then sat back down in the desk chair beside her bed.

"I think that medication will help," he said. “Your losing consciousness was probably just a response to the pain. They call it vasovagal syncope."

"That's happened before," she said, "when I was a kid."

He nodded. "When's the last time you saw your regular doctor?"

"I, uh, don't have a regular doctor," she said.

He furrowed his brow. "What do you mean, you don't have one?"

"If I'm sick enough to need a doctor, I just go to a walk-in clinic."

"But what about yearly exams?" he asked.

She shrugged again.

"Carrie," he chastised, "you don't get yearly physicals?"

She shook her head.

"When's the last time you did have one?"

She hesitated. "High school," she mumbled.

His mouth fell open and his eyes widened. "You haven't had a full physical in fifteen years???"

"I… don't have time for all that. If I think something's wrong I'll get it checked out."

"Carrie…" He didn't seem to know what to say. He just looked at her and shook his head.

"I know…" she said. She felt like he was disappointed in her, and she was surprised how guilty that made her feel. "I'll find a regular doctor when I get home, and I'll go."

He didn't respond. Leaning on his elbows, and clasping his hands together under his chin, he sat regarding her, seemingly deep in thought. She hated how he was looking at her, and how ashamed it was making her feel. Why was this such a big deal to him? They hadn't seen each other in the fifteen years since she graduated, and had barely been in touch. Why take it so personally?

Finally, he spoke. "I want you to let me do a complete exam. Here. Today."

Carrie sighed and rolled her eyes slightly. "Devin…"

"We'll give the Imitrex time to work first," Devin said, "but then I'm giving you a physical."

She shook her head. "Listen… Devin… I appreciate you taking the time to help and make sure I'm okay after I passed out, even though I whined about it a little bit. And I appreciate you giving me something for the migraine. But that's all I need from you right now. I promise, as soon as I get back I will find a doctor and go get a physical."

"Carrie," he said, "I can't be one hundred percent sure that this is only a migraine without tests that can only be done at the hospital. The truth is, after losing consciousness, you absolutely should have gone. Because I know you, and because you made it very clear that you did not want to go to the hospital, I went against my better judgment in bringing you back here to your room with the understanding that you would let me make sure you were okay. I'm not going to be comfortable leaving you alone for the next several hours, anyway, and now that I know you haven't even had a basic wellness check in fifteen years, I'm not comfortable allowing that to remain the case even for another day. I can still call an ambulance, if you prefer."

Wordlessly, she turned away from him, pulling the blanket up closer to her face. She wasn't going to argue with him right now. "I need to close my eyes for a bit," she said. He said he would give the medicine time to work first, so she would take advantage of that and buy herself time to come up with a way to get out of this physical.