And so, the next morning, Katie saw her fate awaiting her, just a matter of hours away. She was already up, showered and dressed (sweats -- only comfy clothes today!), breakfast was done, now all there was to do was wait.

“Might as well binge watch something on Netflix...” Katie muttered to herself as she curled up on the couch. But whatever it was she chose -- it didn’t matter because she couldn’t focus on it for more than a few minutes at a time -- didn’t take her mind off of her situation at all. 2 more hours to go... No matter what kind of a scene it was, in no time she’d be looking through her mind’s eye at another scene with her in the center, her private places exposed for all to see.

“We’re leaving in half an hour, Katie! Are you all ready to go?” called her mom.

“Yup, that’s right Katie, T-30 minutes until show time! Your doom awaits!” she muttered to herself. In no time at all, her mom walked into the room. This was it, she realized. Right now. She was going to a ... woman’s doctor. For the first time. The butterflies in her stomach weren’t the good kind you get like when a boy kisses you, nope -- these were the “Time to take the final exam and I never really did do any studying, did I?” kind of butterflies. The kind that wouldn’t leave.

She stayed quiet on the drive to the doctor’s office. Her mother was yapping about something, she didn’t know what. Clearly her mom didn’t expect a two-way conversation since Katie didn’t say a word beyond mm-hmm, or, ah-huh. Soon enough, the car turned into the parking lot, and came to a stop at the front doors. “I’m so sorry I can’t come with you today sweetie, but these invoices just got piled on my desk, and ..”

“It’s ok mom.” No, it wasn’t. “I’ll be fine.” I’m walking into certain doom. “Probably best if I go alone anyway,” No, feeling alone in her thoughts was bad enough. Being lain open and intruded upon by a complete stranger with other complete strangers watching the carnage was not something to be done solo. “I’ll call you when I need a ride.” If I survive.

“Good luck honey! It’ll be fine, I promise! Doctor Emma is very gentle and empathetic, I know she’ll take wonderful care of you. Oh, look at the time! I have to run, bye sweetie!” And with a whoosh, her last support was gone. Turning, Katie walked up the steps and through the front door. On her left was the directory of all the medical offices in the building. Yep, all doctors -- that tell-tale antiseptic aroma began to trigger her fight-or-flight sense. She fought it back and took the elevator to the 3rd floor where, immediately in front of the opening doors, her destination beckoned.

“Hi, you must be Katie! You’re mom is such a doll, we’re so happy you’re finally joining us here! All the paperwork has already been taken care of so go head and have a seat. Doctor Mike is running a little behind, but we’ll get you going as quick as we can!”

Doctor Mike? No matter how she pronounced it, to Katie it didn’t sound a thing like “Doctor Emma”. Hmm. The nurse misspoke, that must be it. They’d never make a girl see a man doctor for her first visit, would they? No, no, that would be ... well ...

“Ok Katie, we're ready for you now, right this way!" said the nurse sweetly. “By the way, I saw the notation that your mom requested Doctor Emma for your procedure today. I am so, so sorry but she got called away to deliver a baby for one of our other patients. Isn’t that exciting? So Doctor Mike will be seeing you today instead. Now, he is a man...Between you and me, I think he’s actually pretty handsome...But that won’t be a problem for you, will it? ”

Yep. Huge problem. Definitely. Let’s call the whole thing off, yes? Oh, he’s handsome? Well, why didn’t you say so? In that case... Still. A. Huge. Problem. “Uh, no, it’s ... umm, fine. I guess,” Katie said meekly. Well, there goes that theory, thinks Katie. Handsome male doctor, 18 year old girl, virgin kitty splayed open for him, sounds like a match made in ... hell. This could not be happening. This was not happening.

Katie followed her into the back, passing normal rooms as they walked...Exam A, Exam B, Exam C...then around the corner through a door labeled "Procedure Room". As she entered, Katie's felt her gut start twinging, butterflies going crazy! Procedure room? Wait, did the nurse say something about my exam today? No, no, she distinctly said procedure, didn’t she?

"Ummm....excuse me? I'm just here to see the doctor for...you know, I'm not...I mean, I just..." spluttered Katie. “This is just an exam, right?” she finally spit out.

"Oh, don't worry sweetie! The doctor read your referral and thought this would be best just in case!" beamed the nurse. "Now, there's a gown for you on the chair, go ahead and get changed and I'll be back to get you settled in, ok? Great! Remember, everything off but your socks, opening in the back!"

The door clicked shut, and Katie stood silently by herself. As she picked up the gown, she looked at the exam table under the huge procedure light, with it’s big old whatever-they’re-called for her legs, and shuddered. This is it. Please, no, let me wake up, maybe I’m just dreaming the whole thing...but I’m not, am I...

As Katie turned towards the shelf where she was supposed to leave her clothes, she saw a tray. Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look... Katie told herself as she stared at the mysterious implements. Unable to determine what any of them were for, considering they were all much too scary and big and intrusive and scary to go inside her, Katie turned away and pretended there was no tray. It’s probably for some other girl’s ... procedure ... she told herself.

Then, decisively, Katie turned around and came face to face with a different tray. This one must be for her? But all those scissor-y things, and that ... Oh. My. God. Are those needles? Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Definitely not her. But she couldn’t pull away, she just stared...

Knock, knock. “Katie? All set?”, and the nurse opened the door to see Katie, frozen, staring at the tray with the procedure preparations on it. “Whoops!” she giggled as she pulled a towel over the top of it. “We try to keep those covered up until we actually need them. Don’t worry yourself Katie. Doctor Mike...well, he might not even do your procedure today, so don’t give it a thought! Now, please gown up so we can get started. We really don’t want to run late, maybe I can help you?”

Katie turned away and saw the nurse looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to disrobe. Finally, without thought, Katie did finally get changed. Maybe she was shy being naked in front of the nurse before she got the gown on, maybe not. She was pretty much going on autopilot now, trying not to think of much of anything, because no matter what thought passed by -- Doctor Mike, the scary looking scissor-y things, the needles, her private parts -- all of it felt wrong. And uncomfortable. And frightening. And so she stopped thinking for the moment, while the nurse took care of the basics: blood pressure, height, weight, last period. Lovely, no-thought-required activities, that was perfect for Katie just now.

Knock, knock.

“Come in Doctor Mike!” called the nurse. “We’ve just finished up with the basics and Katie is all ready for you now!”

“Wonderful!”, said Doctor Mike, “I’m Doctor Samuels, but everyone calls me Doctor Mike. It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you Katie, your mom has been telling us you’d be coming to see us soon and we’re very happy to have you here.”

“Shall we get started?”