The next Thursday, I was seated in the doc’s examining room, waiting to hear the official results. I had tried to cancel, as my small cough had turned into a big one and I felt like shit. I didn’t have a cold, just a bad cough and I got short of breath easily. Dr Richards was keeping up his daily calls, but the last couple days I’d texted back that I was okay instead of answering the phone. I knew that if I talked to him, I’d cough and then he would freak out.

However, when I tried to reschedule the appointment, he texted me that I had better call him back or he’d come out to my place and if he had to do that, I wouldn’t like the consequences. So, I called, hoping he’d just agree to re-booking and leave it at that. No such luck. He tried to get me to go to the ER, but when I stood firm on no, he insisted on me keeping my appointment with him. I knew he was going to want to check me over.

The door opened and the doc came in and sat down at the desk with my chart. “Hi hon, how are you feeling?”

“With my hands, Doc.”

“Very funny, Meredith.”

Just then I got into a coughing fit. It was a very deep cough, I sounded like a sick seal. When it finally settled down, he said “Ok, that’s it. Up on the table.” I looked at him. “Now!”

“Okay, okay”, I said as I got up from my seat and walked over to the examination table. I stepped onto the step stool then sat down on the table. Dr Richards came over to me with a digital thermometer in his hand. “Put this under your tongue, hon.“ Oh whew, an oral thermometer, I thought. It was only a few seconds until it beeped. “38.5 - that’s too high.”

He then picked his stethoscope up off the desk. “Turn around a bit, hon, so I can get to your back.” I did as told and he lifted my blouse up to my shoulders. It was the type of blouse that you don’t tuck into your pants. “Deep breath.” He placed the diaphragm on my back and I tried to breathe in as deep as I could. “Deeper, please.”

“Why do you doctors insist on a deep breath when we are so sick?”

“So we can hear your breaths better.”

"Kinda hard to hear them when I'm coughing, isn't it?"

"Just let me do my job, Meredith."

"You aren't my GP, Doc."

"No, but I doubt you would go to see him. Now, breathe deeply. Please!"

I tried to breathe as deeply as I could as he listened to both lungs from top to bottom. Then he moved around to my front and lifted the neck of my blouse and put the stethoscope under it. “A couple more hon. Ok, now I’m going to listen to your heart. Breathe normally.” When he was done, he reached for the blood pressure cuff and checked that.

“140/85 hon. Not horrible but not good, either. I’m pretty sure you have a bad case of pneumonia in both lungs, but I want you to have an xray to be sure.”

“I’ll pass on that, Doc. I want to get home and go to bed.”

“That shows me how sick you are, that you plan on going to bed. You can get the xray at the lab here in the building. And you will not be driving home.”

“How am I to get home if I can’t drive? I came alone.”

“I will take you home. I can bring Karen back with me to get your car. You can lie down on the couch in my office until I‘m done for the day.”

“Doc, I am fine to drive myself home.”

“No, you are not. And if you even try, I will have your license pulled.” The look he gave me showed he was serious. I couldn’t risk that, living so far from town.

“All right, Doc”, I said with a sigh.

“Hon, I don’t want you getting in an accident because you got in a coughing fit and lost control. I’ll get the requisition for the xray filled out.” He sat down at the desk and took two pieces of paper from a shelf above it. “I think I will also have you get blood work done while you are there.”

He filled out the forms and handed them to me. “I’ve put a note on there for them to email me the xrays right away, so there will be no time wasted in getting you on medication. When you are done, come back up here and either Ms Jamieson or I will take you to my office.”

“Doc, what about the ultrasound results? That’s why I’m here, to find out about that.”

“No surprises”, was the response. “As I told you that night, the cyst has grown. I’m not going to hound you about surgery while you are so sick.” That was a relief.

I left the clinic and headed for the elevator. Tempted as I was to leave and go home, I didn’t dare. I took his threat to take my license seriously. As a doctor, he had the authority to do it. At least he said I could lie down on his couch and it’s after 2 so by the time I get back up there, there should only be a couple hours until he was done for the day.

When I was done, I went back up to the clinic and Ms Jamieson took me down to the doc’s office. “I’ll be back with a blanket and pillow”, she said. I sat on the couch to wait for her.

She was back in a moment and told me to lie down. I did and she put the blanket over me. “Doctor will probably come in between patients to check on you. He is really worried about you. I’ve never seen him stew over a patient so much.” She closed the blinds and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Why on earth is he “stewing” so much over me, I wondered. He needs a girlfriend to stew over. Not for the first time, I vowed to get him to ask Ms Hottie out. And, not for the first time, I was kind of jealous of her - whoever she was. Doc would be a great catch for any woman he was interested in.

I had just closed my eyes when he came in. “Doc, I’m cold”, I said. “Even with this blanket, I’m still chilly.”

“That’s the fever, hon. I’ll get you another blanket, then I will check my email to see if the xray images are there.”

“Thanks, Doc”, I said when he had put a second blanket over me. He went to his desk and sat down.

A minute later, he looked at me over his reading glasses and said “You have a very bad case of pneumonia - both lungs. You need to be in hospital with IV antibiotics.”

“I am not going to the hospital.”

“You have to.”

“No, I do not.”

“Meredith, please let me call an ambulance for you.”

“No, you will just be wasting their time as I am not going.” I threw the blankets off and sat up. “I’m going home. Do not worry, I won’t drive. I will take a cab.”

He took his glasses off and came over to the couch and sat down beside me. “Hon, you are very, very sick. You really need to be in hospital.”

“No, Doc, I’m not going.” Just then I got into a coughing fit. I thought it would never end but it did. Doc got up in the middle of it and left the room. When he came back, he had a bottle and a spoon in his hand.

“Here’s some cough syrup, we have tons of samples from pharmaceutical reps.” He poured some onto the spoon and held it up. I let him put it in my mouth and I swallowed the medicine. After I had had another spoonful, he again sat down beside me. “Ok, I’m not going to be able to talk you into going to the hospital. I want you to come stay with me for a few days.”

“I don’t want to impose on you, Doc.”

“You aren’t imposing. I insist on it. Now, lay back down and rest until I’ve seen all my afternoon patients.” He got up and I layed down. He put the blankets back over me. “I’ll be back in a bit to check on you.” I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. Next thing I knew, Doc was waking me up. “Hon, I just want to let you know I’m going to run an errand before going home. I didn’t want you to wake up and go to the bathroom and find an empty clinic.”

“Ok, Doc”, I said.

“And before you think about calling a cab and going home while I’m gone, I can’t stop you from doing that, but I will be very disappointed if you do. And I will worry even more.”

I melted at the worried look on his face. “I won’t, Doc.”

“Do I have your word?”

“Yes, Doc.”

“Good. I will see you in a bit.”

I closed my eyes again, but realized I had to pee, so I got up and went to the bathroom. The silence in the clinic seemed so strange. When I was done, I got my purse and shoes and walked through the waiting room to the clinic door. I had my hand on the knob and was about to open it, when I thought “I can’t do this to the doc. I gave him my word I’d stay and I don’t go back on my word lightly. I cursed myself for telling him that. If I hadn’t , he’d not have asked me to give my word. But it was more than that. I knew he really wanted me to go to the hospital and he was super worried about me. I didn’t want to worry or upset him even more – he was so sweet and I was starting to care about *him*. I walked back down the hall to his office and lay down under the blankets.

I fell asleep again until the doc woke me up when he got back. “Ready to go, hon?”

“Doc, can you take me home? I’d rather be in my own bed, it’s an adjustable one and I’d be more comfortable with the head raised.”

“Hon, my bed is, too.”

“I don’t want to put you out of your bed, Doc.”

“I have a spare room, I’ll sleep in there.”

“All right, Doc.”

“BTW, I called Karen. She will take care of things at home until you are better.”

“How did you get her number?” I asked.

“You gave it to me to call her that day at your place, remember? I never deleted it from my phone.”

When we got to the doc’s place, he got his medical bag and a couple plastic bags out of the trunk. “I’ll get you in, then I’ll come back for the rest.” We took the elevator to the 4th floor of the six floor building. He opened his apartment door and motioned for me to go in ahead of him. I went in and took my shoes off.

“Have a seat, hon. I’m going back to the car for the rest of the supplies.”

Supplies? I thought as I glanced around. The apartment was immaculately clean with nothing looking out of place. I wasn’t surprised, this was exactly as I’d expected the doc’s place to be. I sat down on his sofa.

He was back in a few minutes with a long pole and a couple more bags. “What’s that?”, I asked.

“An IV stand. The wheels are in one of these bags. I borrowed it from the hospital and also got your medicine from the hospital pharmacy.”

“Is that allowed?” I asked.

“It’s not normally done”, he replied. “But I talked them into it because you need IV medication. Pills are not enough, the pneumonia is too severe. The only reason the ER doctor allowed it is because you so adamantly refuse to go in and he owes me a favour.” I’m going to get you something to wear to bed, then I’ll get you hooked up.”

He was back in a moment with a white button down shirt. “Here you go, hon. Put this on while I assemble the IV pole.”

I took the shirt from him. “Where is your bathroom?”

“Over there, beside my bedroom, but you can change into it here. It‘s not like I haven‘t seen your breasts before.”

“I know, but I have to pee anyway.”

When I came out of the bathroom, he had assembled the IV pole and had put the supplies on his coffee table. “Sit down on the chair, hon. It will make it easier for me. I’ll just go wash my hands first.”

When he was done, the doc told me to put my left arm on the arm of the chair. He put gloves on, then he put a tourniquet just above my wrist and wiped the back of my hand with a sterile swab. Picking up the needle, he said “I haven’t started an IV in years. I’m sorry if this hurts you.” He got the vein on the first jab.

“Looks like you haven’t lost your touch, Doc.”

He smiled as he pushed the catheter into the vein and pulled the needle out. He released the tourniquet and put a loop in the tubing on my hand, then taped it all in place. Then he hooked up two bags that were hanging on the IV stand.

“What’s in the other bag?” I asked.

“Just fluids to keep you hydrated. People tend to not drink a lot when they are sick.” The doctor took his gloves off and picked up the waste materials and took them to the kitchen garbage. When he came back, he asked me what I wanted for supper.

“I’m not hungry, Doc.”

“You need to eat, hon. I have some leftover homemade chili in the fridge. How about some of that?”

“Sure. I like chili.” I followed him out to the kitchen, pushing the IV pole in front of me, and sat down at the table. Doc washed his hands, got the chili out and dished out two bowls. He put one in the microwave, then got two spoons out of a drawer and set one in front of me and one in front of his chair.

“What would you like to drink? I have skim milk, juice….”

“Water is fine. How can you drink skim milk? That is water pretending to be milk!”

He laughed. “It’s healthier.”

“I’m gonna get you hooked on raw milk, Doc. Just you wait.”

He set a glass of water in front of me. Just then, the microwave beeped and he took the bowl out and put the other one in. He set the bowl in front of me and sat down to wait for his. Just then, I got into a coughing fit. “I’m going to get you some more cough syrup, hon”, he said as he got up and headed out of the kitchen.

He came back with a bottle and got another spoon out of his cutlery drawer and had me take two spoonfuls when I had stopped coughing. “This stuff works”, I said. “It really helped earlier.”

“That’s good, hon. You can have some every 4 hours.” He got his chili out of the microwave and sat down.

I ate a couple spoonfuls and said “This is really good, Doc!”

“Thanks.”

“You cook and make good coffee - you would make someone a great partner!” He blushed. “Doc, why are you still single?”

“Well, I didn’t have time for dating in medical school or residency.”

“But you’ve been out of med school for years. How old are you?”

“44.” Nine years older than me.

“So, you’ve been done school and residency for well over 10 years. Surely, you’ve met ladies that have interested you!”

He looked very uncomfortable. After a moment of silence, he said “I have, and I have dated, but I haven‘t wanted to get serious with them.”

“What about Ms Hottie?”

“Ms Hottie?”

“The one you said you wanted to ask out.”

“Ms Hottie - that’s cute. Yes, I would very much like to ask her out.”

“Tell me about her, Doc.”

“Why do you want to know about her?”

“Besides you being my ob/gyn we have become friends of a sort, right?”

“I like to think we have.”

“And friends take an interest in each other. I’m interested in this Ms Hottie and want to know more about her. Maybe I can convince you to ask her out.”

“She’s the opposite of me in so many ways.”

“How so? Opposites often attract, you know.”

“She’s a country girl and dresses casually, she listens to country music, she loves animals and has a bunch of horses, she’s very independent, stubborn, headstrong, sarcastic, self destructive at times ….”

“Sounds like she could be my twin.” The doc got a weird expression on his face. “Tell me more about her.”

“When she’s not being obstinate, she’s warm, caring, kind, compassionate. She’s intelligent and she makes me laugh, even though I’m a pretty serious person.” He paused. “And she’s beautiful. Maybe not in the conventional sense, but she‘s beautiful to me.”

“So much for her being my twin.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Meredith.”

I diverted his attention. “Have you told her how you feel about her, Doc?”

“I’ve tried to, and I’ve thrown out hints, but I don’t think she’s picked up on them. That might be for the best.”

“You might need to be more direct with her. How about taking her to a barn dance? I told you I wanted to get you out to one, you should bring her.” Once again, a weird look came over the doc’s face. He reached over and gently pushed a lock of hair out of my face. His hand seemed to linger on my cheek.

Suddenly, something occurred to me. Could he be talking about me? Am I Ms Hottie? I asked myself. Nah, I doubt it, I decided. He’d never be interested in me. But, why the kiss on the cheek last week? And him stroking my hair when I was going to sleep at my place? And his description of Ms Hottie fits me, well almost. I was tempted to ask him, but then I’d be embarrassed if it isn’t me he’s talking about.

“I need to get you to bed, hon. I’ll clear the table and then I’ll get you settled. But first, let me take that antibiotic bag off your IV, it’s done now.”

“I am really tired”, I admitted. “Let me go pee first.”

“I know for sure you are really sick”, Doc said as he unhooked the bag. “You aren’t trying to help me clean up.”

“Haha, Doc. Do I have to have this second bag?”

“Yes, as long as you are on the antibiotic.”

“Which will be how long?”

“Minimum 3 days. Two more if you aren’t well enough to go on an oral one.”

“3-5 days. You’re gonna be so tired of me, Doc.”

“I doubt that, hon. Now, scoot. Out of the kitchen.”

When I came out of the bathroom, he was changing the bed. “There’s a chair by the window, I’ll just be a couple minutes getting this done.”

I pushed the IV pole over to the chair and sat down. Walking wasn’t easy, I was getting out of breath so easily. The doc was done in a few minutes and I went over to the bed. “Stay on this side, hon. That way your IV tubing won’t tangle. Keep the pole on the side of your hand.”

I took my pants and panties off, folded them and he took them from me and put them on the chair. I started to get into bed. “Hold on, Meredith. I want to look at your behind.” He lifted the shirt of his I was wearing. “Looks good”, he declared. “Now, into bed. Get in the middle, I’m going to take your temperature. And btw, you look cute in my shirt.”

I blushed. “Why do I have to be in the middle?”

“We always get the patient to lay on their left side. I’d have to reach around you to take your temp if you stayed on this side of the bed.”

“Aw, Doc, you aren’t taking it rectally, are you?”

“It’s the most accurate way”, he replied. For once, he didn’t say “Don’t ‘Aw, Doc’ me.”

The doc walked around the bed and picked his bag up from the floor. He opened it and took what he needed out. “Ok, hon roll over on your left side.”

Doc spread lubricant on my sphincter, then gently pushed his finger in to coat the inside with KY. Even though it had been over a week since he’d done this to me, I wasn’t as tense as I had been the first few times. It seemed I was getting used to it. When I was sufficiently lubricated, he inserted the thermometer and sat with his hand on my hip to wait out the 3 minute time requirement. I couldn’t see him, but I could feel his gaze on my rump and I blushed again.

After a minute or so, I got into a small coughing fit. “Oh no”, he said when I had stopped coughing. “You pushed the thermometer out. We’ll have to start again.” I groaned. “I’ll just go clean it as it fell on the bed, I’ll be right back.”

When he came back, the doc put lubricant on the thermometer again and re-inserted it in my anus. “I’m going to hold on to it, hon. That way if you cough again, it won’t come out.” I could feel his hand on my butt cheek as he held on to the thermometer. Was he looking for an excuse to look at my butt and put his hand on it? I wondered.

“How’s your pain, hon?” he asked.

“It’s okay, Doc.”

“Number?”

“3”

“That’s pretty good. You have enough going on with the pneumonia, you don’t need that cyst to flare. I have to work tomorrow but I will come home on my lunch hour to check on you. And I will call a couple times in between patients. Then I will be off for 3 days since Monday is a holiday. If you are a good patient and do as you are told, I will take you home on Saturday and I‘ll stay there with you for a couple days.”

I perked up. “Thanks, Doc!”

“You have to agree to come back with me on Monday if I say so, okay?”

“Ok, Doc.”

“I should get that in writing”, he quipped.

“Haha, Doc. You know I don’t go back on my word.”

“Are you giving me your word that you will come back if I say you have to?”

Damn, he was pinning me down.

“Yes, Doc.”

“I want to hear it.”

I sighed. “I give you my word that I will come back if you say I have to.”

“Good girl. I think the 3 minutes are up.” He took the thermometer out and read it. “39.4. Rectal is always higher than oral, but it is still too high. I’m going to get you some Tylenol to bring that fever down after I wipe the lubricant off you.”

He brought some Tylenol and water to me. I sat up and took two and swallowed them down before laying back down. “I’ll raise the head of the bed for you, hon.” When he had done that, he turned the light out and sat down on the bed facing me. I turned onto my right side and snuggled under the covers. It was almost the end of June and yet I was chilly.

Doc sat and rubbed my leg while I drifted off to sleep. Just as I was almost asleep, I thought I heard him whisper “If you only knew how I felt about you, Meredith.” He got up and leaned over and kissed my forehead before leaving the bedroom. As I fell asleep, once again I wondered if I was Ms Hottie, but it would be a while before I would remember the kiss or what he had said.