“Oh, yes, I do!” I replied, trying to hide my excitement at giving him a taste of his own medicine. I found his lube and rectal thermometer. Opening the nightstand, I got a pair of gloves out of the box, which Doc kept there for when he need to do something to me. “Come on, Doc - on your belly! Now.” He was still lying on his side - unfortunately, the wrong side. I pushed on the back of his shoulder to push him down on the bed. Then I pulled his jockey shorts down to just off his butt.

“Meredith, you don’t need to do that, you can take it orally”, he pleaded, as he shifted onto his side again.

“Rectal is the most accurate, sweetheart.” I walked around the bed with the supplies in my hands. Doc realized what I was going to do and turned onto his other side. I pushed him face down again and got on the bed and straddled his lower back. I didn’t put much weight on it as I did not want to hurt him, just wanted to keep him there.

I set the thermometer case and the tube of lubricant down on the bed and put a glove on my dominant hand, then squeezed some KY onto it. I parted Doc’s cheeks with my other hand and spread the lube on his anus, going in slow circles. He squirmed and tried to get away, but I wouldn’t let him up. Fortunately, he did not have his usual strength due to being sick.

Once I had the outside of his anus sufficiently lubricated, I put more KY on my finger and gently inserted it into him. “Is this your first time, honey?” I asked.

“No, I get an annual prostate check.”

“Ok, now do as you tell me, deep breath in and bear down on my finger. Come on, relax, you know it goes in better when the patient is relaxed.” When I got my finger through his sphincter, I lubed the inside of his anus. Then I took the thermometer out of it’s case, put lubricant on the bulb and inserted it into him. I really didn't need to do all that just to insert a thin thermometer, but he had done it to me, so turnabout is fair play.

“Now we have to wait 3 minutes”, I said. “Or should I make it 4?”

“3 is enough”, he said grumpily.

“Can I get off of you or are you going to continue to give me trouble?”

“Do you really think I’m going to roll over onto my back with a thermometer in my ass?”

“All right, but if you take it out, you will get a spanking. Understand?”

“Yes.”

I literally got off of his back and sat down beside him. Sliding my non gloved hand under his undershirt, I rubbed his back while we waited for the thermometer to register. This had to be hard for him - he was used to taking care of patients, not being the patient.

Doc coughed about halfway through the waiting time. Afraid he was going to push the thermometer out, I grabbed the end with my gloved hand and held it in place. At the 3 minute mark, I took it out and read it. “38.5, Doc. You definitely have a fever. I think you need something to bring that down.“

I got up from the bed and looked through his bag but couldn’t find any suppositories. Checking the nightstand, I found a few in there. “Okay, Doc, I’m going to insert a Tylenol suppository. This will help bring your fever down. It will also help that headache and your aching muscles.” I pushed it in. “Just lie like that for a bit, let it dissolve.” I took the glove off and put it in the garbage receptacle, then I rubbed Doc’s butt for a few minutes.

“Doc, do you want your jammies on?”

“Yes, please, hon.”

“Ok, I’ll get them.” I got up and retrieved his pajamas from his dresser. He still liked to wear them to bed, though if we made love, he didn‘t put them back on and slept in the buff, like me. “I’m going to take your briefs off.” After I pulled them down and off, I slipped the pj bottoms on his legs. “Lift up, sweetheart.” I pulled them the rest of the way up.

“Do you want your undershirt on?” He shook his head ‘no’, so I helped him with that. Then I found his stethoscope and listened to his lungs. “Hon, I think you are taking it a bit far. You aren’t trained to know what to listen for.“

“Be quiet and take deep breaths. I know what to listen for in my horses, humans can’t be that different. I wouldn’t diagnose, but if I hear something suspicious, I’ll get you to the hospital or urgent care.”

“Is that what the stethoscope in your barn is for?”

“Yes, and also to listen for bowel sounds when I suspect colic. Now, take a deep breath.” Doc’s lungs sounded clear to me and I even let him listen to verify it. (I held the diaphragm as far around his back as I could get it with the tips in his ears)

After I put his pj top on and buttoned it up, I pulled the covers up over him and sat down. I rubbed his leg for a bit while he fell asleep, then I got up and kissed his forehead and left the room so he could sleep.

At lunchtime, I took up a bowl of chicken noodle soup that he had made and frozen a week or so ago. “I’m not hungry, hon”, he said when I set the tray down on my dresser.

“Sit up and eat, Doc. Remember what you tell me when I’m sick? You have to eat something.” He grumbled about it, but he did sit up and eat a bit. When he was done, I insisted on taking his temperature again.

“It doesn’t need to be taken that often, Meredith. Twice a day is fine.”

“Oh, really, Doc? I seem to remember you taking mine 4 times a day.”

“That’s different.”

“How is it different?”

“It just is.”

“Come on, Doc. Why is it different?”

“I like looking at your gorgeous ass.”

“Aha! So I don’t really need it taken that often?”

“Sometimes you do, hon.”

“Then you need yours taken that much until you are better. And maybe I like looking at *your* cute butt!” He grumbled some more, but did let me take his temp. I guess me sitting on him earlier got my point across. The suppository hadn’t brought it down by much - the reading was 38.4. I gave him another one, amidst his protests.

“Ok, Doc”, I said when I was done. “Back to sleep.” He didn’t argue, I think he was feeling pretty badly. I sat there watching him sleep for awhile. My heart went out to this man I was falling more in love with every day. I know it was just a mild case of the flu, but he was used to treating sick people, not being the one who’s sick. I knew he felt worse than he’d admit to. He didn’t give me as hard a time as I was expecting over me insisting he stay home from work. Ms Jamieson had called when she got my message and said she would reschedule his patients for the rest of the week so that he could stay home and get better. The urgent ones, she’d squeeze in with Dr Bonilla.

After a while I went downstairs and tried to catch up on my soap in the bedroom down there, since the tv room was right below the master bedroom. I didn’t want to make too much noise for fear of waking Doc up. He needed his sleep.

Later in the afternoon, I went out to the barn to bring the horses in and feed them. Doc was still asleep. I did my chores as quickly as I could, so I could get back in the house in case he woke up and I wasn’t there. He was just waking up when I went upstairs with supper. “Hi sweetheart, how are you feeling?”

“Awful”, Doc replied as he got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. When he was done, I put the tray over his lap and encouraged him to eat a bit. “Do the best you can, honey.” He mumbled something under his breath. Whoever said that doctors make the worst patients sure nailed it.

After supper, I took his temp, it was 38.4 again. I gave him another suppository then listened to his lungs and they still sounded clear. After I cleaned up the kitchen, I went upstairs to find him watching tv. I had a shower, then climbed into bed with him.

“I’m going to go back to work tomorrow, hon.”

“Like hell you are.”

“I have to, my patients need me.”

“Ms Jamieson rebooked your patients for the rest of the week. You are going nowhere.”

“Why did she do that?”

“Because you are sick, silly.”

“It’s just a bit of the flu.”

“Yes, and you need your rest. And your patients will thank you for not coming in and passing it on to them. I certainly don‘t want my GP going to work when he‘s sick and passing it on to me if I have an appointment that day.” Doc sighed. “That’s an order, Doc, you are not going back until Monday at the earliest.”

“Try and stop me, hon.”

“Oh, I have already stopped you. Where do you think your keys are?” I said with a wink.

“I’m going to need those in the morning.”

“No, you are not. And if you even try to look for them, you’ll get a spanking.” He gave me a ‘you’ve got to be joking’ look. “I’m serious, Doc. Try me and you will see.” He dropped it, but I vowed to be on high alert for him searching the next morning.

We watched tv for a while, then Doc wanted to sleep. I went downstairs and worked on my website. I have a site with listings for the horses I have that are up for adoption. It is linked to the rescue organization’s site. Lilly was slowly gaining weight, but she wouldn’t be up for adoption until after she foaled.

Later in the evening, I went up to bed. Doc was asleep but I woke him up to take his temperature. “Hon, you don’t need to take it a 4th time today.”

“Yes, I do. Now hush and turn over on your other side.” He grumbled about it, but he complied. I pulled his pajama bottoms down to just below his butt and lubed him up and inserted the thermometer.

“Is this payback for me doing it to you, hon?” he asked while we waited for the reading.

“Now, would I do that, Doc?”

“You darn well would.”

His temp was 38.3. For all intents and purposes, the same. At least it wasn’t going up. When I had cleaned the lube off him and disposed of the tissues, I went to the ensuite and washed my hands, then got into bed behind him and turned the lamp off. I snuggled up to him and put my arm around him.

The next morning, Doc woke up coughing. His lungs were still clear, though. Temp was the same - 38.4.

He wanted a shower, so I got my shower seat from downstairs for him to sit on. Even as sick as he was, he wanted to be clean. While he was making progress and doing things like going out to the barn to find me when I hid behind the straw bales, when we got back to the house, he had to have a shower right away.

I lathered up his hair and soaped up his body, like he had done for me awhile ago. He didn’t give me any attitude about it - I think he liked it. Afterward, I put him back to bed in clean pajamas and took the dirty ones downstairs with me to wash.

As I was doing breakfast dishes, I heard him walking around upstairs. I went out to the area of the tv room to listen. He walked all around the bedroom, stopping for a moment or two here and there. I knew what he was doing - looking for his keys. He left the bedroom and headed down the hall. The little stinker! I thought. I let him go into one of the guest rooms - it wasn’t the one where the keys were - then I snuck up the stairs and stood at the top.

When he came out of the guest room and headed for the next one, I called out “Looking for something, Doc?” It seemed he jumped 5 feet.

Turning around, he said “Don’t scare me like that, Meredith!”

“Don’t go sneaking around looking for things you have no business having and I won’t. Now, back to bed. Now!” I gave his butt a slap as he walked past me into the bedroom. When he was back in bed, I retrieved the keys and put them in my pocket.

When Karen came in for coffee later, I gave her the keys. “Can you please keep these at your place until I say Doc can go back to work?” I told her about catching him looking for them.

“That is exactly something *you* would do, Meredith.”

“That’s different.”

“Uh huh.”

When I took Doc’s temp after lunch, I made him lay on his tummy and gave his bare butt a couple slaps before I inserted the thermometer.

“What’s that for?” he asked.

“For misbehaving earlier. You’ll get a full spanking when you’re better.”

The next few days went on much the same. Doc’s temp came down and the fever finally broke 3 days later. He was still pretty weak, though. I had Ms Jamieson reschedule his patients for the next week, too, as I’d called Curt Wilcox and told him about Doc’s symptoms and he said it sounded like the flu and he’d be weak for a while. He told me to call him if I heard anything suspicious in Doc’s chest/lungs and said he’d come right out. Fortunately, his lungs remained clear. He was still pretty grumpy, but I gave him a pass on that. I knew he had put up with a lot of attitude from me when I was sick and when I was laid up after being thrown from my horse.

Doc got better with each passing day. Soon, he was well enough that I felt I could give him the spanking he deserved for looking for his keys. I nailed him after his shower one morning. I texted him to come to the downstairs bedroom. We had designated that the spanking room. He came in and found me sitting on the edge of the bed. “What’s up, hon?” he asked.

“Come here, Doc. Now, pull your pants and briefs down and over my knee.”

“Oh, no!”

“Oh, yes! I told you that you were going to get a spanking when you were better. Now do it.” He just stood there. “Ok, you want to be like that.” I reached out and undid his belt and zipper, then pulled his pants down. “Now, pull your briefs down.” He still wouldn’t do it, so I pulled them down, too.

“I’m not getting over your lap.”

“Yes, you are. The longer you stall, the longer the spanking will be.”

Doc finally realized I was dead serious and he lay across my knee, in the opposite direction to when I lay over his, since I’m left handed. I brought my hand down on his bare butt, then over and over and over again. It wasn’t as hard as when he spanked me, given he’s stronger than me and it hurt my hand. He didn’t know it but my hands had been really hurting a lot lately. I didn’t want to bother him with it as he’d been through so much with me as it was.

When I was done, I told him he could get up and pull his pants up. He left the bedroom and I didn’t see him until lunch. I think he was pretty humiliated. I felt bad for him, but couldn’t let him get away with looking for the keys when I specifically told him that if he did, he’d get a spanking.

The next time I took his temp - I was only taking it twice a day by then - I applied the same cream he used on me after a spanking to his butt. I have to take care of him, after all. Even when he’s been bad.