Diversity of Life

12. The Freedom

Amber hurriedly entered the hallway. She closed the examination room door and let Dr. Winkelmann quickly behind. I've finally made it, she thought and looked around. On the one hand, the corridor led to the entrance area, where the reception desk with Mrs. Schenke was, in the other direction there were the doors of other examination rooms as well as the laboratory. The door to this room was open. She imagined who has to sit there now and turned towards the exit. The registration area was still busy. Amber heard voices and a phone ringing as she entered the area. Two assistants were sitting behind the counter, but not Mrs. Schenke. A patient stood at the counter and asked for information. Luckily I don't have anything in the waiting room anymore, thought Amber and was glad not to meet any patients who were still waiting for the examination or who suspected what Amber had just experienced.

Amber stood behind the patient and waited to sign off for today. The other assistant, who had previously been free, was on the phone. She waited quietly, but could clearly hear what the conversation between the patient and the assistant was about. As Mrs. Schenke had previously explained everything to Amber, the assistant described what the patient had to put up with during the examination. From the conversation, Amber clearly understood the steps involved in examining the patient. Blood draw, urine sample, then the examination. She was glad not to be in the patient's shoes and knew exactly how he must be feeling. He was about the same height as Amber, but had an athletic build. His hair was blond and he seemed only a little older than Amber.

"We'll call you for a preliminary examination. Would you please take a seat in the waiting room there?” The assistant pointed to the waiting area. "All right," the patient said, walking straight there without turning. The assistant looked at Amber. "Hello, I was sent to Mrs. Schenke for the certificate." While Amber was speaking, she took a step closer. "Yes, one moment, I'll take a quick look." The assistant took a quick look at her screen and typed something on her keyboard.

A little strange, Amber thought. The assistant didn't remember her at all. Amber wasn't sure if she was already sitting here when she registered. She wasn't wearing as much make-up as Mrs. Schenke, but she was friendly. She was slim, brown-haired and quite young. Can she be examined here as well? Amber was a little shocked when she imagined how the assistant would be examined here. As a silent observer, she had never imagined taking part in a physical examination. But the thought pleased Amber somehow.

She looked around. The danger was too great that the girl at the counter who served her would become suspicious and guess what Amber was thinking. Meanwhile, her colleague next to her ended the phone call. As soon as the phone was hung up, it rang again. "Seibel?" the colleague answered. It seemed to be a short conversation. "Ok I'm doing. Room 2? Yes, fine.” The colleague hung up, got up and walked towards the waiting room. Amber looked back at her colleague. She was still busy with the PC, typing in a few things, but then looked up briefly. “Amber, right?” “Yes!” “Ok, we've got it in a minute. I just see that the doctor made a note. We should make a follow-up appointment.”

A little shock went through Amber's body. Dr. Winkelmann was serious, she thought briefly. Another exam like this? Amber got a little nervous. Her previous thought was long gone. Amber wondered why that should be necessary. Didn't the doctor say she was fine? Her eyes wandered over the counter and tried to fix a point. As it seemed, everything went out of control. But did it have to? Amber pulled herself together. Maybe it's good for me, too, she thought. Prevention should never be bad. But being naked, this shame, the touching. "Should I enter an appointment from today in a year?" asked the assistant. Amber looked into her smiling eyes. "Yes, please," she replied. She gave this answer as if hypnotized. Better that way than not attracting negative attention, Amber calmed down and watched as the assistant wrote down the appointment on a small piece of paper. "There you go!" The assistant handed her the note and typed something else into the PC. Then she turned to a printer, which then began to print on a sheet.

Amber let her gaze wander again. She heard voices that seemed to be coming from the hallway that led to rooms behind the counters. The shadows grew clearer, the voices grew louder. Amber seemed to recognize the voices. In fact, they turned more and more into people. Her eyes widened instinctively when she saw Dr. Karmann and Sebastian. Both came out of the back rooms into the entrance area and talked to each other. Dr Karmann said goodbye to Sebastian near the counter. She glanced at Amber, then she was back in her thoughts and possibly went straight to her new patient. Sebastian himself stopped at the counter when he saw Amber.

As if she wished to be addressed by him, Amber looked at Sebastian expectantly. His eyes stayed on her too. "Hey, finished already?" he asked and stood next to Amber. "Yes, just now," she replied. Amber liked that Sebastian joined her. "And you? How was it with you?” she asked him. "Oh, very good. Nothing special. My values ​​are all ok, the training plan fits too.” Amber smiled and looked briefly at the assistant behind the counter. "Here's the certificate!" Amber took it. "Thank you," she replied and put it in her pocket. "Until the next examination then, Amber. Goodbye!” The word investigation came unexpectedly and triggered a little shock again. "Yes thank you. See you then!” Amber answered and didn't show anything. Then she turned to Sebastian, who was waiting for her. "Would you like to go to the dyke? It's not windy and the weather is quite good!” he asked her. She no longer wanted to go to school, nor did she want to go home. So she was glad that Sebastian had asked her this question. "Gladly!" she replied with a smile and left the entrance hall of the sports medicine clinic with him.

She followed Sebastian to the adjacent parking area. "My bike is still here," she briefly mentioned. "I'll bring you back here later. Is it far from here to your home?” “No, just a few minutes.” Sebastian smiled. Amber liked his smile. She liked being close to him and was glad that she had mastered this day so well so far. What's going to happen next, she thought as they both approached a red convertible. "That's my mother's car." Instead of going to the driver's side, he went to the right side of the car. Amber suspected what Sebastian implemented a little later in reality. He opened the passenger door and held it open to Amber invitingly. She was very surprised but pleased at the same time by this gesture. She had not expected anything like this and accepted the invitation benevolently. The seat was upholstered in fine leather and felt very good. The interior also looked fine and expensive. The black dashboard was classy and decorated with shiny silver lines. Amber enjoyed the moment. She's never sat in a car like this before. The steering wheel was also leather and had several switches. Sebastian carefully closed the passenger door and then got in as well. "Do you like driving with the top down?" he asked Amber as he buckled his seat belt. "Yes, of course!" she answered and also buckled up. Sebastian started the car and pushed a switch in the middle. At that moment, the top opened and automatically folded backwards. Amber immediately felt the freshness of the day and enjoyed the looks of others. Then the vehicle started moving. A short walk through the city and across the country followed.

Amber enjoyed the ride. She was sheltered from the wind, but every now and then the wind caught a few of her hair. Sebastian drove very safely and confidently. Again and again he looked briefly at his passenger. Again Amber felt a sense of excitement. Although she has often been to the dike, today was different. A tingling sensation ran through her body again and again. She hadn't had that feeling of joy for a long time. She never thought that the day would come like this. Amber felt the belt on her body and remembered the touches of the doctors. What was it that bothered her so much? At that moment she wanted to forget it and tried to quickly put the thoughts of the examinations behind her. Under no circumstances should Sebastian find out about this. A quick look, a quick smile, then she looked ahead again.

Sebastian was holding the steering wheel with both hands, but he seemed quite nonchalant. Not only that, Amber also noticed his hands. They were tall, well-groomed, and sleek-looking. In any case, Sebastian was well dressed. He smelled good too. She caught the scent of his perfume even while driving open. "We'll be right there," Sebastian said just before they got to the bathing spot. The way to the beach led along a coastal road past shrubs and water. Birds kept flying as the car passed them. But it didn't happen quickly, after all the entire area was a nature reserve. And the sun was shining. There was hardly a cloud to be seen. And yet it was not hot, but pleasant. A pair of sunglasses would be great right now, Amber thought. Sebastian steered the car into a parking lot. Behind it were a couple of mobile homes. A few other cars were parked right at the dike entrance. Sebastian parked next to it. "So, here we are" and unbuckled himself. Amber did the same and got out, as did Sebastian. She briefly considered whether the roof would remain open. She looked in Sebastian's direction, who was standing next to the car and was waiting for her, smiling. Then they walked together to the dike steps.

A few steps had to be climbed. The steps weren't steep, but the dike was almost thirty feet high. Amber felt the effort. She was a little done with the previous exam, she just realized. And yet, at that moment, she didn't care. The moment when we went to the dike with Sebastian was too good. Amber wondered what to expect upstairs. It was always the same question. "What do you think, do we have low tide or high tide?" Sebastian looked at Amber. "I think low tide!" "Well, then I'm curious!" Amber accelerated, took two steps at once and overtook Sebastian. Sebastian didn't let that deter him and immediately ran after him. It wasn't far, maybe just a few more steps, but it was worth the effort. Once at the top, the vastness of the beautiful Wadden Sea opened up for both of them. It was low tide and the view from the top of the dike was breathtaking. The sun whitened the mud puddles that had formed between the undulating patterns on the exposed seabed. The sea was far away and could be guessed on the horizon.

Slightly out of breath, Amber arched her back a little, put her hands on her thighs and gasped. Her heart was pounding in her throat. This time she didn't mind. This time she didn’t mind. She smiled at Sebastian who, like her, was breathing fast. "Indeed! You were right!” he said, returning Amber's smile. Sebastian gently placed his hand on her back. "Everything ok?" he asked caringly. Amber sat up and enjoyed the closeness. "Yes," she answered and looked into Sebastian's blue eyes. Then both directed their eyes towards the horizon on the mud flats, where so many different birds cavorted. A few waded on the mud flats, others landed next to it. A few other birds rose and changed positions a few yards away. It was reassuring to watch them and hear their calls. They seemed so far away, and yet they were heard loud and clear. What a beautiful moment, Amber thought. She felt very comfortable in that second and wished nothing more than to be touched one more time.

A few steps further they sat down on the grass of the dike. It was very soft and dry. Amber bent her knees and looked at the sea. "How beautiful this is," she said. Sebastian smiled. "Do you hear the birds?" he asked. "Lots of different ones. And they all share the living space. So peaceful and respectful.” Amber listened carefully to the noises and closed her eyes. "Fantastic diversity of life," Sebastian added, gently sneaking his arm around Amber’s shoulder.

(The End)