Liz and I arrived at Village Pediatrics just before the scheduled 10:00 appointment time, and Liz immediately went up to the reception window. It miffed me a bit that my twin sister automatically took charge. But although the Tylenol had me feeling a bit better, my head was still in a fog, and I didn’t want to argue with her. So, I just took a seat in the corner and pretended to look through an old magazine.

There were just two mothers in the waiting area with small children. They were both in their 30s or 40s and were, I couldn’t help but notice, fairly attractive. I vaguely recognised one of them as another friend of Mom from church. Mrs. Jones, I think was her name. They both smiled at me briefly as I sat down before going back to their reading. Unlike during my previous visits, the children were both playing quietly, and there was a hushed silence in the room. As a result, Liz’s conversation with the receptionist was audible to everyone.

“Hi. I’m Liz Williams. We have an appointment for my brother, Luke.”

“Oh, yes. Hi, Liz! Welcome back,” responded the receptionist. I guess she was starting to recognize our family name. “Let’s see… Ear infection… Temperature of 101.7 yesterday afternoon… Any more recent reading, by any chance?”

“Yes, 102.6. I took it at 8:00 this morning,” Liz responded. She then paused for a moment before clarifying, “in his rectum.”

For the second time that day, I felt my dignity ripped away. Both mothers looked up from what they were doing and stared at me with smiles on their faces. I couldn’t tell if they were trying to show sympathy or secretly laughing at me. In any event, I was mortified at the idea that these strangers now both knew, not only that my sister had taken my temperature, but that she had used a baby thermometer as if I were a small child! They were probably imagining me naked on my bed at home while Liz spread my buttocks and inserted the instrument. I was so ashamed that I couldn’t even look them in the eye, so just stared at the magazine in my hand. I was still beet-red by the time Liz came and sat down beside me, flashing a smug grin to them both. My apprehension about the upcoming exam intensified.

A few more mothers arrived with their children and settled into seats. After a few minutes, the door to the exam area opened. My heart skipped a beat as our former classmate Debra Hobbs appeared and looked over toward Liz and me. Debra was doing a summer internship at Village Peds before starting nursing school in the fall. She was wearing her usual scrubs, and the top today had yellow ducks on it. The stethoscope slung around her neck gave her a professional look that I couldn’t help but find sexy. In fact, ever since she had pressed my hand against her breast while taking my blood pressure the week before, I had been thinking about my sister’s friend in a new light. I was still vaguely annoyed with her bossiness, of course. But there was a new element to our relationship, and I had found thoughts of her naked body creeping into my imagination. Her take-charge attitude had in fact now become somehow erotic.

“Hi, Luke!” she said, as Liz and I rose from our chairs. “I’ll be prepping you again today for your exam with Jill!” Was it my imagination, or was there was a slight glee in her voice? She gave a smile to Mrs. Jones and the other mother and added, “I’ll be out for Leo and Kyle in just a couple of minutes.”

By now, I knew better than to ask Liz to stay in the waiting room, so I meekly followed the two women back into the exam area.

Debra led us to Exam Room 1, located just across from the nurses’ station, which was usually bustling but this morning was quiet. The room had a very similar design to the one I had been in the prior week. In the center was a large, cabinet-style examination table, about 3 feet high, just like the one from the week before that had made me feel so exposed and vulnerable when I was atop it. The blue cushion was already covered with a sheet of white paper. On the counter were the usual instruments, as well as an unopened chart. My eyes were drawn of course to the two jars of glass thermometers: one marked “O” where the thermometers had long, slender tips, and the other marked “R” where they had short, stubby bulbs, like the one Liz had used on me earlier that morning. I felt myself blush involuntarily.

“OK, let’s see,” Debra started off. “I understand that your ear infection is not getting better, and you have a persistent fever.”

I started to nod to confirm when Liz broke in.

“Yes, the infection spread to his other ear overnight, and he had a temp of 102.6 as of 8:00 this morning,” she said authoritatively. The two women exchanged smirks before Liz continued, making it obvious that Debra knew how Liz had taken my temperature. “I gave him two Tylenol just after that, so hopefully it’s a bit lower now.”

Once again, I felt a bit of shame that Liz was so obviously in charge but was too tired to be more assertive.

“Jill wants to do some lab work to make sure there’s not something more serious going on, so I’ll be taking a blood sample after your vitals today,” Debra continued. “Go ahead and undress to your undies for me while I get things ready.”

With that, she went out, leaving me alone with Liz. As I started to undress, I regretted that once again I hadn’t thought to wear boxer shorts to appear more grown up. Liz was quite obviously enjoying being able to play chaperone and took each article of clothing from me as I shed it. I then used the stool to climb up on the exam table and sat nervously on the side with my feet dangling down. Even though I was an adult, I felt rather helpless and childlike there on the high table in front of my sister. The anticipation of Debra again taking my vitals elicited an unfortunate reaction in my loins. I tried to will down the swelling, but then the memory of feeling her breast kept popping into my head and the pressure only increased. By the time Debra came back in a few minutes later, I had a sizeable erection, and my face was again beet red.

“I noted in your chart that we haven’t measured your height and weight in over a year,” Debra began. “We should have done it last week when you were in, so let’s start with that. Can you hop down for me?”

It was only when I had climbed down and looked around that I recalled that the scale and stadiometer were located in the hallway, shared by all the exam rooms. Debra took me by the hand as if I were one of her toddler patients and led me out into the hall, clad only in my white briefs. My sister stayed behind with a little smirk on her face.

To my horror, Mrs. Jones and the other mother from the waiting room had by then come back with their children and were now talking with a nurse at the station. I could practically feel their stares as I walked past them and stepped onto the scale in the middle of the hall, my cheeks burning. Fortunately, I was facing the wall, so all they could see was my backside. But then, after Debra had noted my weight, she had me turn around for the height measurement. The eyes of the two mothers were fixated on the form of my swollen penis as Debra took her time adjusting the headpiece. I didn’t dare look down but suspected that parts of my organs may actually have been visible through the side of my briefs.

“OK, great,” Debra said as she finished the measurement. “Now, I just need to get your vitals and a blood sample before your exam.”

I flushed some more as she led me by the hand past the mothers back to the exam room. Having overheard Liz in the waiting room, they presumably had a pretty clear idea of what getting my “vitals” would entail, so I just stared at the floor as I walked by. But I was in for a surprise.

As we re-entered the room, I saw that Liz had left her seat and was standing next to the exam table, as if she somehow planned to help out. Debra instructed me to again get up and sit on the edge of the table. Butterflies were churning in my stomach as I used the stool to climb up, trying not to tear the paper, and thought about what was bound to come next. Debra gave the door a little push before turning toward the work counter. Her action was not hard enough to shut it completely, and it remained ajar. The conversation of the two mothers at the nurses’ station resumed. I was about to say something when, to my surprise, Debra picked a slender-tipped thermometer from the “O” jar and started to shake it down.

“I know you’ve been having your temperature taken rectally at home,” Debra began in her professional voice as she turned to face me. “But since you’re 18 and your throat is no longer sore, Jill and I decided that we should try to get an oral reading. The procedure will be less invasive that way.”

I have to admit that I was flabbergasted at this turn of events, and not totally sure how to react. On the one hand, I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to undergo an embarrassing rectal temperature at the hands of my recent classmate, especially with my sister Liz there to watch. And knowing that Liz would surely be disappointed was a supplementary source of satisfaction; the regret on her face was palpable. On the other hand, I hadn’t had my temperature taken orally since my mother had tried once when I was 13. That experience had been rather unpleasant, to say the least. So, I was fairly ambivalent about the procedure and not completely sure that I was ready for it.

“Open your mouth,” Debra instructed as she held up the slender glass rod.

She quickly shoved the cold instrument under my tongue. The sharp tip jabbed painfully into the soft tissue at the bottom of my mouth as she turned to pick up the sphygmomanometer. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I could also clearly smell and taste the alcohol solution in which the glass had been sterilised. As a result, I had a sudden and uncontrollable urge to gag and almost spit out the thermometer.

Debra, who by then had grabbed my arm and was wrapping the sphygmomanometer, gave me one of those condescending looks that I both dreaded and weirdly enjoyed.

“Try to keep your mouth closed, Luke,” she said in a clear voice as if instructing an infant. It occurred to me that, with the door ajar, the mothers and nurse just outside might be able to hear our conversation. “Otherwise, I’ll have to take it in your bottom again!”

I was embarrassed that Debra would use such childish language and wondered if she was deliberately teasing me, but she continued her work nonchalantly. She lodged my hand in between her arm and her breast just like the week before and inflated the blood pressure cuff. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised to feel that she wasn’t wearing a bra. The sensation of her warm, soft breast on the palm of my hand caused me to get momentarily distracted, and the thermometer slipped from my lips, landing with a soft thud on the cushion of the exam table. Fortunately, it didn’t fall to the ground and break, but I knew I was in trouble.

With Debra still busy with my blood pressure, it was Liz who picked up the fallen thermometer. For some reason, the smug look had returned to her face.

“Come on, Luke,” she said in a slightly exasperated tone. “You need to make an effort so that Debra can get an accurate temperature.”

I couldn’t believe my sister was talking to me as if she were Mom. But in my daze and humiliation, I just nodded meekly and opened my mouth. Liz placed the thermometer back in, causing me to wince again as it jabbed the underside of my mouth. I managed to contain the gag reflex this time, but the feeling of the instrument under my tongue remained extremely uncomfortable. So, I ended up surreptitiously repositioning the tip to the middle of my mouth as Debra finished the blood pressure and we waited for the instrument to register.

After a few more minutes, Debra finally retrieved the thermometer from my mouth and held it up to read it. A frown crossed her face. Or maybe it was a little smirk. I couldn’t be sure.

“This has barely registered, Luke,” she began, in a tone that was somewhere between accusatory and condescending. “Are you sure you kept it under your tongue?”

I just nodded meekly. She placed her hand on my forehead and frowned again.

“Well, it’s clearly not giving an accurate reading,” Debra continued, the condescension in her voice now more pronounced. She turned to Liz and continued. ‘I’m afraid I’ll need to take it his rectum to be sure. Is that OK?”

Liz gave her approval with a quick nod.

“Yes, of course,” she answered. “That’s anyway how I had to take it this morning.”

The conversation at the nurses’ station outside the door seemed to come to a stop. I was truly mortified. Not only were Debra and Liz were treating me like a child (Debra was actually asking permission from my sister to take my temperature!), but the mothers out in the corridor could obviously hear what was happening inside the exam room. There was something weirdly titillating about having to submit so completely to someone who until just a few weeks ago was a classmate and having her penetrate me again with a rectal thermometer while my sister watched. Indeed, if truth be told, I couldn’t be sure that I hadn’t subconsciously sabotaged the oral reading. But with the mothers obviously listening in, I felt like I had to try to defend what little dignity I had left.

“Can’t you just take it under my arm?” I asked rather plaintively. My voice must have sounded whiny.

“No, Luke. Axillary temperatures can sometimes be used for screening healthy patients, but they are not nearly accurate enough when infection is present. I need to get a rectal reading. Go ahead and lie face down for me.”

Her tone left no room for negotiation, and I felt beaten. Liz just grinned as I lay down on the crinkly paper and turned over onto my stomach, feeling vulnerable there on the high platform in the presence of these two women, my hardened penis pinned down underneath me. Liz moved around to the opposite side of the table, a position that would allow her to watch the procedure from up close, the way Katie had done the week before.

To add insult to injury, Debra addressed my sister and asked, “Liz, could you please remove his underwear? He’ll be more comfortable with them completely off.”

Although I couldn’t see her face from my vantage point, I assumed Liz was smirking as she grabbed hold of the waistband of my briefs and pulled them down, exposing my cheeks to the cool air. She then lifted my hips and slid the briefs down my legs and past my feet, leaving me naked and vulnerable on the table. I couldn’t believe they would treat me that way but felt too groggy and defeated to object.

I turned my head to watch Debra as she made her preparations. She took a stubby-tipped thermometer from the “R” jar and shook it down with rapid wrist movements before reading it to confirm the level of the mercury. She then squeezed a dollop of Vaseline onto a tissue and thoroughly coated the first inch of the instrument with the thick jelly. Turning to face me with a smile on her now slightly pink face, she held up the lubricated thermometer so that both Liz and I could see it clearly. I couldn’t help but notice that her nipples had become hard and were pressing against the fabric of her yellow scrub shirt. For some reason, I couldn’t take my eye off her right nipple, which was protruding comically from the face of one of the ducks.

Debra must have mistaken the mesmerized look on my face for apprehension, since she gave what I guess was supposed to be a reassuring comment.

“Don’t worry, Luke. You know I’ve taken plenty of boys’ temperatures this way,” she said in a clear voice. “I’ll be gentle, just like I was last time.”

Unfortunately, the only effect of her words was to emphasize how much I was being treated like a child. She then proceeded to comment on each step in the procedure in embarrassing detail, as she performed it, as if it wasn’t obvious to me what she was doing.

“OK, Luke, first I’m going to spread your bottom,” she started. She then looked up at Liz and added, “Fortunately, he doesn’t have much hair getting in the way!” The two women smiled at each other as if sharing some kind of private secret. I could only guess that she was referring to Ben, who had been there the day before. I knew from gym class that Ben was hairier than me, but how did Debra know that? Had she taken Ben’s rectal temperature as well? And did my sister get to watch? The thoughts swirled around in my head as I prepared myself for what was to come.

“This is going to feel a bit cold,” Debra continued in her loud, clear voice. I clenched involuntarily as the lubricated tip touched my anus, then moaned softly as the glass rod penetrated me. The Vaseline made it feel even colder. Debra pushed it in further until I felt the tip come to rest deep inside my rectum. The sensation caused a bizarre set of contradictory feelings in me. I was, of course, humiliated to be subjected to this treatment, especially with my sister there watching. But at the same time, it was strangely comforting to feel the thermometer inside my rectum and to know that I wouldn’t need to make any effort to hold it in place as it registered. And of course, the feeling of the thermometer inside me and Debra’s hand on my butt holding it firmly in place caused my hidden erection to strengthen.

“There, that’s not so bad, is it?” Debra asked in a voice that seemed to be slightly mocking, and I felt my face redden even more. Before I could reply, she continued. “Now, just lie still for five minutes while it registers.”

The two women proceeded to chat casually, standing on either side of the exam table, as I lay there naked in between them, the thermometer protruding from my rectum, held in place by Debra. Debra was not particularly tall, so her breasts were just a few inches above the top of the table, right in my line of sight. Her nipples were still pushing erotically against the fabric of her scrubs, and I could vaguely make out the dark shadows of her areolae. To make matters worse, she would occasionally move her hand slightly, causing the tip of the thermometer to shift inside me. The unfortunate effect of that was to provoke waves of pleasant sensations. It wasn’t quite the same as being over Katie’s lap as I had been the day before, but I did nonetheless suddenly start to fear that I might ejaculate. I could feel some liquid oozing out of my erect penis, and it took all my concentration to avoid having a full-blown accident on the paper.

When I thought I couldn’t take any more, I begged, “Can’t you take it out now?”

It was Liz who responded, in that big-sister tone that I found so annoying.

“Oh, Luke, just because Debra needs to take your temperature with a baby thermometer doesn’t mean you should act like one!” she admonished me. “Just lie still!”

“Only one more minute remaining,” Debra added with a smile.

Seemingly an eternity later, the final minute was up, and Debra removed the thermometer from my rectum. As usual, I was relieved but also felt a vague sense of loss after it was gone. After reading it and frowning slightly, she rinsed it under cold water and replaced it in the glass jar before making a notation in my chart. She then picked up an empty syringe and a rubber tourniquet from the counter.

“OK, Luke, the last thing I need to do is get a blood sample. Turn over and hold out your arm.”

Acutely aware of my nudity, and realizing that I had partly ejaculated, I didn’t want to move. Debra may have mistaken my hesitation for fear because she added, “Don’t worry. You’ll hardly feel it.”

Realizing that I didn’t have a choice, I turned over as discreetly as possible, quickly covering the wet spot as best I could. Unfortunately, Debra, whose eyes seemed to have been fixated on the table under my hips, clearly saw the small spot of liquid before I was able to hide it again. She smiled as she watched my clumsy efforts.

“It’s OK, Luke,” she added in her clear voice. “You’d be surprised how often that happens to boys when they’re having their temperature taken that way. There’s nothing to be ashamed of!”

The effect of her words, of course, was to accentuate my shame even more, and I felt my face redden again as I lay there, now fully exposed on my back, between the two women, my still semi-hard erection on full display and knowing that the mothers outside were probably still able to hear our conversation.

Debra moved quickly, with a level of professionalism that I found impressive. She tied the tourniquet around my upper arm, applied a bit of alcohol with a cotton ball, then jabbed the inside of my arm with the needle. Hooking up one vial then another, she quickly extracted the requisite samples of blood. One fortunate side effect of the procedure was a reduction of my erection, which abated for the first time since we had entered the exam room.

When she had finished, Debra placed the vials on a tray and announced that Jill would be in shortly to perform my exam. She headed out and (finally!) shut the door, leaving me alone with my sister. I felt ashamed and humiliated to remain naked on top of the exam table, all the more so since Liz was obviously enjoying being the “adult” chaperone. I began to dread what might come next.