By The Gyno Gal

Sarah sat on the edge of the exam table, waiting for the doctor to return with her prescription. She woke up this morning with that pain that couldn't be anything but strep throat, and sure enough, a quick look from the MD confirmed it. At least this was a quick trip -- didn't have to change out of her clothes, just another minute and she'd have her medicine and be out of there.

The door swung open and Dr. Ryan walked in. "So, Sarah, here's the antibiotic prescription -- just be sure you take all of the pills, even though you'll feel much better by tomorrow, maybe even later tonight." He handed her the Rx paper, then glanced down at her chart. "I see you just had your 34th birthday a few weeks ago."

She smiled slightly. "Yes, time's marching on," she quipped lamely.

"I ask because the HMO is conducting some studies on women in your age range, and you might be interested in helping us out by participating."

"What kind of research?" Sarah asked.

Dr. Ryan leaned back against the counter. "Well, last month we were doing a mammogram study on women in your age group, because normally we don't start recommending them until you reach forty or so. We're always studying the norms, basically to see if we need to reassess our health maintenance guidelines. This time we're checking certain bacteria levels in healthy women."

"Healthy except that I've got strep throat," she offered.

"That wouldn't throw you out of the study. You should be glad you picked an HMO that's dedicated to preventive care -- we have these studies going on all the time."

"What would I have to do?" Sarah asked.

"Nothing. Just sit there. It will only take ten minutes or so, and we can do it right now, if you have the time" Dr. Ryan offered. "Would you like to participate?"

"Ten minutes? Sure, fine with me," she agreed. Dr. Ryan smiled and retrieved a clipboard from the cabinet. He handed it to her. "If you could fill out this survey, I'll get a technician in here right away and you can be out of here in no time."

"Thanks." She watched him go, then began filling out the paper. Just the usual stuff -- date of birth, brief medical history, last period, what medications she was taking -- nothing too difficult. She was finishing up as the door opened again, and in walked a younger fellow, maybe late twenties, dressed in a white lab coat and carrying a plastic bag with some slides and other wrapped items inside.

"Hi, Jeff Tracy here," he offered, taking the clipboard from her and glancing at it, preoccupied and seeming a little rushed. "I'll be taking the samples today...um, Sarah...thanks for helping us out." She could see from his nametag that he was a Physician Assistant here, maybe she'd met him before, but he didn't look too familiar.

"Glad to help." There was something slightly comical in his manner, kind of nerdish, and it made her smile. Sarah watched him read through her answers, and then he looked back up at her.

"Fine. This is all fine." He turned to his bag of tricks on the counter and opened it, removing the contents and spacing them carefully side-by-side. "Great. First I need to get your oral temperature." He placed a small digital thermometer in her mouth then returned to making notations on his survey sheet. At the thermometer's beep he turned back to her and removed it from her mouth, then spun around from her again, making more notes. "Okay, now I'll need your panties off, sit near the end of the table," he said absently, "and I'll get your vaginal temperature next." He stretched a sheath over the thermometer probe as he spoke.

"What?" Sarah asked, not sure if she had heard correctly. Panties off? She wasn't expecting that.

"We're taking vaginal temperatures along with the actual samples," Tracy answered, not looking up. Only then did he turn back to her, probe in hand, but saw she hadn't moved. "Oh. You're not ready yet."

Sarah hesitated. "Uh, no. I guess I didn't realize what this would entail."

Tracy looked mildly annoyed. "The doctors never take the time to explain anything. Sorry about that. Here's the list of things we're doing." He read through them quickly off his papers. "Oral temp, vaginal temp, vaginal introitus, vaginal wall and cervical os swabs, urethral meatus and urethral swab, urine sample, clitoral prepuce swab, rectal temp. That's about it." He looked back up at her. "Sorry Dr. Ryan didn't make things clear."

Anyone would have thought he had just read off a particularly dull shopping list; his expression didn't show anything but complete professional dispassion. Obviously he didn't realize that he just recited a veritable litany of horrors to most women, Sarah included. Bad enough to have to go through your yearly gyno exam -- this sounded nearly as bad, but she couldn't think of any way to back out gracefully without sounding like a chicken, or a prude. And Sarah was neither, but having a stranger probing between her legs wasn't exactly number one on her list of things to do.

"How long will this take?" she asked, hoping maybe the answer would be different this time and she could plead a previous engagement.

"About ten minutes. I'm pretty quick. I've done quite a few of these sequences."

Sarah couldn't think of a reasonable way out, and didn't want to get cold feet now; she nodded. "Fine. That's sounds fine." She made a move to undo her belt, and Tracy turned back around to give her some privacy.

"Yes, I do about seven or eight of these a day," he said as he unwrapped more of his equipment, hearing Sarah unzipping her jeans and rustling as she slipped off the table to finish removing them.

As for Sarah, she tried to undress quickly as she stood by the table, pulling her jeans off in one swift movement and laying them on the nearby chair. She hesitated just a second before pushing her panties down over her hips and tossing them on top of her pants, leaving her clad only in her turtleneck and socks. She moved to the end of the exam table and hoisted herself up, positioning herself close to its edge. Glancing over at Tracy, who was still arranging his materials, she announced, "Okay, I'm finished."

Tracy turned around with the digital thermometer in hand and saw Sarah's pale buttocks sitting on the paper, just as instructed.

"All right," he said as he approached her, stopping not in front of her but by her side. He could almost see the patch of pubic hair between it disappeared between her closed legs. Trying to ease into this part of the procedure, he handed the probe to her. "Please insert this into your vagina about three inches. I'll get the readings here." He looked back down to his papers.

Sarah took the probe into her hand. "Okay." Sarah opened her legs until she could feel her labia separate slightly; she reached down and spread them further apart, then placed the thermometer at the entrance to her vagina and pushed it inside the requested depth. "It's in." She held it there, attached by its cord to the readout box that Tracy held in his hand, but removed her other fingers from her vulva. Her labia came together almost shut again, except for the protruding probe.

Tracy silently watched the digital readout rise, and he could also hear Sarah's slightly quickened breathing close to his ear. "Just a moment more," he said quietly, and soon the beep sounded and the temp was recorded. "All right, you can remove it now."

Sarah was surprised to find her hand tremble a bit as she started to pull it out, and what was that twinge she felt down there? She looked at the probe as she handed it to him; it glistened with her lubrication. Oh great, she thought. I'm starting to get turned on by doctor exams...what's next...German shepherds? Tracy returned to the counter and noted the results, his back to her again. She wished she had a tissue to wipe herself off, but just my luck it would skew the results. He's probably seen everything, including this, so I'm not going to worry about it, she reasoned, still a little shocked that she was having these reactions.

"Got it," Tracy said as he set out several of his swabs and slides on a tray, which he placed on a rolling cart which he pushed next to the exam table, on which Sarah sat silently, her hands in her lap. Standing in front of her, he pulled the stirrups out from the table and locked them into place. "If you could scoot to the end of the table and put your feet up into the stirrups now," he requested, seating himself on a stool before her, then looking at his materials and away from her to give her a moment to comply.

This was the part that always gave Sarah pause -- opening herself up and exposing her most private parts. She always felt a loss of independence, loss of control, and completely at the mercy of the examiner. She considered asking for a sheet to cover herself, but Tracy was putting this exam on a fast track, so she wasn't worried about lying here half-naked for too long. Putting her psychological hang-ups aside, she raised and parted her legs, spreading them into a wide V, and placed her feet into the stirrups. Sarah was in position. "I'm ready," she announced.

Tracy turned back her, then snapped on the bright directional light apparatus, aiming it at Sarah's exposed vulva. He did a quick visual inspection of her genital area; she was smooth and clean-shaven except for the small patch of hair on her mons. He could clearly see her labia as they pouted opened on their own, revealing her puffy inner lips and her vaginal opening beneath, as well as the evidence of some wetness there. Her clitoris was nearly visible beneath its slightly retracted hood.

"We'll take the external samples first, ok, Sarah?"

"Fine." Sarah could feel her heart beating heavily in her chest as she stared at the ceiling, and she could also feel the warmth of the lamp between her legs.

"Would you like to watch the monitor?" Tracy asked. "Here, let me switch it on." He reached over to a small wall-mounted TV monitor that Sarah hadn't noticed before. After a second the image came into focus. From a camera evidently attached to the light, came a close-up view of Sarah's vulva.

He snapped on a pair of latex gloves. "I'm going to sample your urethral opening now," he announced.

Sarah stared at the monitor as Tracy held open her labia with his left hand, then with his right hand took a swab and touched it to her urethral meatus, moving it slightly around and just barely dipping it inside. He then smeared the swab on the slide, deftly covered it with another, and then picked up another swab. "Let's do the outer vaginal area next." Tracy moved his left hand a little lower now, optimizing his view of her vaginal entrance, then applied the swab as he had before, moving it around and inside perhaps a half-inch. This area was much slicker and wetter than her urethra, and the swab slid easily over her skin.

"Some of these secretions may dilute the sample," he said quietly, "we'll see. Just about done with this," he murmured, finally removing the swab and affixing it as he had the other.

Tracy removed his left hand from her vulva at this point, and only then did he look up at Sarah, who casually brought her hands to rest near her mons, to feel a bit less exposed while she could. "All right," Tracy continued, "we'll get the vaginal wall and cervical samples now. I'll need to insert a speculum for this." He picked up a plastic disposable speculum and took it out of its wrapper. "I'm going to insert it partially and then open it to get the samples from the wall, then I'll close it and reinsert it all the way so that I can see the cervix, then take the swab there. I do it in two steps so we get samples from two distinct areas." He looked at her position on the table. "Move down just a few more inches, could you?"

Sarah nodded and placed her hands to her sides again, and scooted forward a bit more.

"Okay, here we go," he said, again placing his left hand to hold her open, then with his right hand poised the speculum at her entrance and slowly inserted it. It slid in easily, and when it was just about halfway in, he rotated and opened it. Sarah's vaginal walls became visible between the bills and then merged together again at the end of speculum. "Keep your vaginal muscles relaxed," he requested as he locked the speculum into place, and reached for his swab. "It's not securely inserted at this length," he explained.

At that moment there was a brief courtesy knock at the door to the exam room and it swung open; one of the male nurses walked in and paused, holding the door open. "Jeff, Dr. Ryan thought you might need some help," he inquired.

Tracy looked over to him briefly. He recognized Allan Webb, one of the newer nurses in Internal Medicine. Sarah also looked over, not so much to look at Alan, but to make sure that the door wasn't wide open; she could pretty much hear everything that was going on in the corridor -- hopefully they couldn't see everything that was going on in here.

"No, everything's going along just fine here, thanks."

"You're doing one of the survey samples?" Webb asked, stepping inside and letting the door close, then walking over to stand by Tracy, not acknowledging Sarah except to glance briefly at her half-naked supine figure then stand behind Tracy as he was about to insert the swab into the speculum.

Webb leaned over to get a better look inside the instrument. "I haven't done a rotation in OB/GYN yet. I don't see much of this," he remarked casually as he stared intently at Sarah's genitals. "Are you taking the wall samples now?"

"Yes," Tracy answered, as he inserted the swab past the bills of the speculum and rubbed it against Sarah's vaginal walls where they came together. Webb was fascinated as he watched Tracy's work; though he was a medical professional, there was always something a little extra-fascinating about this kind of exam situation. It was still a little hard to believe that this was work -- getting paid to look at a woman's most private parts. He couldn't wait for his GYN rotation.

As for Sarah, she was just plain getting uncomfortable. Laying here vulnerable like this, and having this other guy come in and join the peanut gallery wasn't what she had in mind. A quick glance at the TV screen showed her opened vagina centered on the screen, healthy pink and free for the looking. She cleared her throat loudly. "Are we about done yet?"

"Not quite," Tracy answered. "We'll remove then reinsert more deeply now," he said as he gently closed and slowly pulled the speculum out of her and poised it to enter her again. "I'm going to get the cervical swab sample," he continued, sliding the instrument inside her again, this time pushing it in to its full length. Webb watched the whole process quietly, noting how neatly Sarah's labia cradled the speculum as it slid inside, and how easily her vagina accommodated the speculum. Tracy rotated and opened it fully now, stretching and exposing Sarah's pink deep interior and her cervix, centered perfectly at the end of the speculum. Webb made a move to lean in; Tracy rolled aside for a moment to let the male nurse take a good look inside while he prepared the swab and slide.

"Do you use the cervical sampler from the pap test?" Webb asked, his face only a few inches from Sarah's open vagina, which she herself could see in the monitor.

"No," Tracy replied. "Just a standard swab for this." Moving ahead with the sampling, Tracy repositioned himself in front of Sarah again and inserted the long swab, gently moving it over Sarah's cervix for a few seconds until he was sure he had a good sample. He pulled it out then, deposited it on the slide, and turned back to Sarah, her vagina still spread open by the speculum. "How are you doing?" he asked.

"Fine, thanks," Sarah answered quickly.

There was another knock on the door, and this time in walked Dr. Ryan himself. "Everything going okay in here?" he asked as he walked over to Sarah's side. Sarah nodded, and then Dr. Ryan moved to join Tracy and Webb at the end of the table. He took a moment to casually glance over Tracy's materials, then looked at Sarah on the table, and as it must have been too easy to resist, he also leaned over and took a quick look inside the speculum. Dr. Ryan wasn't Sarah's GYN doctor, so Sarah felt odd appearing before him like this. "Looks good so far," Dr. Ryan said.

"Uh huh," Tracy agreed. "This is going very well." Dr. Ryan continued to stand and observe as Tracy continued with Sarah. "We're almost done now, just a few more items. Okay, let's get this speculum out of you," he announced to her. Tracy closed the bills of the instrument together and slowly withdrew it from her vagina. It came out slick with Sarah's moisture; Webb again was transfixed as her vaginal opening eased shut. Tracy consulted his paperwork again. "Now we'll get the clitoral area, then the temp, the urine sample, and we're done. Almost there," he reassured Sarah as he unwrapped another swab and turned back to her. "Okay, now I know you'll feel this a little, but it will only take a second." He addressed his next remarks to Webb and Dr. Ryan. "I push back the hood, exposing the clitoris, then run the swab around it, making sure to get under the hood as much as possible." With that, he used his left hand, positioned from the side and slightly above, to pull up on Sarah's clitoral hood, revealing her fairly prominent clitoral nub. Tracy seemed not to notice that his move caused a response in Sarah -- her vaginal entrance twitched involuntarily, but Webb certainly noticed, and found his penis stiffening, somewhat involuntarily also. Anything other than merely looking at the clitoris was pretty unusual in standard exams, and this went far beyond what he had ever seen before.

Sarah was very aware of Tracy's fingers surrounding this very sensitive area, and even this slight touch caused ripples inside her. She tried hard to stifle any reaction, but it was basically out of her control. When anybody fiddled with her clit, this is what happened. She glanced at the monitor and saw Tracy's swab on its approach, then she breathed in suddenly as it touched her. He moved it gently in a circling motion, tucking it under the hood and making sure that he got a thorough sample. "I'm almost done here," he said quietly, finally taking note himself of the quivers that were coursing through her vulva. This usually happened during this part of the survey, and he always found it a little embarrassing and tried to complete it as quickly as possible.

Sarah held her breath as her clitoris was gently manipulated for a few more seconds, and then it was done; Tracy withdrew the swab, quickly finishing up the slide without further comment.

Dr. Ryan watched Tracy worked, and at this point pressed a quick hand to the researcher's shoulder and headed for the door. "Thanks again, Sarah," he offered as he exited.

Webb stood by silently, willing his growing erection to subside, well aware that it was highly unprofessional, and wondering how in hell Tracy kept his aplomb, doing several of these a day. Better not do a blood test on that guy -- strictly ice water, Webb reasoned.

"Okay, we're into the home stretch," Tracy assured Sarah. "One more temperature, one last sample, and that's it." She nodded, unable to do much else. "Alan, if you could get the temperature while I fill out some of this paperwork and get the last sample ready to go..." he requested.

Webb glanced at the survey sheet. Standard rectal temperature.

"Sure. Will do." He reached for the amazingly old-fashioned yet eminently accurate rectal thermometer, then donned a pair of gloves, dispensing a small dab of Vaseline on his right index finger. Webb walked over to stand between Sarah's upspread legs. "Hi, Sarah. I'm going to get your rectal temperature now." He dipped the end of the thermometer in the lubricant, then applied some to Sarah, using his finger to coat her anus with the Vaseline.

"I've never had my temperature taken this way," Sarah spoke up as she felt Webb's finger preparing her. "I thought this was only for babies."

"No, not at all," Webb replied, his hand poised to insert it. "It gives a good comparison point with the oral and...we got a vaginal also, didn't we?"

Tracy answered for her. "Yes."

"Okay, Sarah, please relax your sphincter muscle, as I insert this," Webb requested.

She watched the screen as Webb slowly penetrated into her rectum with the thermometer, passing it smoothly into her until it was in place. "All right, that looks good. Just relax for a few minutes, don't contract your muscles if you can help it."

It felt odd to Sarah, having this thermometer deep inside her ass. It didn't hurt, but it definitely was there; this was different than having your vagina invaded by a speculum, which at least became bearable by repetition over the years. This was unexpected, and honestly, had turned this survey past the point where she felt like being much of a good sport. Now she just wanted to get it over with.

Tracy turned back to her, holding up some unfamiliar apparatus and a sample container. "All right. We can go ahead with this. We need a pure urine sample, so we use a catheter into the bladder and take it directly from there. It doesn't take very long and isn't painful at all." He glanced down at the rectal thermometer. "We'll wait until the temperature is done, then we'll get going and you'll be done." Tracy gave her a quick smile.

At this point Alan Webb checked his watch. "Okay, time's up." He grasped the end of the thermometer and very slowly pulled it from Sarah's rectum. If going in had felt strange, the removal was equally disturbing. It certainly didn't hurt, but felt smooth and slick and she was glad to have it out. Webb read the temp and recorded it on the survey sheet, then turned back to Sarah with a tissue and wiped the excess vaseline from around her anus. "All done."

"Great," Tracy concluded. "I've got everything ready here." He held some narrow tubing with what Sarah recognized as something like a large hypodermic vial attached to one end.

"Sarah, have you ever had a urinary catheter inserted before?" he asked her.

"No, never," she answered emphatically.

"Well, don't worry, it'll be over before you know it. Alan, could you sterilize her, please, and we'll get going." Tracy sat down on the stool, and rolled it slightly to the side to allow Webb the access he needed; the male nurse opened a sterile towelette packet, and moved to stand between of Sarah's spread legs.

"Okay, I'm cleaning the area," he said as he spread her outer labia wide with his fingers, then gently rubbed the towelette around Sarah's urethral area, preparing her for the insertion. "All right, all done." He moved back to allow Tracy to scoot the stool closer, and he also reached up to bring the light and camera in closer.

Sarah saw an extreme close-up of her genital area on the monitor. It was a little startling, and added to her slight sense of unease at the upcoming procedure. Everything up to this point had been mildly unpleasant at worst, but this was unfamiliar and she was definitely tensing up. She saw Tracy hand the hypo-like sample vial to Webb, who held it as Tracy worked on Sarah.

"All right, Sarah. I'm going to insert the end of the catheter into your urethra, and then push it inside until it reaches your bladder. You shouldn't feel any pain, just a slight pressure sensation." Tracy spread Sarah's labia wide, centering her urethral opening between his fingers. He held it open as far as possible, then slowly inserted the tip down and back into the small hole, pushing it gently downward into Sarah, feeling his way from experience, until he knew he had reached the bladder. He picked up the vial now. "I am going to draw the urine into this sampling unit." He slowly and deliberately pulled out the plunger until he could see Sarah's urine beginning to fill the tubing and flow into the vial.

It didn't hurt at all, but as she watched the procedure, and then saw her pee flowing through the tube, Sarah became embarrassed and uncomfortable. She felt truly invaded now, and was horrified to be in this position in front of these strangers. It was all she could do to keep from crying as she watched her body being invaded this way, her most private parts completely open and she unable to even control her own bladder functioning.

"You're doing fine, Sarah," Tracy said reassuringly. "We're almost done." He watched the urine slowly filling the vial. "We're going to see if we can completely empty your bladder now; it will make for a better sample. Did you urinate before you saw Dr. Ryan?" he asked her.

Sarah tried to sound nonchalant as she answered. "No. I didn't have a chance."

"Okay, then we should have a good amount here. Alan, could get you another vial ready and I'll change this one out." Tracy turned the tiny valve on the tubing and disconnected it from the vial, then reached for the empty one proffered by Webb.

"Thanks." He switched jars with Webb, then reconnected and restarted the flow again.

"There. That should get it all." He turned to Webb now. "We decided against standard samples -- too much contamination.

Although honestly, with more clean-shaven vulval area like this one, we're having less of a problem with it."

"Hmmm. That's interesting," Webb replied, intently watching the filling vial, and then looking closely at Sarah's genitals. "I guess it would make a difference."

"Definitely," Tracy said. "That's actually one of the things I note on the survey. In fact, I almost forgot. I need to get a couple of images for the survey file right after this, Sarah." He looked back at the vial now, which was about three-quarters of the way full, and no more urine seemed to be flowing through the tubing. "Okay, looks like we're done here. Let me just get this out of you," he said as he gently pulled the tube from Sarah, then put it and the vial on the counter and turned back to Sarah with another towelette. He wiped between her labia once more. "All right. Just let me get you cleaned up," he said as he patted her vulva dry with a brisk professional touch.

"Now I need to take a Polaroid to document the genital hair growth pattern." Tracy reached for a small camera under the counter. "We're trying to correlate bacteria levels with the amount and pattern of pubic hair -- there is some evidence that thick growth tends to have higher levels." He brought the camera to his eye and quickly snapped two shots. "There -- these get attached to the report, and of course we also have the video record if we need to double-check anything."

Sarah's heart skipped a beat. "You keep the video? I'm not sure that sounds right," she protested.

"Don't worry -- everything's ID'ed with a number only -- your privacy is assured, and it basically is locked up unless we need to check procedures." He stood up now and patted her leg. "Okay, you can sit up now, and get dressed. Thanks again for the help, Sarah." He lowered the stirrups so she was in a sitting position and handed her a sheet, which she quickly pulled up to her waist.

"You're welcome. Glad I could help."

"Okay, you can just get dressed and go. Of course if we find anything that needs follow-up, we'll certainly contact you." He reached to shake her hand. "Thanks again," then turned and walked out the door.

Sarah took several deep breaths before she slipped down off the table and reached for her panties. She was still warm between the legs, and also wet, very wet, as she slowly pulled her underpants back on. This was something she was going to remember for a long time....