What Happens on the Cruise

54. American Kids

"Austin Brown?" the nurse at the Planned Parenthood called.

He stood and gestured to Tim to come with him. The two followed the nurse into the back.

"Let's get your height and weight," she said, stopping at the scales.

"Um. The cowboy boots are going to add a couple inches and a couple pounds," Austin pointed out.

She nodded. "I'll take that into account."

She quickly wrote the numbers down and led them to an exam room. "I'm Jill. I'm a nurse practitioner. Are you okay with just seeing me today?"

Austin nodded. "I think you can do everything I need. Oh. This is my boyfriend, Tim."

"Good to meet you, Tim. Now, I have here that you're in for STI testing today. Is there a GP I should be sending your results to?"

Austin shook his head. "We just moved here, so I haven't got doctors and dentists and things all lined up."

"Gotcha. So let's go over a few questions first. How long have you two been together?"

"Well, we had a... I guess you'd call it a fling a couple years ago, but we got together... ten months ago. Wow, has it been that long?"

Tim smiled and nodded. "It has."

Her eyes widened slightly at hearing Tim's voice, but she kept her composure. "Were there sexual partners between your initial encounter and your later reunion?"

"No," Austin answered.

"No," Tim echoed.

"Okay. And is this a monogamous relationship?"

Austin hesitated. "No, unfortunately. I was... roofied at a bar back in April and dumped the next morning. My memories of the time in between are... pretty spotty."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said. "Did you seek medical help afterwards?"

Austin nodded. "They did the whole workup. But they did say some infections can't be detected right away."

"Correct. Have you had any symptoms?"

"No."

"Have you been practicing safer sex since then?"

"We, uh, have been using condoms for anal sex, but not always for oral."

"Hmmm. It might be good for Tim to get tested as well, as long as you're here. I can get you the paperwork."

"Okay," Tim agreed.

"Good. We'll get started on that. A couple things I'm going to recommend -- you should find a GP. You're young, but getting into the habit of having an annual physical, flu shots, that sort of thing, is invaluable to your health. I'm also going to recommend you find a good therapist, even if you think you're okay with what happened."

"We've got an appointment tomorrow," Austin assured her.

"Good. I'm glad. Your mental health is important."

***

"How have things been going?" Chris asked as they sat around the table at the Ruby Tuesday in Tifton.

"Blood tests came back negative, which is a relief," Austin answered. "Therapy sessions have gone okay. We've worked on techniques for preventing or stopping flashbacks, just in case, but I haven't had a full blown one in a while."

"That's good," Rob said.

"There's been some discussion of trying some anti-anxiety meds." Austin turned to Adam. "You're on Paxil, right?"