People: Harry, Louis, Liam
Ages: Harry (25), Louis (26), Liam (37)
Doctors: Harry (studying family medicine), Louis (studying family medicine), Liam (family medicine doctor and med-school professor)
- POV Louis -
It's was 8:30 in the morning and our professor, Dr.Payne, was telling us what we'd be doing today. "Welcome class! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Today we'll be practicing on a classmate. You are going to find a classmate to pair up with and you will perform a simple exam on them. When the bell rings, come back to this classroom and I'll give you a chance to ask me your questions. Also, don't forget to switch roles when 1 exam is done".
After I heard the word classmate, I immediately looked to my right. Sitting there was Harry, my boyfriend, but surprisingly, the usually so energetic boy was sat there with his head on his hands. I assumed that he was just tired so I started talking to him. "Hey Harry, you okay with pairing with me for today?". "Yeah, I'd like that", he said, looking up at me when he did.
We went to a private room where we'd be doing the exam and we both placed our doctor bag on the desk. "Do you want to start being the doctor or the patient babe?", I asked him. "Doctor", he said. I looked at my boyfriend with a slight hint of worry in my eyes. He's always so talkative and he also always insists that I choose. I didn't know where his strange behaviour came from, but I shrugged it off, hopping on the table when I saw Harry putting on a white doctor coat.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, acting much more like himself afterwards. "First, I'll take your temperature babe" he told me, before inserting the tip of the thermometer in my ear. We always talk each other through the procedure, even though we know what will happen. It's just more comfortable like that. After stating that my temperature is normal, he grabs his otoscope and tells me he'll be taking a look in my ear.
The rest of the exam went by pretty fast and it was now time for us to switch places, so I got my doctor kit while Harry took my place. I also started by taking his temperature and just as I got the reading, the bell rang, leaving me with no time to ask Harry about his unusual temperature. It was at 39,5/103,1!
- POV Harry -
I walked back to the classroom with my boyfriend, but he seemed deep in thought. I felt a cough coming up, but I managed to keep it in. I'm feeling very ill today, but I didn't want to miss school, so I've decided that acting completely healthy is the best for today. The only thing that could possibly get into my way is the check-up Louis is about to give me. I just hope I don't have a fever, 'cause I might be able to convince him I'm fine then, but knowing my Lou, he'll probably make a much to big fuss about it anyway.
We sat down in our usual seats and Dr.Payne asked if anybody had questions and surprisingly, Louis raised his hand. "Yes Louis" the professor said. "At what temperature is a fever so high you cannot go to school or work?". "That was random. Where'd that question come from?" I asked Louis, but he just shrugged.
"That's a great question Louis. I wouldn't recommend going to school or work with a fever at all, but if it's really important, I'd say 38,6/101,5 is the limit", Dr.Payne explained. I made a quick note of it and Louis did the same, marking it with a green marker while I picked a blue one. It was quite hard paying attention while feeling absolutely miserable, but I tried to do the best I could. "Now you can all go back to your exam rooms", I heard and Louis stood up.
I was about to stand up too when I saw that Louis wasn't heading to the exam rooms. Except, he headed to Dr.Payne's desk and I saw them talking to each other before Dr.Payne stood up from his comfortable desk chair. I furrowed my brows, wondering what was going on as Dr.Payne was walking to god knows where.
I then noticed he was heading towards my desk and he indeed stopped walking when he got to me. He crouched down besides me and looked at me worriedly. "Hey Harry, are you feeling alright?". "Yeah sure". I tried to sound as convincing as possible. "Really? Because Louis told me your temperature was at 39,5/103,1", he stated.
I shot Louis an annoyed glance. "Really Lou? Was that really worth worrying the professor about?" I asked him. "Harry, that's a really high fever. I'm really glad Louis told me about it", Dr.Payne said. I now understood why Louis asked that question. "I know, but I still don't like that we interrupted your work, Dr.Payne". He sighed before giving me a stern look.
"You should be at home, resting, but instead, you're here, worrying about schoolwork. That's not good Bud". "I would like for me to examine you a bit instead of Louis. Louis can do that when you're feeling better. Is that okay with you Harry?", Dr.Payne continued. "Yeah, I think that might be the smartest. Thank you Dr.Payne" I reasoned. "You can call me Liam" he told us.
I followed him to his office, which was basically just a big exam room. He put on a white coat and instructed me to sit on the bed. He took my temperature to confirm it hadn't risen and we found out it had actually risen a little bit, which made him only more worried. "So, can you tell me your symptoms Harry?". "Uh, I have a headache, a stomachache and my throat is sore", I explained.
"Wow, you must be feeling so bad. I'm going to help you feel better though". "Thank you so much Dr.Payne". "It's Liam to you" he told me again. "I'm sorry Liam". "It's no problem, but let's get started properly now", he said. "Yeah, let's do that", I chuckled before Liam got his pen-light and tongue depressor.
"Open up". I opened up as wide as possible and stuck my tongue out when he asked me to. He had me say ahh and after that, he threw the depressor in the bin and put a pair of gloves on, while asking me to lay down. "May I?", he asked, wanting my permission to lift my shirt up. I nodded, so Liam started palpating my stomach, applying pressure with his gloved hands.
When he got to my upper abdomen, I yelped as I felt a shock of pain go through my stomach. He apologised for hurting me and gave me a small smile, showing his sympathy. "Lastly, I need to listen to your lungs and heart. Okay?". "Sure", I said, sitting up again. Liam placed the stethoscope on my back and instructed me to take some deep breaths. After that, he placed it on my chest and he listened intently to my heart.
After a minute or so, he pulled the earpieces out of his ears and placed all the tools back in his kit. "So, you have a bad case of the flu. I'll call you in sick for the rest of the day and don't you dare coming to school while you're ill ever again!", he sounded stern as he told me the last part, glaring at me with a doctor-y look on his face. "Promise", I said, already knowing I would never keep it. "Good", Liam smiled.
He told Louis to take me home, knowing we shared an apartment, and that he would call both of us in sick for today. He did say that Louis had to attend class tomorrow as I could take care of myself for a couple of hours. I thanked Liam a thousand times for what he did for me today before walked towards the door. But, just before we left, I said: "you do know I don't actually keep promises. Right?", leaving Liam to run after us, but by the time he got to the exit, we were long gone. Well, I'll get a big pep-talk when I get back to school, I guess.
