Not long ago I moved to the UK to start med school. My upcoming placement was in a NICU, meaning I had to be 100% illness-free because the babies in the NICU are so delicate. A few weeks ago I got the dreaded letter that an appointment had been made for me to be tested for a few different viruses so I was in the all clear.
I had just arrived at the medical department of the university. I was sitting in a small waiting area along a narrow corridor of testing rooms, waiting to see which door would open and who would be unfortunate enough to have to do my test. Eventually, a tall blond guy came out of one of the rooms. "Aoife?" he called.
It had been what felt like a million years since someone pronounced my name right. I smiled and followed him into a small room. "So Aoife, I'm Niall" he said as we walked in and he pointed toward a chair for me to sit down on. "Been a while since I've seen the name Aoife on my charts, where are you from?" he asked smiling.
"I'm from Dublin," I explained. "I moved here for uni a few months ago". Niall nodded, "Nice, I'm from Westmeath myself." "Mullingar?" I asked. Niall looked surprised, "How'd you guess?". "Because I can't name any other place in Westmeath". We both laughed.
Niall looked up from his computer. "So we're testing you for COVID, influenza, bronchitis and norovirus. Is that all good?" I nodded, "Sounds about right".
Niall took one of those awfully long swabs out of it's packet and laid it down on the counter before prepping everything else. "What are you studying in uni then?" he asked me as he sanitised the area. "Paediatrics, I'm on a NICU placement soon so I have to get all these tests". He nodded "Ah, makes sense".
"Alright Aoife, when you're ready just tilt your head back for me" Niall said. I bit my lip, it wasn't as simple as Niall sounded. Niall looked at me concerned. "Y-yep... sorry" I said lifting my chin up. "You alright?" he asked. I nodded but my eyes filled with tears.
Niall sat down in the stool beside me. "Aoife, what's wrong?" he asked me, with genuine concern in his voice. I was so embarrassed to admit I was nervous when I'd just told him I'm studying medicine. I gulped, "I'm just a bit nervous, that's all". What was he going to think? A med student who can't handle a little swab. "Don't be worrying love, I promise I'll be gentle" he said softly. "Okay" I squeaked.
I tilted my head back against the chair and Niall smiled. "Now just open wide and say ahh," he said pushing the swab right to the back of my mouth. It was a bit uncomfortable but not too bad. "That's it, good job" Niall reassured me.
He spun back to the counter where he got a fresh swab. "Halfway done, you doing okay?" I nodded but I knew what was coming now. Niall moved back over towards me on the stool with another scarily long swab between his fingers.
"Don't look so terrified, it's a swab not a sword" we both giggled a bit. "Is there anything I can do to make you less nervous?" Niall asked me, genuinely trying to help. "Not do it" I replied.
"I promise you, close your eyes, count to 10 and it's done". I tilted my head back reluctantly and Niall smiled at me. He pushed the swab back into my nose. It was so uncomfortable that I started to tear up.
"All done!" Niall exclaimed until he noticed my tears and his tone softened. "Hey, hey, it's all over now," he said putting his hand on my shoulder. "You did amazing sweetheart". He turned away and put the swab into a plastic bag with the other one.
Niall spun back around to face me. "You know there's a big Irish Christmas Party on at the university next weekend?". I was confused. "What the hell's that?" I asked. "Says it in the name, all the Irish people in the uni getting absolutely locked". I shrugged, "I don't drink". Niall looked a bit surprised, "You seem like the party animal type to me". I wasn't sure if this was a compliment or not. "Come along anyway," he said. "It'll be a good bit of craic".
(non-irish readers; craic means fun)
I nodded at him. "I'll check it out then, see you there?" I decided I might as well go. "See you there" Niall said smiling as he walked me to the door.
