It was the time of year that Philip Lester always dreaded; his yearly checkup at the doctor. As much as he hated it, he still wanted to make sure he was healthy, so he went. He rolled out of bed and make some cereal and coffee for breakfast. He stumbled down the stairs and bumped into the wall like he did every morning. As he sipped his coffee and ate his cereal, Phil's mind was flooded with thoughts of the torcher he would be put through in just about an hour. He gulped as he placed his dirty dishes in the sink and walked into his room to get dressed. He sighed as he sat on the edge of his bed and pulled on his socks; one with foxes on it and the other with sloths. He looked over at the clock that sat on his bedside table, the big, white numbers read 10:19. Phil's appointment was at 11:00 and the office was about 30 minutes away. That meant that he had about 11 minutes to finish getting ready. He finished getting ready and hopped into his car. He drove in silence until he decided to turn on the radio. To his surprise, Toxic by Britney Spears was playing. He softly sang along to the song as he arrived at the doctor's office.
He pulled into the parking lot and parked his car. He walked into the office, signed in at the front desk and sat down in the waiting room. As he waited, scary thoughts began to fill his mind. In order to distract himself, Phil picked up a parenting magazine from a few years ago. His nerves were calmed as he read various parenting tips and articles.
"Philip Lester," a nurse called. "Come with me," she said as she opened a glass door that leads to the offices.
Phil gulped and followed her into room 2. He sat on the examination table and patiently waited for the doctor to come in.
"Sit tight, love, the doctor will be in soon."
Phil thanked her and scrolled through Tumblr. Before he knew it, there was a knock at the door and a young doctor with pale skin and curly brown hair entered.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Howell," he spoke.
Phil looked up and was met by a pair of beautiful brown eyes.
"H-h-h-h-hello. I'm Phil," Phil said as he extended his hand to shake Dan's gloved hand.
"You're here for your annual physical, correct?" Dr. Howell asked as he looked over Phil's file.
Phil nodded.
"You appear to be very healthy and based on your past medical history, I expect this to be easy and painless."
Phil sighed with relief as Dr. Howell scooted his stool over to the examination table and put the stethoscope in his ears. "Take some super deep breaths for me, please," Dr. Howell said as he moved the stethoscope around Phil's back and chest. "Everything seems good here, no fluid build up in your lungs or anything like that."
"That's good," Phil said quietly as he nervously wrung his hands together.
"Don't be nervous, I'm not going to hurt you."
"I know, I just get worked up when I go to the doctor. It's nothing personal or anything it's just the environment and all the tools and stuff-" Phil stammered.
"Hey," Dr. Howell cut him off. "You're safe here, okay? If you ever need me to stop because you're uncomfortable, I will."
Phil nodded and wiped the tears that began to form in his eyes away.
"Take some deep breaths, okay?"
Phil nodded again as Dr. Howell handed him a tissue.
"Whenever you're ready will start with something easy, okay? We can either get you weighed and measured, or we can check your eyes, ears, and throat. They both have to be done eventually, but which we do first is totally up to you. My goal is for you to have as much control as possible."
"Thank you so much," Phil stuttered.
"It's my pleasure," Dr. Howell said calmly.
"I think I want to be weighed and measured first, I guess," Phil said after a moment of silence.
"Alrighty, follow me," Dr. Howell said as he offered Phil and helping hand off the table. They walked down the hallway and into a smaller room with a scale and stadiometer.
"Take off your shoes and hop on the scale for me please," Dr. Howell said.
Phil untied his shoe laces and stood on the scale. Next, he walked over to the stadiometer to get his height measured. All was good with both his height and weight.
"Alright, Phil let's get you back to the room. We're going to check your eyes, ears, and throat now," Dr. Howell said as he wrote down Phil's information on a clipboard.
Phil hopped back up onto the table and put his shoes back on. Dr. Howell finished writing some stuff down and then examined Phil's eyes, ears, and throat. Everything was good and healthy. Dr. Howell continued the exam, pausing every so often to make sure Phil was okay. The exam seemed to be going fine until it was time for a blood draw.
"I'll be right back, okay? I just need to get some stuff for your blood test."
Phil's breathing became rapid and shallow.
"Shhhhh," Dr. Howell soothed. You're okay."
Phil violently shook his head. "Please no," he wailed.
"I may be young, but I've already done a lot of blood tests in my years and I've told I have the gift of taking blood with no pain."
"Really?" Phil asked shy. His breathing was slowing down and he was becoming calmer.
"We'll just have a try and see," Dr. Howell snickered.
Phil looked down as his swinging feet and sighed.
"I'll be right back, okay? I'll get you some water while I'm gone if you'd like."
"Yes please," Phil squeaked. "Thank you."
"It's no problem. Just sit tight, okay?" Dr. Howell said as he left the room.
Phil sat in silence while Dr. Howell was gone and managed to slow his breathing to almost normal by the time Dr. Howell came back into the room. He placed a blue, plastic tray on the counter and handed Phil a small paper cup with water in it. Phil drank it quickly and instantly felt a sense of relaxation and relief throughout his whole body.
"Did that help?" Dr. Howell asked, concern filling his voice.
"Yes, thank you," Phil said after clearing his throat.
"Are you ready?"
Phil nodded as Dr. Howell walked over and placed the basket on the examination table.
"Take some nice, deep breaths for me, okay? Just focus on me," Dr. Howell soothed as he tied a tourniquet around Phil's pale arm.
He then told Phil to make a fist and turn his head away from the needle. As Phil took a deep breath in, Dr. Howell plunged the needle into his arm. Phil didn't even flinch. A few minutes the blood test was over. Phil was very appreciative and even went for an awkward hug on his way out. After that appointment, Phil wasn't scared of blood tests or even doctors anymore and it was all thanks to Dr. Howell.
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Word count: 1200
First of all, thank you guys for 1.4k reads. Also, this is a bit shorter than my stories normally are and I'm really sorry about that. I was trying to get an update up before I start high school (I start tomorrow, RIP me). Anyways, I hope you guys like the update. I'll try to get the other two requests up soon. Thank you for reading <3
