Instead of Me

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The doctor strode in, a clipboard in his hand. He was almost forty-five minutes late, but didn't seem to care. In fact, he huffed out a sigh as if we were the inconvenience. "Do you remember the three words the nurse told you at the beginning of your appointment?" he asked, without looking up from his clipboard, scribbling illegible words onto his paper.

"Pizza, ball, shampoo." I fidgeted with the sunglasses in my hands, glancing over at Annie who had been periodically checking her watch. She was going to be late to dance.

The doctor wrote some notes down. "And have you recently had any headaches?" He licked his thumb to lift a page.

Scrunching my eyebrows, I replied, "What do you mean by recently? Because I had one a couple days ago, but since then, they're mostly tolerable if I have one." I kept rambling.

"So no headaches," the doctor grumbled, interrupting me. He signed the bottom of the page. He handed me the sheet and nodded his head. "You're cleared. Go take this to the nurse at the front desk."

Annie's eyes darted at me as he turned to leave. "Excuse me, sir, but how was that a proper assessment? You didn't even pay attention to what he said." She stood up from her chair to seem more intimidating, but it didn't really work.

Dr. Ray (I noticed his name sewn into his coat) let out an irritated breath. "Do you have a medical degree, sweet cheeks?" Annie seemed appalled. "No, I didn't think so. Don't tell me how to do my job." He ran a hand over his bald head and left the room. He spun around on his heels to face me in the doorway. "I suggest you get a different girlfriend, kid. You need a girl who won't question a man's authority."

I leapt off the examination table with my hand wrapped into a fist, ready to punch anything of his that moved, particularly his face, but Annie held me back. She tightly gripped my wrist from behind me while Dr. Ray left.

"What a despicable man," Annie said under her breath, pulling me towards her to calm me down. "Are you okay, Finny?" She let go of my wrists and rubbed my shoulders.

I shrugged my shoulders. "What does it matter? He was insulting you. Are you okay?"

Annie laughed. "He just hurt my pride a bit." She scrunched her nose as she smiled at me.

Every part of my body wanted to hold her and kiss her. That smile made my stomach flip. My hand reached towards her face, but she obliviously tapped my shoulders in a friendly manner before she tore the release form from my hands. "I guess we'll turn this in." She walked to the doorway. "Are you sure you feel well enough to be cleared?" Annie asked, obviously apprehensive about the doctor's decision.

I nodded. 

Annie hurried to the nurse at the front desk so that she could make it to her dance practice as early as possible while muttering about how she was going to figure out how to leave a negative Yelp review for Dr. Ray. 

***

I smoked a cigarette while leaning against the car, waiting for Annie to say goodbye to her boyfriend. The cold February air nipped at my nose while heavy snowflakes fell, piling on the windshield I just scraped. I pulled my coat closer to me, taking another drag. I glanced over to my best friend and Heath standing on the porch, embraced in each other's arms. 

"Don't be nervous," Heath encouraged her. "You'll do fantastic. Juilliard should feel honored that you're even trying out for them."

Honestly, Annie was a great dancer. She made her audiences feel something. But Juilliard, the Juilliard, should feel honored? That seemed like a bit much. 

Annie seemed to catch the bull as well. She reached up on her tiptoes to peck his lips, most likely to just shut Heath up so he would stop making her feel even more anxious. "I love you," Annie said to him.