Doctor Visit

Leninia goes to the Clinic to find out if she is pregnant while also wondering if her boyfriend, Henry is right for her.

Doctor Visit

          “Leninia Orwellavich Turgeneva.”

Hearing my full name only added to the trouble I was in. I’ve missed my period and there’s a questionable rash on my groin. I hope it’s just a reaction to my possible ‘pregnancy’. I walked across the cold lobby with both hands knitted together over my crotch. The nurse’s eyes looked up and down my body as if she already knew what was wrong with me. “Come this way.” I followed the nurse down a long narrow blue and white hallway. The long stroll made me think briefly about my situation with my boyfriend, Henry Fordnova Gogol. Henry and I have been together for four years yet we’ve slept with other people during our relationship. I never minded the other women nor him with me being with other men. He was always honest with me or that’s what I thought. Lately, he’s been talking to a woman named Donalda. I’ve never seen her but I already hate her.

 “Make yourself comfortable, Leninia Orwellavich,” said the nurse, stretching out her arm to the medical room. “Doctor Susan will be with you shortly.”

 “Thank you,” I replied, smiling. The nurse left me once I took a seat in one of the chairs. My right hand over my eyes I thought about the last time I slept with Henry. During sex, he called out Donalda and I told him to stop but he slapped me instead. I still hate him for that. “Please, let this only be a pregnancy,” I whispered, my left hand gripping my crotch. I would hate to find out that I’m knocked up and have the clap. The last time I had sex was about a month ago. I should have been suspicious about the woman in red walking out of our apartment. I only took a brief look at her face as she sped past me. The right side of her face looked like sores caked with heavy make-up. At the time, I didn’t worry about it; being with Henry for four years I trusted him, especially when it came to sexual partners. I wonder if the red woman was Donalda.

“Miss Turgeneva,” said an American accent.

Pulling away from my thoughts I stared at the male doctor in the door way. He had black hair, dark eyes, and wore a white lab coat. “I’m sorry, you must have the wrong room. Doctor Susan is my doctor.”

The doctor laughed, “That’s who I am, darling.” He showed me his silver name tag that read: Dr. Susan B. Anthony. I covered my mouth with both hands to stifle the laughter. Who names their son Susan? Doctor Susan saw my struggle. “Go ahead, you can laugh it out,” he said. “I’ve seen the same reaction plenty of times.” Thank Goddesses for the mercy because I burst out laughing so hard I almost landed on the ground.

“Oh, Doctor…Doctor Susan…” It took me a minute or two for me to catch my breath. “Doctor,” I said, gasping. “May I call you Doctor Anthony instead? I feel that if I call you by your first name I won’t be able to contain myself.”

“Of course, Miss Turgeneva,” said the doctor. “Or would you prefer I call you by another name?”

“You can call me Lenya.”

“Alright, Lenya,” said the doctor, taking a clipboard from the side of the wall. “You came here out of concern that you might be pregnant and have an STD, is that correct?” By then we began an interview of my medical history. When was the last time I had sex? When was my last period? Does it burn when I urinate? All that medical fun stuff.  While asking these questions, I tried to think positively. If I’m only pregnant than I don’t have to worry too much. My family will be supportive, I’m about to graduate Kazan State, and I have a good paying job as a bookkeeper. However, at the same time I don’t know if we are ready for a child. We can barely pay rent; how can we take care of a child? Also for my sake, I don’t want a living reminder of that night.

 “Alright, the next step is to go to one of the PrayerLab Rooms,” he said.

As I followed him out into the hallway I asked, “No offense Doctor, but why is your name Susan?”

The Doctor laughed, “Well, my parents really wanted a daughter but they ended up with twelve sons. Once I was born, my daddy jumped up, cursed Our Lady Justine, wrote Susan on my birth certificate and left for the Wild West. I’ve never seen the son of a b***h but my mama told me that he got struck by lightning while taking a piss.”

 “Wow, that’s something,” I said. I glanced briefly into the lobby to find my mother sitting in one of the waiting chairs. I can tell mother just came from work because she always picks up the newspaper. Even though she has the paper in her hand she looked too preoccupied to read it. I know when my mom is worried about something once she starts fidgeting with her watch. It’s her own coping from the real problem. Mom concentrated on her watch for two hours before my older brother, Alexander, was released from jail. After that, mom gave him the longest lecture that usually boils down to ‘Please, don’t insult the Tsarina!’  Does she know about my situation? If she does, than I’m going to get almost the same lecture that translates, ‘Wear a condom next time!’

I was about to go into the lobby when the doctor asked, “Which Sister are we praying to, Lenya?”

I walked quickly behind him. “Can I pick both?” I added. “I’m half Julish on my mother’s side.”

 “We have a special room for that,” he said. “Here we are.” We stopped at three doors with three different symbols. On the left was the Pentagram of Juliette, the right the Broken Heart of Justine and the middle a combination of both. I opened the door to the middle and went inside. The room was white with a yellow tinge coming from the lightbulb. There was a toilet and a sink to the left, an open slot where the cup and two test sticks sat, and finally to the right was the prayer alter complete with a purple kneeling cushion. I close the door behind me. Unlike the rest of the Clinic it feels slightly warm in here. I picked up the cup which had instructions on all sides in different languages.   

Instructions

Urinate half-way in the cup,

Put two sticks in cup

Put cup in slot

Pray and wait 5 minutes

 “Thanks for informing me, cup,” I said, pulling my pants down and sat on the toilet. Holding my cup underneath, I willed myself to pee. I should have drunk something before coming to the clinic but I was more concerned with the blister like rash on my groin after shaving. Oh, sweet Justine, what if I didn’t shave today? I only shave when Henry wants to sleep with me. Men, no wonder wives put them in Men Caves deep in the forest so we wouldn’t have to hear their whining. Finally, I pissed half way in the cup and let the rest go in the toilet. I picked up the two sticks from the slot. One read for pregnancy, the other for STD’s.  “Please, let me have neither,” I said, putting the sticks in the cup and on the slot which slid into the lab next door.

 After cleaning myself and flushing the toilet, I knelt at the alter where the image of Juliette and Justine were hand and hand. Head bowed, I prayed. “Sister Justine, Sister Juliette, hear my plea.” I paused. This is my first honest prayer to the Sisters. As a child I viewed prayer as something ritualistic like blessing the food or making broken promises. Today I sincerely wanted an answer. “I want to know if Henry is right for me. I want to know if I should keep the baby if I’m pregnant. I want to know if….” I want to know if that night was my fault. I look up to the picture. I didn’t get an answer. “I mean, we’ve been together for four years. I know we’ve seen other people but we always come back together. That must mean we love each other if we come back together, right?” I still didn’t get an answer.

  “Well,” I said, running my fingers through my hair. “On our first anniversary, I did want to see other people but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings so I asked if he wanted to sleep with other people under the agreement of protection and leaving the third party anonymous. Henry was fine with it. After that we went hunting for different people. I’ll admit back than I was hoping Henry will tell me he found someone else because I didn’t want to be viewed as the bad guy. Back then I didn’t love him.” There are times when I question my love for Henry. During sex, I felt very convinced that we love each other but everything else I almost want to scream at him. He belittles me on everything from how I should dress to going out with friends. He even told me not to volunteer at the homeless shelter because it’s ‘their fault for not working hard enough.’

I held my hands up in the air. “I know it’s mean but you have to understand, Sisters, I took Henry’s virginity.” I put my hands down. “You have to understand how awkward it felt. I didn’t really feel anything, he only lasted a minute and we just laid in my bedroom in silence. After that night, he felt convinced that I loved him when I really didn’t at the time. Now that we’ve known each other better,” I went into my pocket and pulled out a black box. Despite his faults, I’m comfortable around him. “I’m really tired of the one night stands.” I opened the box to reveal a gold ring. “I plan on proposing to him.” After all, who else am I going to come back to me if not Henry?

I heard the slot open. The warm fuzzy feeling was replaced with a prickly sensation. I turned to see a letter in the slot. Picking it up I read the first part of the letter.

Congratulations/Sorry to inform- Patient Leninia- Not Pregnant

“Oh thank Goddesses,” I said, hugging the letter to my chest. I didn’t need to make that decision to keep or not to keep the baby. Either decision would have made me look like the bad guy, even if it was….no, I’m not going to think that. I had an orgasm on that night so it meant that I liked it. “Once we’re finically stable than we can have a kid in a loving environment.” After my short celebration, I read the rest of the letter. My smile turned into a frown with every word.

Sorry to inform-Patient Leninia has first stage Syphilis. Prescription will be waiting at the front desk. Highly recommended that Patient Leninia contact sexual partners.

I couldn’t believe the words on the page. This had to be a mistake but no matter how many times I stared at it the words didn’t change. I folded the letter and put it in my pocket. I left the room with a mixture of emotions, mostly anger and sadness. “Maybe he didn’t know,” I said to myself. But Henry should have known because that red woman or ‘Donalda’ had sores on her face. Walking faster, I wiped the tears escaping my eyes. I think Henry purposefully gave me syphilis that night.

Mother stood up once she saw me coming toward the lobby. I tried to avoid her but she reached out to me, “Lenya, why are you here? I saw you walking into the Clinic-”

“Please, don’t give me a lecture Mother,” I said, talking felt extremely difficult to do. “I’m not in the mood.” While giving the front desk pharmacist my name, date of birth and insurance mom wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

“Is it something to do with Henry?” whispered mother. I was about to say yes when Henry walked in the door. He stood frozen looking at me while I slowly gave him a forced smile.

“I know you’re a little upset, Leninia,” he said.

“Upset?” I said in a friendly tone. Henry backed away as I walked toward him. “No, I’m not upset.” I catch him with an embrace. He was not going to escape me. I kissed him so he could relax for a moment. “I’m not upset at all.” I let my left-hand fall to the side. “In fact, I’m actually furious.” Henry tried to flee but I punched him hard in the balls. He went down like a sack of potatoes.

“By the way, Henry, you gave me syphilis,” I said. I took out the box from my pocket and threw it to the ground. “Do whatever you want with it. I’m breaking up with you.” I walked out into the heat of the day but didn’t go anywhere. I didn’t want to go back to my apartment because I know Henry will try to make me feel sorry. He’s made me feel sorry so many times that I’m tired of it. Mother came out of the Clinic with my prescription in her hand. I sighed, “I told you, mother, I’m not in the mood for a lecture.”

Mother hugged me, “If you want you can move back in with us. You can stay as long as you need to.”

“Can I please stay the night?” I asked, I was on the verge of crying again. Once we heard Henry calling my name we rushed to Mother’s new black Steamcar and quickly drove towards home. I felt like a swinging pendulum of emotions that went from the joy of being single to the depression of being alone. Leaving the Clinic with Mother I knew that a better future waited for me.

 

 

Reviews

[SweetNutmeg]

Haha, I love their names. This is a fabulous alternate universe. I can't wait to find out more about how things work here. Since this is the first draft, I found two tiny problems...

“You came here out of concern that you might be pregnant and have an STD, is that correct? By then we began an interview of my medical history.

I think you forgot the end quote after the question mark.

After all, who else am I going to come back to me if not Henry?

This sentence doesn't quite make sense to me.

I am curious why both the mother and Henry happened to walk into the clinic while Lenya was there. I'm assuming I'll find out in the next chapter. I'm also curious why an STD is worse than a pregnancy. Pregnancies are sort of permanent, while STDs are quite treatable. Or-- at least in our universe they are. Maybe not here? I've got my fingers crossed for Lenya. I look forward to reading more. Thank you for posting this.

[Natasha Zoya]

Thank you for your response! I will go to work on this as soon as I have the time :)

[Aunre]

Well, that was different... in a good sort of way, I think. Still thinking. This could take a while. Maybe I should order a pizza.

[Kuisma]

Your style of writing is really good! Words took hold of my attention completely and made me laugh when Doctor Susan told how he got his name, made me anxious with the waiting of the test results and so on. I think I'll read this again from time to time, just so I might learn to write better myself :D Waiting for the next chapter...

[Natasha Zoya]

Thank you for the review!