Event 2B:  What Will the Doctor Find?

	"How are you today, young lady?"  the nurse asked me as he 
shines a light in my ears.

	"I wish I didn't have to come here," I scowled.  "The last time 
I was here, I had several shots in the butt and I HATED it."

	"Your parents only want you to be healthy, Claribel," the nurse 
replied as he gets out a tongue depressor and sticks it in my mouth.  
"Say 'ahhh', please."   I do as the nurse asks.  "Very good.  Kick off 
your shoes and follow me."  After that, the nurse weighs me.  "45 
pounds, tsk, tsk," the nurse remarks as he writes down my weight.  He 
then takes my blood pressure and pulse before I could say anything in 
my defense.  "150 over 95 with a pulse rate of 92."  Back in the exam 
room, the nurse listens to my heart and I shudder nervously.  He then 
checks my reflexes by hitting me gently on the knee with a hammer.  On 
reflex, I accidentally kick the nurse in the solar plexus!!!

	"Sorry about that," I apologized to the pained nurse.  Kerwin 
Del Trabajador, Sharon Setsuna Mei'ou, I think we're even for all 
those shots in the butt you two subjected me to, with the exception of 
the hepatitis series.  Of course, it would not do for my parents to 
see the evil grin on my face.  Anyway, I wonder what's next.

	"How's it coming?"  Kerwin asked the nurse.

	"Just fine, Mr. Del Trabajador," the nurse gasped.  "Your 
daughter is very healthy, but I have concerns about her blood pressure 
and pulse rate.  Claribel's blood pressure is significantly higher 
than what it normally is for her age and body size.  A resting heart 
rate of 92 beats/minute is a tad fast for a child of Claribel's age 
and body size.  I'm concerned that there may be something wrong with 
Claribel or it could be something else."  The nurse pauses to catch 
his breath.

	"You going to make it?"  Sharon asked the nurse.

	"I'll manage, Ms. Mei'ou," the nurse replied.  "Do any members 
of either of your families have problems with high blood pressure?"

	"My dad has problems with his blood pressure that crop up when 
he is under stress," Kerwin told the nurse.  "His father and 
grandfather have the same problem."

	"Okay, what about the elevated heart rate?"  the nurse asked.

	"Aren't we kind of borrowing trouble here, Kerwin?"  Sharon 
asked.  "If you were forced to come to the doctor's office against 
your will, wouldn't your blood pressure and heart rate be somewhat 
greater?"  Kerwin gulps and I break out into a small chuckle.  
Retribution is a bitch, ain't it?

	"Yeah, they would be somewhat greater, Sharon," Kerwin admitted.  
"So what all are you going to do to Claribel?"

	"Claribel needs a blood test to see if the first hepatitis shot 
took effect and she needs her second shot," the nurse reported after a 
check through my records.  My heart sank.  Not another needle!!!!  I 
glare icily at Kerwin.  If I get another needle in the rear end, I'll 
never speak to my parents again for as long as I live!!!!

	"You don't mean right in the . . ." Kerwin began.  There was no 
need to continue with the rest of the sentence.

	"Yep, I'm afraid I do, Mr. Del Trabajador," the nurse replied.  
"There's just not enough tissue on Claribel's arms.  I'm sorry."  With 
that, the nurse checks over my records one last time and then leaves.

	"I tried, Sharon," Kerwin said sadly.  "I remember when Claribel 
was so angry with us the last time she got a needle."

	"I can only imagine what Claribel is thinking of us right now," 
Sharon agreed with Kerwin.  "She must have felt so violated when the 
doctor bared her rear end and jabbed her."

	"Uh, Claribel, you've been awfully quiet," Kerwin noticed.  "Is 
something wrong?"

	"You guys must get some sick pleasure from allowing the doctor 
to stick that needle into my rear end, don't you?"  I asked my parents 
with a slight bit of anger.  Okay, it was a lot of anger.  "Let me 
guess what tickles you pink.  Listening to me holler in pain when that 
needle goes into my butt or watching me squirm uneasily in a last-
ditch effort to avoid that needle.  Which is it?"

	"How about neither of the above?"  Kerwin responded.  "I did try 
to get you out of that, Claribel." 

	"I know, Papa," I agreed, my hostility gone.  "I would like to 
think that I'm in control of my body and I can decide who can do what 
to me and when.  I felt so violated when you and Mama just stood by 
and watched the doctor jab me in the rump last time."

	"Claribel, your father and I are not experts in medicine," 
Sharon said.  "That's why we brought you here.  If they say there's 
not enough tissue on your arms to give you a needle there, then I have 
no choice but to let them poke you in the rear end, no matter how 
violated it makes you feel.  Of course, that may be a good thing.  You 
use your legs more frequently than you do your arms, so if you took a 
shot in your rear, the pain of the shot would have lessened 
considerably by the time we got you halfway home."  

	"Hello, Claribel; how are you today?"  the doctor asked as she 
comes in and prepares a device.  "Roll up your sleeve, please."

	"Is this going to hurt any?"  I asked the doctor nervously as I 
roll up my sleeve.

	"You may feel a little faint after this, Claribel, but no, this 
should be painless,"  the doctor replied as she swabs the crook of my 
elbow with alcohol and ties off my upper arm.  "Relax your arm, 
please."  How am I supposed to relax in a doctor's office when I am 
terrified of doctors?!?!  "Okay, here we go."  The doctor then draws 
some of my blood and I immediately fall faint.