Through the Afterglow

I kept checking out Brian as I gently inspected his throat, getting goose pimples as his warm breath hit my own throat and the open skin left by my v-neck. I hadn't felt like this in such a long time, and the damn kid couldn't even talk. I smiled, leaning back onto my chair and handing him a clipboard, a pad of a paper, and a pen. “Alright, I'm going to ask you some questions, and you'll write down the answers on the pad since you obviously can't talk,” I said, rambling slightly. I breathed out carefully, controlling myself. “Okay, first question. Any other health concerns? Soreness, nausea?” Brian shook his head. “Sexual activity?” I asked, clearing my throat a little. Brian looked alarmed. “Like, uh, girlfriend, fling, one night stands recently?” I asked, my voice trailing off. Brian began nervously scribbling. His handwriting was terrible, but kind of cute.

Just got out of a relationship, so... none recently.

I nodded, giving a small smile. That was good for me, I suppose. “Okay, pain on a scale of one to ten?” I asked, looking at Brian with a small smile, chewing on my lip like it was the spearmint bubble gum that was in my mouth currently, but lay forgotten on the roof of my mouth. As the redder my face got, the brighter the lights and tiles seemed to become. Brian gave a small smile as well, meeting my eyes as he held the pad up again.

A three or four, I suppose.

“Well, that's good,” I said, standing slowly. I grabbed a huge Q-tip from the counter and smiling an apologetic smile. “Open wide. This won't hurt, but it sure as hell won't feel good either.” I swabbed the inside of his throat, noticing the gag and shoving it into a tube. “Here, have some water,” I added, handing him a paper cup and sitting back in my chair.

This wasn't exactly a hard case to solve, as I already knew what he had. But I was going to soak up all the time I had, as well as giving Jazlyn all the time she could with Stephen, who I thought would be perfect with her. That girl needed a little romance, someone to loosen her nerves and to make her feel like she had someone to turn to. Jazlyn was the greatest person I had ever met, especially for putting up with me, and she deserved what no one else did. She deserved the world, and if Stephen was the guy who held the world, great. If he wasn't, I'd buy ice cream like she had a thousand times for me.

I scribbled on my pad, signing the bottom, ripping it off, and handing it to the cute blonde sitting across from me. “Here's a prescription for antibiotics.” He smiled, blushing a little as I scribbled some more, a brilliant idea popping into my head. I bit my lip, signing my name on top in neat, block lettering. “And here's my number in case you have any problems.” Brian smiled, and I smiled too. He began to scribble on his pad, stepping up before handing it to me and winking, walking out the open door with a certain swagger I recognized.

You're cute. Thanks.

---

“How was your appointment with Brian?” Jazlyn teased, handing me the soda she got me while I ordered our high in fat, high carb and calorie McDonald's, our daily lunch special. We settled into a table in the middle of a crowded food court, both of us ignoring the middle aged creeps and teenagers checking us out. Life sucked being a twenty something.

I shrugged, not letting too much on. “It was fine, I guess.” I took a bite of my Big Mac. “I gave him my number, you know, in case he has an issue with his medication.” Jazlyn laughed, taking a bite of her wrap and a sip of her ice water.

“You're shameless.” I shrug, and she laughs again, shaking her head. “You know I'm totally taking my break to eat lunch with you, and I spent my lunch hour with that creepy guy who works behind the desk,” Jazlyn said, trying to make me feel bad. I rolled my eyes, demolishing the rest of my burger and shaking my head.

“I bought you lunch. I set you up with a hot musician, and you're still trying to make me feel bad?” I shook my head, snorting into my Coke as it was halfway down my throat, causing me to choke. I recovered quickly, and kept talking through Jazlyn's giggles. “Seriously, how did you like Stephen?” I asked, raising my brows and taking another large bite of my hamburger and twirling my blonde hair around my finger. Jazlyn shrugged.

“He was nice, I guess,” She shrugged again, like it didn't matter. But I could see it in her eyes, that fear that she was going to get hurt. She was always scared of the next step forward, and maybe I was too, but I always hid it behind that 'I'm a bitch and I don't care' attitude I learned from my biggest role model of all time, Dean Winchester.

I let it drop, but the moment she sat in my car on the way back to her office, I smacked her hand away from the radio. “You know the house rules, Jazlyn,” I scolded, and she rolled her beautiful eyes and glared at me, reciting it in a toneless voice that I knew well.

“Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his or her piehole,” She said, as I turned up the Mayday Parade and singing along.