"He's quite the catch, and the way he looks at you..." She laughed again. “Right, panties off, my dear."
I took them off and drew my knees up as she instructed me to. The examination didn't last too long and she chatted all the while, making me relax enough that it wasn't wholly awful.
When she was done, she announced I was fit and well and pulled off a pair of latex gloves, tossing them in the trash before making a few notes on an iPad.
"Okay, I need to ask you a few personal questions," she said as I put my panties back on and sat up. "Just nod your head yes or no. Were you sexually assaulted during your time in captivity?" she asked gently and I shook my head no.
She smiled kindly, seeming relieved at that before going on. "Are you having regular sexual intercourse or planning to in the near future with a partner?"
I lifted my thumb to my mouth, biting down and nodding.
She made a note on the page then ran through more intimate questions until reaching into her bag and taking out a syringe. "Okay my dear, nearly done. I'm just going to take some blood to send off to the lab and make sure you're in good health. We'll have the results back to you in a couple days. As you're sexually active, I recommend you go on some form of contraception unless you’re looking to get pregnant?” I shook my head and she ran through each type as she took some blood and I didn't even wince when she slid the needle in. I'd felt far worse pain than that and something about this doctor felt trustworthy.
My head was spinning with all the forms of contraception by the time she was done and I finally decided on the contraceptive pill. She happened to have some with her and I couldn't shift the feeling that Frankie must have asked her to bring it. Not that I was complaining, but it was still a little weird that he'd thought about that.
I caught her arm before she left, needing to ask her something but unable to speak it. She offered me her iPad and I wrote the question on the screen.
I had unprotected sex a couple of days ago, what should I do?
She read the words then nodded. "The blood work will tell us if you're pregnant, but if you don't want to wait a couple of days then I could prescribe you the morning after pill. How regular is your cycle?"
I wrote down what I knew and she concluded that my chances of being pregnant considering the time of the month were seriously low so I figured I'd wait for the blood results.
She finally left and I pulled on my dress just as Nicoli walked back into the room.
“Everything okay?" he asked.
I moved toward him, answering him with a kiss on the lips and he wrapped me in his arms. My voice rose just for him. It was becoming more and more easy to speak every day and I adored him for that. “Never better.”
I’d made us some lunch while the doctor finished up with Winter, laying it out on the table right beside the floor length windows that looked out over the city and all the way to the bay beyond. My gaze caught on the sea in the distance as I sat in my chair and waited for my savage girl to return from freshening up in the bathroom. Frankie had explained that the doctor needed to check her all over, make sure she really hadn’t been sexually assaulted and clear her for physical injuries, but I’d denied his offer to get her a psychiatrist. I was sure she would benefit from seeing one at some point, but it was all too much at once right now. I didn’t want her to feel like a science experiment.
My chest felt heavy with so many conflicting emotions at coming back to Sinners Bay. This city had been my home for as long as I could remember. But that man hadn’t really been me at all.
I certainly never would have found myself sitting in a Romero property before now. But the expensive clothes, the luxurious apartment, the scent of hundred dollar aftershave clinging to my skin, all of those things could have belonged to the man I once was.
I ran a hand over my face and glanced at the doctor as she finished typing out her notes at