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“Allegra?”
I called out the first name on the patient list. Amazingly, it belonged to the young woman who got up from her seat, her bodyguard pressing his wrist to his mouth to alert his colleague.
“That would be me.”
“Come on in.”
I stood several feet from the door of the exam room, watching her approach. The girl’s demeanor was rather unusual. She kept looking over her shoulder. Her walking style was funny, too. It didn’t resemble a woman’s per se. It was more like a child, moving away from the remains of a vase she had broken. Light-footed and scared, Allegra joined me in that exam room, her two bodyguards right behind her.
“Gentlemen, please, wait in the hall,” I requested, turning my attention to the one closest to me.
“That’s not going to happen, ma’am,” he said, interlocking his fingers over his stomach. “We’re here for Ms. Allegra’s safety.”
“No kidding,” I assumed a sarcastic tone, eyeing him with anger. “I thought you two took knitting classes with her. This is an exam room. I need some privacy to do my job. Don’t make me call security.”
“Please, leave us,” Allegra finally broke her silence, looking up at the same guy on her right.
To my satisfaction, they listened to her. I waited for them to leave us alone, before bringing my attention back to the chart in my hand.
“Let’s see here. You’re here for a stomachache?” I said, taking two, short steps towards her. “Sorry to say this, but stomachaches don’t qualify as emergencies at age twenty. Anyway,” I paused and picked up the stethoscope from the desk on my left.
In the next ten minutes, I checked her breath, her pulse and had a little chat with her about what she had had for dinner the night before and breakfast. She was a bit thin for her 5’5” build, but, other than that, she was perfectly healthy. Her eating habits were nothing out of the ordinary. Her diet consisted mostly of fruit and vegetables, with pizzas and burgers few and far between.
Confusion setting in, I put the chart down on the desk and looked her in the eye.
“You seem perfectly healthy to me, Allegra,” I began, studying her face. “I can’t find what caused that stomachache, so, I’d like you to describe to me how it first manifested.”
“Ma’am.”
“Piper,” I interrupted, pointing up at the nametag on my chest.
“Okay,” she said on an exhale. “Piper, I had cramping and a pretty strange feeling in my stomach yesterday. I thought it would have gone away by this morning, but it’s still there.”
“The circumstances, dear,” I requested, making my voice sound sweeter. “I’m waiting to hear those circumstances I just asked you about.”
“It’s all because of a man!” She exclaimed, talking much faster than before.
I jerked back and shook my head, struggling to comprehend just where in the world this had come from. So far, she had been calm and cooperative. In fact, her voice had been so low that I had asked her to speak up.
“Honey,” I said, maintaining my composure. “There’s no reason for you to get angry, okay? You’re here to get to the bottom of that stomachache. Now, what did this man do to you? Did he hurt you in any way?”
“No,” she croaked, her gaze dropping to the floor. “Pete is my father’s driver. He’s been making eyes at me for weeks. I’m not going to lie to you; I’m attracted to him. My, uh…” she faltered, her eyes shooting back up to mine. “My folks are strict. They won’t allow me to talk to men, especially if they’re on their payroll.”
“I see,” I nodded, noticing pools of tears in her big, brown eyes. “That’s sad if you ask me. You’re an adult. The only person you answer to is yourself.”
“You really think so?” She asked, her voice much more high-pitched.
“Of course,” I affirmed, my next observation giving me more cause for concern. That poor girl’s fingers were trembling. Hand on her knee, they seemed to dance over her pants. “Continue, please.”
“Oh, god,” she sighed, lifting her other hand up to her eyes. She closed them tight before they disappeared behind her palm, a tear streaming down her cheek.
I didn’t think twice. I needed eye contact with her, even though this was clearly painful for her. I raised my own hand up to her face and curled my fingers around her wrist. I eased it away, holding it in a gentle manner. Her eyes opening, she focused back on me.
“Yesterday, Pete caught me passing by the staff area of the house,” she revealed, her voice shaking. “He pulled me back in and kissed me. I liked it. My parents were in the house, so, the danger of getting caught kind of thrilled me.”
“They didn’t see anything, did they?” I posed another question, my voice gaining in volume.
“No,” she replied quite fast. “The staff area is in the back of our house. That kiss? It got very intense at some point. Pete put me on top of a washing machine that was running. That thing was vibrating. Hard. That’s when I felt that cramp and a very weird sensation below my abdomen. Is that normal? Am I going to be okay?”
