Stalker Problems - Chapter 8 - Tax Codes
Usually having to wait an entire day for a doctor’s appointment would have been impossible, but the mystery of the Society, my stalker, and that damned app made the time pass in a flash.
I searched everywhere for clues about any of it, but my searches were completely and utterly fruitless.
Probably because the letters had been for some chick named Raven.
It did kind of all make sense now. I was just getting them by mistake.
And now I kind of wished I was this Raven person.
Because her life was probably super glamorous.
And her name was super cool. Raven. She sounded so badass.
I’d dreamt of my stalker again last night. He’d appeared and saved me from my injection. And then he locked me up and kept me all to himself. It should have been a terrifying dream. But he made being tied up quite enjoyable.
Not even reminiscing about my dream could help me out of this hell though. I was sitting in the doctor’s waiting room, holding my breath. There were so many kids everywhere. If I breathed, I was worried I’d catch something.
"Ms. Cooper," called the nurse. "We'll see you now."
Thank God. I kept holding my breath until I was safely in the exam room.
The nurse took my vitals. I was 5'2 and 119 pounds, which felt horrifying.
The trophy wives in my spin class were probably the same weight, but it was spread out over their 6-foot frames.
I really needed to ask them about all the protein muscle weight.
I was definitely doing something wrong. Then she took my pulse. And then she took it again.
"Take a few deep breaths," she said as she pressed her fingers across my wrist.
That's not how this works. My normal heart rate, if it was taken at home and not after I nearly contracted the plague from Timmy in the waiting room, was fine.
Probably 65 or 70 beats per minute. But my heart rate at the doctor's office had always been off the charts.
I guessed she was probably clocking me at over 150 beats per minute.
She scribbled some notes on a clipboard and then took my blood pressure. Then she told me to sit tight and that the doctor would be with me shortly.
I waited patiently for the first 10 minutes, but then I got worried that I was doing something wrong. Was I supposed to be putting on a gown? There was one hanging on the door.
No, that would be weird. It was like the Moroccan spa all over again. Why did I always end up in situations where I wasn't sure if I was supposed to get naked or not?
I started reading all the posters and signs to help pass the time.
There was a chart of the gastrointestinal system on one wall and a biohazard warning on a waste bin in the corner.
But what really caught my attention was the ad for GenieMD taped to one of the cabinets.
It boasted the secure storage of personal health records, educational material, and even video visits.
Video visits! That meant no more germ-filled waiting rooms. I was sold.
I immediately pulled out my phone and downloaded the app.
I tried memorizing all the parts of the gastrointestinal system while it finished downloading.
Then I navigated to my apps page, and I was about to click on GenieMD when I noticed something odd.
Bitmoji had always been last on my list of apps, but now there were two new apps after it.
One was GenieMD, but the other was something called Tax Codes.
Tax Codes? What the hell is that? I clicked on it and my screen turned black with two text boxes in the center.
One was labeled Username . The other was Password .
Did Chastity put another password-protected porn folder on my phone? She had done that a few months ago to try to help me through the divorce, so it wouldn't be unheard of.
Then it hit me. Of course! This was the Society's app. They must have taken my phone at the spa and loaded it on there. I remembered my username was Raven. Or well…Raven’s username was Raven.
But I couldn't recall the password. I rummaged around in my purse until my hand closed on the folded-up letter.
Was it wrong to log in to this app when I wasn’t the person it was meant for?
They had already sent me all these invitations.
So didn’t that kind of make them mine? And the mistake was on them, not me.
Besides, I was too curious to care. When I entered my username and password, a loading screen with the Society's genie lamp logo popped up, and then it was replaced by the home screen:
Welcome, Raven Black!
Wishes Completed - 0
Last Spa Visit - April 6
Last STD Test - April 6, Clean
STD Test? So that's what the needle mark was for!
That was good news, but I wasn't out of the woods yet.
They still could have injected me with stuff.
Or used an unclean needle. In a few minutes the doctor would come give me the bad news, but for now, I wanted to explore the app and get some answers.
Below the bit about the STD test, the words "Action Required - Sign Contract" were written in bold red letters. I was about to click it when the door to the exam room swung open.
Dr. Wozniak hadn't been able to see me on such short notice, but she'd said that the pediatrician in her office had an opening. She hadn't, however, warned me that he was super hot.
His muscular arms threatened to rip out of his lab coat, and his short blonde hair effortlessly stuck up and to the left in a stylish yet very heterosexual way.
He looked more like a doctor from a porno than from an actual doctor's office.
Not that I've watched a ton of doctor-themed porn or anything.
Okay, fine. Maybe I watched a few clips from Chastity's folder.
Don't judge me. Divorces are lonely. And then I wasn’t allowed to go on any dates because of the incident.
He put his clipboard down and looked up at me with his beautiful baby-blue eyes.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Cooper," he said. "I'm Dr. Lyons."
"Hi," I said, but it came out all squeaky and weird.
"So it says here that you were worried about STDs, blood poisoning, and overdosing on just about every illegal drug I've ever heard of. Is that a mistake, or...?"
"Nope, that's correct," I said. "I'm concerned about all of those things." God, I didn’t want to have this conversation with him. I wanted my old lady doctor with the glasses. Not this handsome imposter that was making me sweat more by the second.
"Oh. Well then." He narrowed his eyes. "Do you mind telling me how you think you contracted all that?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Do you need a rape kit? As a pediatrician that isn't really my specialty, but..."
"No, I don't think so."
"You don't think?" He nodded. His blue eyes were filled with concern. "I guess the bit about the drug overdoses makes more sense now. If you need help with drug addiction, I can refer you to a specialist."
"I'm not a crackhead.” Oh God, I’d definitely said that in a super defensive way that made it seem like I was a crackhead.
He nodded and jotted something down on my file.
“Hey. What are you writing?” I craned my neck to see, but he turned to block my view. “Are you writing that I’m a crackhead? Because I said I’m not.”
He gave me a sympathetic smile. He had definitely added “crackhead” to my file.
“Can you just tell me about my blood work?"
"Of course." He flipped the page. "It looks to me like you're fine. The preliminary drug test is clean, although we won't have the full results until next week. And you definitely don't have blood poisoning." He paused. "You may have diabetes, though."
"They gave me diabetes?!"
He looked at me like I was crazy. "Did you fast for 12 hours before your blood test this morning?"
"Yes," I said. But it came out as more of a question.
"Are you lying to me?"
"Okay, fine. You caught me. I had two donuts right before the test. I get all barfy if I don't have carbs in the morning. And I really don’t like getting my blood taken so I was nervous. And I like to eat when I’m nervous."
Dr. Lyons smiled, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Okay, no diabetes then." He flipped the page again. "Hmmm, the STD report is missing. Excuse me for a moment."
I let out a sigh that I'd been holding ever since I left the Shifting Sands Spa. They hadn’t pumped me full of meth. They hadn't poisoned me. And if the app was to be trusted, I was STD-free.
I pulled out my phone and texted Chastity: "Got the blood work back. No drugs, no STDs." Then I went back to the Society's app and clicked on CONTRACT . Maybe that would finally give me a clue about what this crazy society was all about.