Chapter 35
“Anti-baby Pill”
Kiki
When I told my parents I was choosing Princeton over Yale, I could’ve just as well said I wasn’t going to college at all. There was yelling, lots of yelling—mostly between me and Mom. Dad sat on the couch, clearing his throat whenever things got too loud. The argument went from college choices to bribing Jon to the admissions essay I’d actually sent to finally admitting how their helicopter parenting was choking me. Mom broke down in tears, and somehow I ended up comforting her. By the end, we were on the floor, laughing, looking up hotels near Princeton. We decided to improve things by spending more time together, and Mom promised me more freedom for the remaining weeks I was here.
Now, I was sitting at the reception in her office, helping out with paperwork. I’d been doing this since I was sixteen, another boost for my college applications. But she never let me do anything important, even though I had the know-how. I only organized files and made sure everything was in order for the next appointment.
My mom rushed into the reception. “Honey, a new patient’s in room 2B. Could you please tell her I’ll be a few minutes late? I haven’t had a minute to eat lunch and my blood sugar’s dropping.”
“Of course,” I said.
This was my chance. I could start going over the basics with the patient and prove to my mother that I could do more than paperwork. Technically, it was against the law for a student to see patients, but I was tired of waiting to finally get a taste of what it was like. Grabbing a clipboard with partially filled-out documents, I opened the door to room 2B.
“Hello, I’m Katherine Moore, I’ll be prepping you for—” I began, but stopped as I read the name at the top of the clipboard. My gaze shot up to see her—pale, lips parted, dressed in an examination gown with her golden hair cascading over it.
“Kiki?” Emily gasped. “You work here?” She nervously adjusted the gown, crossing her knees.
“Um,” I croaked. “You’re at my mother’s clinic. I sometimes help out,” I lied.
“But I thought her name was Dr. Chanakit,” Emily said, avoiding my eyes.
“She kept her last name when she got married,” I explained, offering a reassuring smile and walking over to the chair where my mother conducted patient consultations. Emily was just a patient deserving of my professional attention.
“Oh...” Emily mumbled, fidgeting with her fingers. I couldn’t help but notice her constant need to occupy herself physically. Bouncing legs, tugging at her fingertips, shifting her gaze around the room—it seemed like a habitual behavior.
“I need to go over a few things with you before my mother comes in for the examination. Is that okay?”
“Um, sure.” She nodded quickly.
“I see you’re here for a routine checkup. And you requested—” I hesitated. The form inaccurately noted Anti-baby pill. Suppressing a chuckle, I said, “We typically call it contraceptive pills, not anti-baby pills.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled, her cheeks reddening.
“No need to apologize. You’re not from America.” Realizing I might have sounded patronizing, I shifted focus. “Anyway, do you have any known illnesses, and when was your last checkup?”
“Just a sensitive stomach, but it’s gotten a lot better, and, um... my last checkup was before I came to Boonville,” she replied.
Taking notes, I continued, “Any recent symptoms?”
“Like what?” she asked.
Glancing at her, I noticed some weight gain. “The usual—headaches, digestive issues... weight gain?” I added tentatively, raising my shoulders. Her body was beautiful, but compared to her physique when she got here, it had me worried.
“I did gain weight. But it’s the food here! I wasn’t used to eating like this in Germany,” she said defensively.
I nodded. “Is there anything else you noticed?”
“Not really... but I thought I was at a gynecologist. Why are you asking all this?”
“We do all sorts of checks,” I said. “Totally normal. So, um—” I swallowed hard at the next question on the list. “Do you, um—” C’mon, Kiki, shake it off. You’re a professional. “When was your last period, and have you had intercourse recently?”
“Uh, three weeks ago, and...” She went quiet. “What’s intercourse?”
I sucked in a breath. Where was the hole in the ground beneath me when I needed it?
“It’s, um, sex, and I need to know how often you practice it and approximately how many partners you’ve had till this date.”
“Oh!” Emily’s eyes widened in panic.
Who was I kidding? This wasn’t a normal doctor-patient conversation. I should’ve stopped the moment I saw it was her. “You don’t have to answer that,” I added, deciding to let my mother have this conversation with her after all.
“No, um... I only slept with one person so far.” She swallowed, and I held my breath. A rush of morbid curiosity overcame me.
“With Paul?”
Her eyes shimmered.
“Sorry, this is unprofessional. You don’t have to answer.” I shook my head and put down the clipboard.
“Do you like him?” Emily’s grip on her examination gown tightened.
“Me? Well, yeah. He’s my friend,” I said, fully regretting initiating this conversation.
Emily bit her lip, studying me as if she were the doctor now. “It’s more than that, isn’t it?”
“That’s not relevant. It’s in the past.”
“It is relevant,” Emily insisted. “Paul is amazing.”
The words escaped before I could cap them. “You can’t have them both.”
“I know,” she said, her face flushing red. “But I love him like family and I want him to find someone who makes him happy.”
I snorted, hearing echoes of Jon’s sentiments. “Not the first time I’ve heard that.”
“Sorry?”
I sighed, realizing that I might have jumped to conclusions. “Look, I appreciate your concern, Emily. I really do. But we already settled that all we’ll ever be is friends, and that’s okay.”
She raised an eyebrow. “But you don’t want to be just friends?”
I leaned back in my chair and glanced up at the bright lights above me. “Even if I liked him more than that, it wouldn’t make a difference because he’s still hung up on you.”
She flinched slightly but didn’t say anything.
“Are you over him?” I asked.
She thought for a second. “I am. I understand it now.” And then she smiled so broadly that even I couldn’t help but find it adorable.
I straightened my lab coat and picked up the clipboard again, noting the final question on the paper. “So, um—you only slept with one person so far.”
She nodded. “And if it helps... it wasn’t with Paul.”
My heart jumped. It did help. I was astonished by her bravery in telling me this. We exchanged a look, and it was like our negative energy had dissipated. “Thank you,” I breathed.
The door swung open. “Ms. Klein.” My mother came in beaming, like she always did when she’d had her lunch. “Kiki, what are you still doing here?”
I handed her the clipboard. “Emily goes to the same school as me. I did the questionnaire with her.”
“That’s not your job. You were just supposed to tell her I was running late.” My mother glared at me, and my confidence vanished.
“She did a great job, Dr. Chanakit,” Emily put in.
“Katherine, we’ll talk about this later.” My mother gave me the disapproving look she usually reserved for rude patients.
I rolled my eyes but left the room. I had already crossed a thousand boundaries; I didn’t want to cross another one by seeing Emily naked.