Enter Dr. Verma

Rob signed in and Carol handed a chipped green enamel tag with a large number nine written on it, which Rob found absurd considering that he knew there were no more patients now or after him. Still, he took a seat next to Jackie and the two aggressively ignored each other. "Blimey Jackie, didn't see you there at first. Not your new boyfriend is he ?" Carol laughed. Rob rolled his eyes. "He's supposed to be giving me a lift but now I'm stuck here waiting" moaned Jackie. "Are you ever going to stop complaining ?" yelled Rob as the Asian woman who had been outside walked past behind him. A loud buzz sounded from a board on the wall where a number of bulbs sat alongside the interchangeable names of the various doctors. A row of hooks sat below it, each filled with variously coloured tags. One bulb had lit up green beside one of the names; ‘Room 2 – Dr Verma’. Rob stood up and glaring at Carol made a big show of hooking his enamel tag onto the appropriate peg. Jackie wandered over to talk with Carol. That would at least pass the time.

Rob walked down the corridor till he found a door marked ‘2’. He didn’t bother knocking, opening the door abruptly. The same Indian woman he had seen in the car park, now clad in a white lab coat, greeted Rob as he entered. No, not greeted; acknowledged was more like it.

“Mr. Jenkins ? I am Dr Verma.” Her handshake was firm – powerful – and she got right down to business, asking him routine questions in an assertive tone. Rob ignored her cold demeanour and listened. He could handle rudeness; niceties would just have made this take longer.

“How old are you, Rob?” she began.

“35,” Rob replied, observing once more that she seemed to be about his age, maybe a little younger… and was decently attractive. She continued with the usual questions – when was his last medical? Did he smoke? Drink? How often? Use any medication, legal or otherwise? Had he any STDs in the past?– until she moved on to more private questions that he felt a bit more embarrassed to answer.