Stop by the hospital for your booster shot

You received an email from your doctor a few days ago about scheduling a booster shot following your procedure. You booked a slot for early Tuesday afternoon, which means that you should really be at the hospital already. You book it over to the hospital after chemistry, and after a brief chat with the people at the front desk, they locate your record, telling you that the doctor will see you in a couple minutes.

You sit in a weird lime-colored seat in a sterile hallway next to a long row of patients, watching as a team of medics hurriedly rolls a gurney bearing an elderly woman by you. Is it a bad sign that your doctor’s recommended a booster shot? And more importantly, are you going to get to see Janet today?

You ponder those questions for about ten minutes, when you suddenly see a zaftig nurse pop out of one of the rooms lining the hallway.

“Hello? Alex Knight?” she asks, glancing around the row of patients.

“That’s me,” you say, standing up,

“The doctor’s ready to see you,” she says in a no-nonsense voice.

She makes for the door, clearly expecting you to follow, and the two of you enter the office a moment later.

“Ah, Alex, great to see you looking hale and hearty,” the doctor says as you take a seat.

He takes a couple seconds to peruse the lab report that the nurse hands him.

“How have you felt these past few weeks?” the doctor asks. “Anything unusual?”

“I feel pretty good,” you say. {if Fitness > 1} “I’m getting back in shape and eating well… all in all, it’s almost as if I’d never been hospitalized.” {else} “Still getting back into shape, and I suspect it will take some work to get back to where I was before. But all in all, nothing unusual.” {endif}

“That’s good to hear,” the doctor nods.

He flips through the rest of the pages of your report, and then pauses, frowning slightly at a line item. He leans over to the nurse and whispers something in her ear. She gives a sharp nod and leaves the room.

“So far as we can tell, you’re in the clear,” the doctor says with a kindly smile. “I’m sure it’s a relief to hear. There are no more parasitic eggs in your system to worry about.”

“Yes, doc, that is good to hear,” you say, feeling rather relieved.

“In fact, most of the lab report is good news—I’ll spare you the full rundown, but in short, your indicators are all within a range that I would call healthy, and of course, the parasites in your system have all been flushed out,” the doctor says. He pauses, and then holds up his index finger. “There’s only one thing to be concerned about. The bacteria profile that we were concerned about while you were hospitalized looks to be on the high range, so as I mentioned, we’re going to give you a booster shot to protect you against the potential consequences. Fatigue, fever, nausea and vomiting, all of which I’m sure you’d rather avoid. Ah, here comes Heather.”

The nurse returns just then, carrying a tray with a small glass vial and some other medical paraphernalia.

“Could you roll up your sleeve?” the doctor asks. “This’ll be over in a second.”

You do as he instructs, and hold your arm out stiffly. The doctor rummages among the items on the tray, preparing the needle, and he glances over at you.

“Nothing to worry about, this won’t hurt a bit,” he says in a soothing voice.

The nurse steps in with a cotton wet with some fluid, the coolness doing nothing to distract you from the very sharp looking needle in the doctor’s hands.

“Just look away and you won’t even notice it,” the doctor smiles.

You do so, meeting the stern gaze of the nurse, and then you feel the slightest prick in your arm.

“All done,” the doctor says, as the nurse swoops in and puts a bandage over the spot. “Thanks for stopping by, Alex.”

Feeling like you need to work off some jitters after that shot, you decide to go to the gym. You head to the locker room, changing into clothing more suitable for a workout. Coming out of the locker room, you crack your neck, stretching your arms out. Where to next?