The patient

You aren't entirely sure how you got here. You know your doctor recommended it and you felt like you were out of options. Yet the time between then and waking up in this single-bed hospital room is a blur. Maybe you could remember it if you tried, but at the moment you're taken by how strange this place is.

A quick rap on the door and a nurse walks into your room putting on nitrile gloves. She is serious, tall, athletic, and wearing surprisingly form-fitting scrubs. You try not to look, but she seems to have noticed your quick glance. Actually, she seems to have noticed a lot already. Dictating notes to a computer, she describes how you "present" in embarrassing detail that makes you aware of how timid you must look."Good morning, how are you feeling today?" she asks.

"I'm doing okay," you reply softly.

Suddenly, her serious face grows even more serious. She looms over you in your hospital bed and says, "for the duration of your treatment, I need you to be perfectly honest with me. This includes being honest about how you are feeling. I cannot make proper clinical decisions without proper feedback.

"So I will ask again: how are you feeling today?"

Averting her fastidious eye contact, you look down at your side and notice the medical safety straps attached to the rails of your bed.