Memory Lane

Chapter Thirteen

We got close to 150 votes last chapter but didn't quite make it! Maybe this chapter? :)

"How many things have to happen before something occurs to you?" - Robert Frost

Memory Lane: Chapter Thirteen

The irritation on my legs has slipped away almost entirely by the time of my dermatologist visit on Monday. Though my appointment wasn't for another two hours, Aunt June picked me up early from school and handed over the keys without even having to ask. The distance from Bennington to Wallingford is just under an hour, but that's only if you take the quickest route: Memory Lane. Otherwise, the trip becomes closer to an hour and a half drive. I appreciate that Aunt June understood without me having to say that I would be taking the longer route.

Now, I'm sitting on the uncomfortable examination table paper, feeling it crinkle underneath me every time I shift my body. Aunt June offered to come into the room with me, but at seventeen years old I think it's time I visit the doctor without a legal guardian present.

A knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts and in walks my dermatologist, Dr. Collins. She's a tall, lanky woman with cold hands but kind, amber eyes with crinkles in the corners that reveal her older age. Something in her gentle appearance has always comforted me in these check-ups.

"How are you doing today, Laura?" She asks as she reaches for the giant bottle of no-name sanitizer on the dark blue counter. Her voice is professional, which allows me to have full trust in her, with the perfect dose of genuine friendliness.

"I'm okay," I say, shifting slightly and cringing at the loud crinkle of the paper beneath me.

Dr. Collins gives me a slow onceover as she nods, rubbing the sanitizer into her skin. "Okay. That's good. But how are you doing?"

I smile slightly. Cutting through the niceties, I guess.

"Not great, then. I think I've been pushing myself a little too hard."

She leans her back against the counter as she continues to rub the sanitizer over her hands. "In what ways?"

"I've been walking to school."

I instantly look away from her amber eyes when her sympathy evolves into pity. As my doctor, she knows all about the crash. I clear my throat before continuing.

"I know I'm not supposed to be exerting too much physical energy, so I've been going slow. But there were a couple of days last week that someone walked with me and they were going too fast. Stupidly, I tried to keep up and my legs did not agree. They bothered me all week after that."

Dr. Collins begins typing away at the swivel-top screen mounted on the counter, nodding along as I continue to explain the pains I've been experiencing.

"I know I may sound like a broken record here, but keep in mind that you've been having an issue with blood circulation since the surgery," Dr. Collins begins, laying a careful eye on me. "Because of that your skin has been extremely slow to heal. I was hoping it wouldn't cause any more hindrances, but it sounds like it may be. You need to continue to take things slow, okay?"

"I know. I didn't mean to irritate the skin so much."

"Well, let's take a look," she says.

For the next few minutes, she examines my skin with a few murmurings of approval that set my racing heart at ease.

"I can see that you've irritated the skin, certainly, but you haven't done any additional damage. You're simply still slow to heal, which is okay."

I nod, letting out a deep, pent up breath of relief. Then I eye her cautiously. "No more dressings, though... right?"