Call Me Chris
All persons, places, and organizations are fictional or used fictitiously. The female lead character and her general appearance and personality are based on a real person who I would have loved in a slightly different world, but the circumstances in the story and her profession are entirely fictitious. Nothing remotely like it happened it real life, no matter how much I might wish it did.
I'm Jake Masters. The year was 2000. At the start of this story, I was about 25 years old, about 6' 2" and proportionate weight (usually about 180), fairly but not outstandingly handsome, brown hair and blue eyes. I'm a lifelong resident of the Phoenix area. I got my degree in Business Administration at Arizona State. I didn't earn a scholarship, but between what my parents could spare and what I earned with part-time work, I wasn't burdened with too much student debt. After college I got an entry level office job at the ACME Widget Company. My plan was to work my way up in the organization if possible or move on to another company if that worked out better.
Everything was going fine until a Thursday evening when I was ready to leave work. My boss Hector stopped me and said "We have some signed legal documents that need to go across town to our lawyers so they can be filed tomorrow morning. They can't accept a fax; they need the originals. The courier service that was supposed to pick them up flaked. Take them across town and we'll put a little extra in your paycheck."
I readily agreed, as Hector was a nice guy to work for and I could use the extra money. I took the documents, went out to my car, and drove over to the lawyer's office. Little did I realize how my life was about to change. I was within sight of the building when a drunk driver blew through a red light at about 60. He broadsided me. I woke up in a hospital about three hours later. The nurse called for the doctor to come talk to me and said, "there is a Phoenix police officer here to take your statement." She sent him in.
The officer said "this looks open and shut, but I need your statement. We have a witness, a secretary who was looking out the window, waiting for those documents. The drunk driving the other car didn't make it."
I told him what I remembered, he wrote all down and left. He gave me a business card with the report number on it "in case you need it for insurance. Hope you get better soon." He left and Hector walked in. Hector asked me how it was doing, then said "Jake, don't worry about work, we will keep your job open as long as you need. You were working for us when this happened, our insurance has this, it won't cost you a cent. Hector took his leave and the doctor walked in.
He started off, "you were lucky hit as hard as you were. We did X-rays, a CAT scan, and some tests while you were out. No broken bones, no neurological damage except a mild concussion, no organ damage except for some bruising. We'll keep you for forty-eight hours for observation just in case, then we need to decide where to go from there. Your back and neck are really in bad shape."
The next evening, the doctor stopped by just after dinner. He laid out my options. "You're going to be discharged the day after tomorrow. First option is for you to go to skilled nursing, you'll be in traction for a while, then rehab. The other choice is a group of chiropractors were sometimes work with in cases like yours."
Took me about a split second, "I'll take door number two, thanks". A real no brainer. The doctor wrote out a copy of the referral and said, "I'll fax them". I went home Monday morning and called the chiropractors' office and set an appointment for the next morning.
My appointment was for 10AM Wednesday. I had a loaner car from insurance (mine was totaled) but I hurt too much to drive just yet, so I rode the bus and arrived at 9:45. I checked in with the receptionist and took a seat. Promptly at ten, she said "Doctor Johnson will see you now", walking over to the closed door on the left to open it for me. I noticed the nameplate on the door: Christine Johnson D.C.
I had expected a chiropractor would be a burly dude who looked like a cross between an M.D. and a longshoreman. Shows how much I knew. Then for a moment I idly wondered if I'd meet a burly woman who looked like a cross between a nurse and a lumberjack. I don't remember ever being so happy to be wrong in my life.
What I did see was a very attractive woman. She was about 5'9", a little bit on the hefty side of average but not fat at all. Her honey blonde hair was in a ponytail, her eyes we a deep blue, her smile was warm and genuine. She looked to be a little older than me, perhaps 27. She was dressed informally, wearing tight-fitting jeans and an Arizona Diamondbacks jersey. She had the look of a classic tomboy, yet underneath her femininity reached out and touched me, it was so obvious. The 36C's didn't exactly detract from the impression. She was simply breathtaking. I was between girlfriends at the time, and I felt a distinct tickling in my crotch.
Dr. Johnson was the first to speak. "Mr. Masters, welcome. I'm Doctor Christine Johnson, but please call me Chris." I answered "pleased to meet you, Chris. Please call me Jake." She then asked "I have your file here. Where does it hurt the most?" "Between the should blades, but I hurt everywhere between my pelvis and my skull" was my answer. She directed me to lie down on the table face down. It looked like a massage table but more complicated. I lay down and she began the examination.
Her fingers poked and probed quite a bit; it wasn't very comfortable to say the least. Then she turned my head abruptly and I heard a cracking sound. That hurt quite a bit, but after it was over, my neck pain was less than it had been before. "Next I work on your back". She then proceeded to grab me in what wasn't quite a bear hug, and I thought the crack could be heard in the next room. Not pleasant, but I did feel better afterwards.
