Jims Camp Counselor Exam

This is a work of fiction and all of the characters are 18 years of age or older. The main character is Jim, who has chosen to work at a summer camp as a counselor for the very first time. He arrives at camp to discover that his medical clearance form was never completed. In order to stay at the camp, arrangements are made for his camp physical to be done by the medical staff at the camp. The story is deliberately slow-paced and detailed as I try to explore the conversations, observations and feelings of the characters. It has both male and female characters that interact with each other in very intimate ways.

Whether it is good or bad, I look forward to your feedback. The story is presented in 8 parts.

{ P A R T 1 : I N T R O D U C T I O N }

The bus arrived at Camp Winee-Winee almost 20 minutes ago, but for some reason I was just now reaching the front of the registration line. The bus was full of young adults like me who volunteered to be camp counselors for the summer. It's the first time I've ever done anything like this. Sure, I've been to camp before -- but even that seemed like ages ago back when I was in junior high. But this time it would be different. I figured that since I just turned 18, it might be fun to be a camp counselor rather than just another camper. Who knows, I might be able to help some impressionable young camper work through their life problems. I could share my vast experience with them. Yeah, right. Or, if I was really lucky, I might actually hook up with one of the hot female counselors that I saw on the bus. Maybe even that cute redhead that I saw. She looked like she was maybe a year or two older than me, maybe 20 at the most. I think I would do anything to hook up with her. That would really be awesome.

"Hi, welcome to Camp Winee-Winee," said the cute brunette girl sitting at the table. "Can I have your name please?"

"Sure," I answered, "It's Jim -- Jim Johnson."

"Great, I have you right here on my list, Jim," she said. "This is your first time with us as a counselor, is that correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Well, we're glad you decided to join us this summer. It looks like most of the paperwork that you sent us seems to be in order," she continued, "but I do see a note next to your name indicating that we don't have your medical clearance form."

"Oh, I guess I missed that form. I downloaded and completed all of the forms that I saw on your web site," I replied. "Is that a problem?"

"Well, yes and no," she said. "Yes, it's a problem if you don't get it completed, since legally we can't allow you to be a counselor without it. There are insurance and liability issues, I'm sure you understand. And the campers arrive tomorrow morning, so timing is obviously a big problem."

It was obvious that she could see the disappointment on my face. Was she going to force me to get on the next bus out of here and leave?

"But all is not lost," she continued, "because, as you might expect, we do have some basic medical facilities here. Our camp clinic is run by a licensed doctor along with a couple of medical assistants. So we should be able to get you squared away yet today."

"That would be fantastic if you could do that," I replied.

"Not a problem at all. We prefer that our counselors take care of this before they arrive, but trust me, you won't be the only one who didn't get the clearance form signed. We always have a couple of folks who need to get it done here. It's not really that big of a deal."

After completing the remainder of my registration, she used her cell phone to call the camp clinic and confirm a time for me to arrive. She then handed me a small slip of paper to remind me of my appointment. It simply said "Confirmed clinic appointment for Jim Johnson at 4pm today. Needs medical clearance form completed."

It was now just past 10am, so I gathered my belongings, and headed in the direction of my assigned cabin.

{ P A R T 2 : T H E * S E T U P }

I looked at my watch and saw that it was exactly 3:50 when I arrived at the camp clinic. It's just a small wooden cabin nestled among the trees, just like every other building here at the camp. The only distinguishing feature is the large wooden block sign hanging above the doorway that says "Clinic". The door to the clinic is propped wide open so I walk right in.

As I enter the cabin, I immediately see her, the cute redheaded girl from the bus. She has her back to me and it looks like she is restocking a storage cabinet with supplies. She's wearing dark blue shorts and a gold polo shirt -- the official camp uniform. She obviously didn't hear me enter, so I clear my throat to get her attention.

"Oh, hello, I didn't hear you come in," she says with a smile as she turns around to greet me.

"Hi," I say in return, "I didn't mean to sneak up on you, but the door was open."

"No, problem, I opened it to air the place out. This cabin certainly needed a little fresh air," she replies. "Weren't we on the same bus this morning?"

"Now that you mention it I think we were," I answer. Of course we were on the same bus, I think to myself. How could I possibly forget someone that looks as cute as you? She probably recognized me since I didn't change into my camp uniform yet. I'm still wearing the same khaki shorts and off-white T-shirt that I wore this morning.

"I'm Jim by the way -- Jim Johnson. I'm a new counselor this year."

"It's nice to meet you Jim Johnson, I'm Stacy Reed," she replies. "What brings you to the clinic? You didn't hurt yourself already, did you?" As she's speaking she gives me the once over, obviously looking for signs of an injury.

"No, I'm fine. But at the registration table they said that I didn't turn in my medical clearance form and that it has to be completed right away. They called the clinic to setup an appointment for me today at 4." As I'm talking, I hand her the piece of paper with my appointment confirmation.

"Let me check our appointment book," she says after looking at my paper. "Sure enough, here you are, Jim Johnson medical clearance at 4, just like you said. I guess Jennifer, the other medical student took that call since I didn't know anything about it."

"So, you're a medical student?" I ask.

"Sure am," she replies, "I'm studying to be a nurse right now, and after that I will probably move into a nurse practitioner program. As I said, we have another medical student working here too, her name is Jennifer. She's in a meeting with the camp administrators until 6. And then we have one doctor, his name is Doctor Simmons. Or, at least we're supposed to have a doctor. He called earlier and said that he would be delayed in getting here today. He said it might not be until 9 or 10 tonight before he arrives. But as long as he's here before the campers arrive tomorrow, we should be OK."

"Well, if the doctor isn't here, how am I supposed to get my clearance?" I asked. It seemed like a reasonable question at the time, especially considering that someone made a 4pm appointment for me and the doctor isn't here.

"I guess it falls on me to take care of that for you," she answered with a grin.

"You can do that, even though you're not a doctor?"

"Well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure if I can. I mean, let me find the right form first and then we'll see if it's something that I can just sign or if more is required. You said you're a counselor, right?"

"That's right, does it matter?"

"Oh yes, there are different forms depending on what job you're doing," she replied. "And of course there are separate male and female forms too, but I obviously know which one of those you need."

She immediately walked behind the desk and starting rummaging through a file cabinet, looking for the clearance forms. While she was looking for the form, I took the opportunity to look around the cabin. The entirety of the cabin was a fairly large single room. They had a desk and some other office furniture in the area where we were standing, and a couple of small beds along one of the other walls. The remainder of the room was an examination area with a set of weights, a small rolling stool, and a counter top with various medical equipment and supplies on it. And of course, an exam table. There was a small free-standing divider setup right next to the doorway, but other than that, there were really no accommodations for privacy at all.

"Got it," she shouted, "I found the camp counselor's medical clearance forms. Now, let me have a quick look at the instructions and get familiar with this form."

"But aren't you already familiar with this form?" I ask. "I mean, didn't you have to get a similar clearance form signed for yourself?"

"Actually, no. For medical personnel like me they just require proof of immunizations from your own doctor. We don't have to do the same strenuous activities as you counselors, so our form is different. Like I said, there are several different kinds of forms and I've never personally seen this one before."

I moved closer to her as she begins to read the form, allowing me to read it at the same time. I was hoping that it would be a simple form with just a couple of basic questions, like "is the subject alive and breathing?" But it looked like the kind of sports physical form that I might have seen when I played sports in high school, and a fairly in-depth one at that. Scanning the list of systems to check, I saw that the form listed familiar areas like eyes, ears, heart, lungs and abdomen. It also listed musculoskeletal as a category. None of that worried me, it just meant that she would probably do a very cursory exam before signing the form. But what worried me were these words on the form: male genitourinary, hernia, testes, anus, rectum, hemorrhoids and prostate! Those are all very scary words to an 18 year old male. Very scary indeed.

"It does look like they require a basic exam," she said.

"Yeah, it does look that way," I replied. Actually, I thought to myself that it looked a little more than just a basic exam to me. "But I'm obviously healthy, so I'm assuming you can skip most of that stuff and just sign the form for me, right?"

"No, I'm pretty sure I can't do that," she replied. "This is my first year working at the camp, and I certainly don't know all of their rules yet, but I'm quite sure I'm not allowed to just sign the form without some kind of exam."

"But you said you were still a medical student, do you know how to do the exam?"

"Sure, I've had my physical assessment classes already, I got an A in them. So I should be able to handle this. And as long as I take care of the exam, the doctor can just rubber stamp his signature on the form. But you will be my very first real patient, I hope you don't mind that."

I paused for a brief moment to consider my options. Since I really needed to get this done, I decided to go ahead and have her do the exam. And if someone has to do this exam, I'd rather it be a cutie like her than some old guy. Maybe she'll just do the basic parts of the exam and skip all of the embarrassing stuff.

"Well, it seems that I really don't have a choice," I answered, "so OK, let's get this done."

Just then another guy entered the clinic. He looked like he was about my age and was wearing jeans and a red T-shirt.

"Hi, I hope I'm in the right place," he announced, "I just arrived at camp about an hour ago and was told to come to the clinic at 4 today. They said I need to get some kind of counselor's clearance form signed by you. They gave me this paper." As he spoke he handed Stacy the paper with his appointment information. Stacy took a look at it and immediately had a puzzled look on her face.

"Well, this is the clinic, so you're in the right place. But there must be a mistake," answered Stacy, "because I just checked the schedule and the only person on it for 4pm is Jim here. We were just about to start his exam. What's your name? Let me check the list to see if you're scheduled for a different time."

"Sure, it's Chris Duncan, they said my appointment was at 4."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Chris, I'm Stacy Reed, one of the medical students working here at the clinic. Oh, and this is Jim Johnson, he's another new counselor."

Chris and I exchanged a friendly handshake while Stacy checked the appointment book one more time.

"No, Chris, I'm sorry, I don't see you on the list at all. The registration desk must have made a mistake."

"Well, they made it very clear that I have to get this done right away," he said, "Otherwise I'm on the next bus out of here tonight."

"As I said," said Stacy, "I was just about to complete the same clearance form for Jim here, so could you come back at 5pm?"

"No, I can't do that," he replied, "There's a new counselor's orientation meeting at 5 which I can't possibly miss."

"Yeah, I'm in that same meeting at 5," I said.

The conversation paused for a brief moment while we all simply starred at each other, wondering what we could possibly do.

"Well then, I suppose the only solution is to try to do both of you boys at the same time," announced Stacy. "That's the only way I could possibly get both of you out of here before 5."

"Yeah, sure, I'm OK with that, as long as Jim doesn't mind," said Chris.

I wondered if Chris had any idea what he was agreeing to do. Did he have any idea what was on the clearance form or that he was volunteering to have his physical exam done in front of me? Or did he even know that an exam was required? He was probably like me and didn't have a clue about this form or what was required to complete it. He probably figured that she would just take a basic look at him and then sign the form. Did he realize that there are some really embarrassing things on that exam form? More importantly, I had to quickly decide whether I wanted my physical done, maybe including those embarrassing parts, in front of this other guy. It was bad enough having it done in the first place, but I wasn't keen on having an audience.

"Well, Jim," said Stacy as she turned toward me, "you were here first so I'll leave it up to you. But keep in mind that although I'll try to take a few shortcuts and skip a few things, I am required to check all of the major systems listed on the form -- for both of you. But it is your decision." Stacy smiled at me as she spoke.

I looked at Chris and noticed that he had a puzzled look on his face, as if he was wondering what parts of the exam Stacy was referring to. Moreover, he suddenly had a look of fear and dread on his face, as if he just realized that he might have agreed to this exam too quickly. Only now was he beginning to realize that the exam might be more than he expected and that it might include parts that are better done in private. I got the feeling that he was now looking for a way to back out. But he couldn't back out now without looking like a total pussy! He had already hastily agreed.

As I looked at Stacy smiling at me, and then over at Chris, I realized that it might be fun to embarrass this guy. I don't know exactly why I felt that way, but it seemed that this was an opportunity to maybe have a little fun at his expense. Maybe I just wanted to see his reaction as the exam progressed, to see just how embarrassed he'd get. Maybe it was the way he jumped at the exam before he really thought it through. Shit, it will be embarrassing for me too, but I don't feel like I have anything to hide. At least I've seen the form. I know there are embarrassing parts. This guy has no clue what he's in for. It might just be fun to watch. And Stacy is going to do my exam either way. Maybe she likes the strong, confident type of guy. Doing this would certainly prove to her that I'm all that.

"I'm alright with it," I answer.

"OK, then let's get started," says Stacy, "we don't have any time to waste."

She retrieved a second copy of the counselor's medical clearance form from the file cabinet and handed a copy to each of us. After instructing Chris and I to fill out the top portion of the form with our name and address, she walks toward the cabin door. She hangs a sign on the door that says "Busy with patient -- do not disturb" and then closes the door without locking it.

{ P A R T 3 : T H E * P R E L I M I N A R I E S }

"Follow me over here gentlemen," Stacy says as she walks toward the exam table. Chris and I both follow her and stand next to the table.

"I guess we'll do this alphabetically, so since Duncan comes before Johnson, that make you first, Chris. Go ahead and hop up on the table for me."

Chris climbs aboard the exam table and takes a seat. We're both still fully clothed at this point, but knowing what's on the exam form, I doubt that will last the entire exam. I'm standing just a couple of feet away from the right side of the table.

Without saying a word, Stacy retrieves a blood pressure cuff and her stethoscope and prepares to check Chris' pressure. She places the stethoscope in her ears, wraps the cuff around his left arm and begins to pump it up. With the bell of the stethoscope pressed firmly into the bare skin of Chris' arm, she records his pressure reading in no time at all.

"Your pressure is good, Chris," she says.

While she's checking his pressure, I begin to slowly back away from the exam table. I'm feeling like I'm almost hovering over the table and standing a little too close.

"Don't wander off, Jim" Stacy says to me after removing the stethoscope from her ears. "I'm going to have you swap places with Chris in just a couple of minutes. I won't make you wait through his entire exam. I don't want either of you boys to get bored."

As requested, I move back to where I was standing just a few feet away from the exam table.

She now places the probe of an electronic thermometer in Chris' mouth. As she waits for it to record his temperature, she holds his left wrist and records his pulse rate. After a few seconds, the thermometer beeps and she records the results.

"Normal temperature," she says, "that's good. Now, I'm going to do some basic neurological tests. Follow my finger with your eyes -- don't move your head." She holds her index finger in front of Chris and moves it from side to side, up and down -- watching as Chris' eyes follow it without hesitation.

"Now, squeeze my fingers," she says as she holds out both hands in front of him. "Good, no problem there." She briefly pauses to look at the instructions on Chris' form. "I'm going to skip the ears, nose and throat since you boys don't have any symptoms of an illness right now. I want to make sure we have time to check more important things."

"Can you take off your shirt please, Chris?" she orders.

Chris pulls off his red T-shirt to reveal an almost hairless chest. He does have a small patch of light brown hair near the top of his chest, and also the hint of a treasure trail leading from his naval downward. He hands the shirt to Stacy who tosses it on a chair that is against the wall.

"Jim, you might as well take off your shirt too," she orders, "that will save some time."

It doesn't seem fair that Chris got to keep his shirt on all this time and now I'm being told to take it off before my exam even begins. But she's right, it probably will save time, so I pull it off and toss it on another chair.

Stacy puts her stethoscope in her ears again and approaches Chris.

"I'm going to listen to your heart now, just breath normally."

She presses the bell against his chest, listening for a few seconds before moving to another position and listening again. She repeats these movements several times. Satisfied that is heart is OK, she now moves on to his lungs.

"Breathe deeply and hold it for me," she orders as she presses the bell of the instrument against the bare skin of his chest.

Chris' chest rises and expands as he fills it with air and holds it. Stacy listens for a brief moment before allowing Chris to release the air. She moves the bell to a different position and repeats the request. Without saying a word, she now moves behind Chris and listens to his back as he continues to take deep breaths.