(All characters are older than 18 years of age.)
"Who is next, Miss Pulliam?"
"Annie Cooper, Doctor. Acne, mild but persistent, new patient."
"Thank you. Please have her come in."
Miss Pulliam went to the door of the waiting room and called, "Miss Cooper? The doctor will see you now."
A young girl put down a magazine and rose, and came forward.
"Room 4, please, right here. Have a seat on the table and Dr. Rodgers will be right with you." Miss Pulliam slipped away then to handle some paperwork. She didn't really have any training for this job, but she was perfect. She'd been a troubled girl, almost unhireable because of certain mistakes of poor judgment at a couple of previous positions. But Dr. Rodgers had seen the value she offered, and gave her a break, and in turn, she was willing to expand the usual definition of the job a little, and do whatever was needed around the office.
Stephen Rodgers had been practicing dermatology for 17 years now, but he looked younger than he was, in great shape, with dark hair cut in a young style. He had many teenaged patients, and he found that he could exploit his youthful looks to put them a little more at ease. Especially when he explained that, not so long ago, he had suffered from multiple daily blemishes, but with a little uncomplicated treatment, he had been able diminish them more and more, until he before he knew it, he had outgrown it. When he told the teens this, they took hope and were willing to tolerate a little discomfort, knowing it would be worth it.
Rodgers knocked on the door of Room 4 then entered. Sitting at one end of the examination table in the room was a teenaged girl. Despite a few mild blemishes, her face was lovely, shaped perfectly by a delicate jawline. Her eyes were large and dark, with long lashes. Her left ear had three piercings, revealed by long hair that was tucked behind it. She smiled nervously. Her arms were crossed over her stomach, her legs pressed together. He needed to put her at ease.
"So, Miss Cooper. You'd like us to look at your acne today. We'll have to look hard; yours is a very mild case. I'll bet that when you smile, the brilliance prevents people from seeing it at all." At this, she did allow a little half-smile to emerge. He softly grasped her chin and gently moved it from side to side, as he gave her cheeks a cursory examination. "So you've probably just graduated from high school, eh? What's next for you?"
"I'm going to Piedmont State on a tennis scholarship."
"Well, congratulations! That's great." And it explained a few things, like her fitness and lithe shape, her toned arms and her spectacular legs, left fully in view by her short shorts.
"Yeah, thanks, I'm pretty excited. I'm hoping to make some of this acne go away before team photos are taken in August. It's never been really terrible like my friend Mikayla's, but it won't go down or go away, no matter what I do. I've done most of the stuff you can buy in the store, and had most of the usual treatments. My mom thought maybe we should try a new doctor."
"Well, we'll do our very best for you here, I promise." He stroked her cheek with two fingers, to feel the contours of the skin. In clinical tones he said, "We do have a treatment here that most practices don't really know about yet. It's easy and safe, painless, and affordable, and it's often worth a try, especially for stubborn cases. If it doesn't work for you, nothing's lost but a little time."
"Hmmm. Like, what do you do?"
"It's a natural salve. The body produces a cleansing and healthy fluid that is designed to help things flow, and when applied to the face it can help loosen the clogged pores. Because it's something we naturally produce, there are no negative side effects."
"Hmmm. Like, I don't know. It sounds OK. I don't know what my Mom would think."
"We can go out to the waiting room and ask her."
"She's not here. She says acne is no big deal, and that I need to start handling these kinds of things for myself, 'cause I'll be on my own soon. So she went shopping. I've kinda gotta decide what to do myself."
"I see. Well, it's up to you then, but like I say, there's nothing to lose by trying it."
"I guess." She didn't seem confident in her ability to think this through.
"Miss Pulliam, could you come in please?" he called out to the assistant."
The young woman appeared at the door. "Yes, doctor?"
"Miss Cooper is a little unsure about our proprietary treatment."
Miss Pulliam turned to the girl on the table. "Oh, let me assure you, you'll be totally pleased with the results. It's quite painless, and it's so easy. We've had a lot of girls...people try it, and they've all been happy."
"Well, OK I guess."
"Tell, you what, I'd need to take a sample to see whether it could work in your case. Why don't we do that, and you can keep thinking about how far you want to go with it."
"OK sure," Annie said. Painless, they said, so what the hell. She'd like to be able to say to her Mom, "See, I handled it. Don't worry about me."
The doctor turned away from her and opened a drawer, and pulled out some latex gloves. "Take your shorts and underwear off, please, Miss Cooper," he said, in his most clinically professional voice. Pulling just one glove on, he turned back to her, and saw her still sitting, hesitating, with the nervous expression once again. Kindly, he added, "I know it sounds a little unusual, but remember, I'm a doctor, and Miss Pulliam is right here." His tone was patient and reassuring.
Shyly, she unbuttoned her shorts, and wiggled as she pulled them forward, to clear her butt. Slowly pushing them further down her thighs, she got them to her knees, and then folded her legs up against her chest to get the shorts off her legs without dropping them. Now in just her panties, she tucked the shorts close by her. Perched on the edge of the examination table, she sat with her legs again pressed together. The fleeting moment of seeing the backs of those tennis thighs and the crotch of the girl's panties had stopped the doctor's breath for a moment, but he knew he must remain fully professional.