I slowly shook my head. “And besides, I’m married and you know that, so why would you be asking me out knowing I’m married?”
“Don’t get it wrong, Anita, I have not asked you out..”
“Is that so?” I’d thrown back, surprised to hear him say what he said.
“So, what do you call what you were trying to do just now?”
“I was only asking to be your friend, Anita..”
“Okay,” I shrugged.
“So, am I your friend?”
“You’re not my enemy, doctor,” I answered, this time, looking into his eyes too. “But, like I said, can we get on with the business at hand?”
The man gave me that silly smile of his that irritated me to no end. I just couldn’t understand what his problem was, who told him he was a charming guy?
“Hmm, okay, no problems, I guess you simply haven’t forgiven me for starting off on the wrong with you,” he’d said to me. “But it’s alright, let’s go inside and get on with the reason you’re here.”
He led me through the door and took me into a small room not too far from his examination room. There was a small bed in the middle of the room. He asked me to take off my under wears. I did that and was about to lie on the bed when he stopped me.
“You will need to take off your dress completely,” he’d instructed, his voice as cold as ice.
“You mean, take off everything?” I asked, puzzled.
“Yes, dear, everything”, he returned calmly.
I didn’t understand. “Why do I need to take off my entire dress? Aren’t you supposed to be preoccupied only with my waist down?”
The man’s eyes turned red. I was obviously getting under his skin.
“Listen, Anita, please do not make this such a difficult job for me,” he snarled at me. “Do you really want to do this or not? Why don’t you just follow simple instruction and let’s get on with it!”
I had had enough. “Listen, doctor, I don’t understand what this is all about but I think I’ve had enough of you. Why do I have to go completely naked just because you want to perform a D&C on me?”
When I found he wasn’t saying anything, I continued. “You have asked me to take off my pants, I have done that without reluctance, now you want me to take off my dress as well? I honestly don’t understand you!”
Without waiting to hear from him, I began to put my pants back on again. The man stood there watching me. When I was done and ready to go, he turned to me.
“Do you have a serious problem with me, Anita?”
“Of course, I do!” I shot at him. “You’re making this whole thing completely difficult for me. In fact, I think I should just go and report you to the lady who brought me here!”
And, before he realized it, I’d moved past him and made my way through the door and headed straight to the reception room where my big Aunty friend was waiting for me.
At this point, the nurse that was to assist him in the theatre had joined us. The girl was puzzled, she didn’t know what was going on.
I was already out of the door when I heard the Doctor calling me back.
“Listen, Anita, let us not make such a big issue out of this..”
“I am not making a big issue out of anything!” I’d thrown back angrily at him.
“Please, come back and let’s get on with this,” he said to me. I remained at the door, unsure whether to heed his call or to simply walk away. I was staring at him with rage in my belly. The man was simply driving me nuts.
“I said come in, Anita, please…”
He repeated, trying to sound apologetic. After a brief silent moment, I stepped back inside the room.
He looked into my eyes speechlessly and then shook his head. “If you’re insisting we do it the way you want, no problem, let’s get on with it.”
I sighed heavily and dropped my bag on the only chair in the room before taking off my undies and then climbed back on the bed. From where I lay, I watched as he and the nurse began to make preparations for the evacuation. My mind began to drift. I was a little nervous. I was scared. Supposing something goes wrong? Supposing I lose my womb? What if MD gets to find out what I came here to do? A cacophony of thoughts was running through my mind. And I remembered how traumatising, how challenging life had been for me before everything changed when I met MD. And the tears started to course down my face…
…to be continued
