Page 31 of Under Rusted Stars

“I was not prepared for another person to be in that bathroom,” he laughs nervously. I gasp dramatically, and he grins.

“Is your toy in there, Bodhi?” I ask.

“Yes,” he says. “I can get rid of it so you don’t have to…”

“No,” I say with a smile. “What if you need it?”

“If I need it, it will be because you want to use it on me, Liv,” he says, thinking that will scare me off.

“Cool. So leave it out,” I say, slipping past him and going into the bathroom. I see the toy is sitting on the counter. It looks like he cleaned it, and it’s on a hand towel to dry. Up close, it really puts it into perspective on how big his dick is. Now that I’m curious… “Want to shower with me?”

“I do,” he says as he turns the shower on. “But we need to talk before we go any further.”

“I agree,” I sigh. “I… There’s a chance… I don’t know how to say this.”

“All at once,” he says.

“I might have herpes,” I say. “Maybe… I don’t actually know, but the internet is a scary place.”

“Why do you think you have herpes?” he asks, cupping my cheek. “But I also want to preemptively say that even if you did, there are medications you can take and precautions to keep it from being passed to someone else. It’s not uncommon, and it doesn’t make you gross or anything. It’s just one of those things.”

“I… So… I don’t know how to explain this,” I sigh. “I have a bump… A rather large bump… It’s gotten pretty fucking painful in the last few days. I actually planned on going to the clinic after I get court handled.”

“Pause,” he laughs. “Sweetheart, you do know I am a doctor, right?”

“What?” I ask. “No. I didn’t know that. At the clinic?”

“I own the clinic,” he says. “I have a handful of physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners, so I don’t have to always be there. What did you think I did?”

“Hell, I don’t know,” I laugh. “I figured you’d mention your job eventually.”

“I started classes in high school. I’ve been running the clinic for a while now,” he says. “So explain it however. I deal with farmers most of the time, but I am trained to handle women and basic gynecological care.”

“Shit… Okay… So uh…”

“Let’s start here,” he says. “Where is it?”

“My vagina,” I say. “Well… Like the entrance…”

“Ah, like off to one side?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I say. “It’s come up before, especially when I’d be assaulted repeatedly without lubricant or anything. Or if someone used something stupid, like lotion.”

“I’d be willing to bet it’s a Bartholin’s cyst,” he says. “It’s a fluid-filled pocket that forms when the opening of a Bartholin's gland becomes blocked… You have two of these tiny glands, one on each side of your vaginal opening. Their normal job is to produce a small amount of fluid to keep the area lubricated. When a blockage occurs, that fluid has nowhere to go, so it backs up and expands the tissue like a small, water-filled balloon. If yours is large and painful, it might be infected.”

“How does it get fixed?” I ask.

“Well, there is a quick procedure that can be done,” he says. “In layman’s terms, I could cut the cyst open and drain it. To prevent it from happening again, it can be done in a way that keeps the gland open to prevent blockages on that side.”

“Fucking ow. You want to slice up my pussy?” I ask, and he laughs.

“I would numb the area very well,” he says. “Dissolvable sutures, so you’d be good to go in short order.”

“Sorry I killed the mood with my vagina cyst,” I say, and he smiles.

“Liv, you didn’t kill anything,” he says, cupping my face and gently kissing me. “How about this… If you are okay with it, I’d like to at least make sure it’s not infected. If it is, it needs to be taken care of now.”

“And if not?” I ask.