Doctor-Patient Confidentiality: Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Two

My butt cheeks clench involuntarily, the action provoking renewed throbbing on the bruised flesh that I have to grit my teeth against. An overwhelming sense of foreboding floods my brain, and I go stiff until my muscles cramp, my body turning impossibly rigid without my permission as I try desperately to shove the thought of something else that’s stiff and rigid sliding between my—

No, no, no, no!!!

Don’t you dare even think it!

My eyes flutter rapidly, my heart palpitating in tandem with them as I fight to banish the possibility of things I’m too scared to put a name to, let alone imagine. My shoulders tense to the point of pain, and goosebumps resurface with a vengeance along the entire length of my back, making me shiver uncontrollably. I feel impossibly guarded, my upper body slouching into a hunch, wanting nothing more than to curl into myself and disappear.