One Day At A Time One Shot

The ticking of the clock got louder and louder with every second that passed. The full waiting room being emptied person by person as their names were called by the nurses and doctors, yet your name seemed to be a million miles away. Wiping your sweaty palms onto your trousers seemed to do nothing and if anything made them worse and worse each time. Having a fear of doctors and specifically injections was strange, they were obviously here to help you, yet you had such a strong dislike for them, to the point that just being in the waiting room made your heart thud in your chest, your stomach turns, and it made you sweat in places you had never sweat from before.

"Y/N Y/S/N, a nurse called out from behind you." Your heart sank and the walk through to that consultation room seemed like a million miles away, but you made it. The curly-haired nurse gestured for you to go in ahead of her and to take a seat before closing the door behind her and rummaging through the cupboards for all of her supplies.

"Hello there, I am Penelope and I will be giving you your injection today, there is absolutely no reason to be nervous or scared, it will pinch just a little bit but past that you will be fine. There is very few side effects associated with this particular vaccine. Before we begin do you have any questions?" She took a seat on a stool in front of you and began putting on a pair of gloves.

"Is this absolutely necessary?" She looked confused.

"What the gloves? Well... yeah."

"No-no, the vaccine is this something that I actually need?" She must have caught on that you were a little bit worried.

"Seems as you were bit by a dog and have not had a tetanus jab yes, unless you want to not be able to breath or swallow, yes. It is important. You don't like needles huh?"

The fabric of your trousers became crumpled and damp as you clenched them as tightly as you could once she began to roll up the sleeve of your shirt.

"Nope, not really. Never been a fan." She put the needle down on her tray next to the vaccine.

"Ah, it is okay, everything will be fine. You know, my time in the army taught me that it is okay to have fears, the important part is being able to overcome them, that is what it means to be brave."

"You were in the army?" She slyly smiled and brought her phone out of her pocket.

"Uh huh, 101st airborne, staff Sargent." She held her phone out in front of you and swiped through a gallery of photos from her time deployed. "Everyday I would be petrified that we were going to roll over a bomb... or we were going to get ambushed on a patrol... but every day you know that you just have to get out and there and do it." She was still flicking through the photographs on her phone.

"Do you have any war stories?" She put her phone back into her pocket and sat up from the stool and taking her gloves off her hands.

"I could tell you them, but you would need another appointment because I am done." You gazed down at your arm to see a little ball of cotton wool stuck to your arm with surgical tape. "Yeah, I got really good at doing it with one hand and distracting people... works every time."

~*~

Written by Aaron.