Y/N'S POV
"Dr. Y/LN, you have a new patient today. Her old doctor retired and her mother said she's looking for a new one. She's been trying around and her daughter doesn't seem to like anyone." My nurse, Normani told me. I nodded my head and looked at the chart she handed me. I skimmed through the basic information and my eyes widened at what I had saw. I looked back to Normani.
"She's in her early twenties, Mani. Is there a reason her mom still has to do everything for her?" I asked. It's not like I was opposed to it or anything but I was just extremely curious. Mani looked around before motioning for me to lean in closer.
"She's severely autistic." She whispered. I nodded at the new information, everything falling into place. "The two have an appointment at two, which is in about fifteen minutes." Mani informed me. I closed the patients info and looked my best friend.
"Any advice?" I sighed out with a smile. Normani laughed and lightly hit my shoulder. Eventually she calmed down with a shake of her head. We both walked towards the front of the office so we could get what we needed from the front desk.
"All I'm saying is that the girl is very nervous around new people. She always has to have a certain routine so I'm guessing that's why she hasn't clicked with anyone since her old doctor. Just do the checkup and let's hope she doesn't hate you." She smiled. I rolled my eyes in a playfully.
"Gee, thanks." I sarcastically said. The two of us laughed in response until my name was called by one of the receptionists. I lifted my gaze and gave her my attention, handing her my last patient's records so she could file them away.
"Your two o'clock is here early whenever you're ready." Camila, the receptionist said. I gave her a smile and thanked her before I had Normani get the new patient. I had to make a quick stop at my office first but on my way I looked closer at the information provided to me. The patient I was seeing was named Lauren Jauregui, her mom Clara being the one that called. It was an ordinary routined checkup that seemed to be past due. My guess was because the two didn't like the doctors they've gone to see. When I came to my office I quickly filed out prescriptions to pharmacies where other patients needed them.
When that was done Normani stopped by my door and said that Lauren wouldn't let her take vitals. I sighed and dismissed her, making my way to the examination room. I knew this was going to be a lot more difficult than usual so I mentally prepared myself before knocking on the door and entering the room. As I opened the door I heard a raspy voice. "You can-can come in." I couldn't help but smile to myself. I was already halfway into the room when she said it.
"Hey guys, my name is-" Before I could even state my name, the one I'm presuming as Lauren cut me off with her own greeting. She was really amusing to me. "Hi Lauren. I'm Dr. Y/LN." I held out my hand to her mom first, the older woman shaking my hand with a smile of her own. When I held my hand out to Lauren she instead pointed at me.
"What's that on your-on your neck?" After she pointed she immediately started biting at her nails nervously, rocking back and forth. I looked down to see my stethoscope. I smiled and squatted down in front of the smaller girl after placing her records on the counter. I took the stethoscope off of my neck and held it up to her. Lauren instantly cowered away and clung onto her mom.
"It's okay honey, she's just showing you what it is." Clara whispered. At her words Lauren seemed to loosen up a little bit she was still extremely apprehensive. I didn't move, letting the green eyed girl grow accustomed to me and also letting her know that I was of no harm to her.
"They go into your ears." I demonstrated by opening them up and placing them in my ears, holding up the opposite side. "This side lets you hear someone's heartbeat and their breathing." I took the stethoscope out of my ears and held it up once again. Before I could continue Lauren cut me off with her own question.
"Why would you need to listen-to listen to someone's heart-heartbeat." She stuttered. As time passed by she seemed to become more relaxed. The action was causing a smile to break out on my face. She even leaned forward to inspect the instrument.
"If someone's heartbeat is too fast, or too slow, then there could be a problem. Same with their breathing, so I'd have to know so that I can fix it." I knew Lauren wanted to see them so I placed the stethoscope in her hands softly. "You can try them. Here, you can listen to my heartbeat." I offered. I helped Lauren place them in her ears the right way and I placed the other end on my chest, right above my heart. It was silent.
"Mom! I can-I can hear it! It's-it's her heartbeat!" Lauren cheered. I smiled when she tried to get her mom to listen too. The smaller girl took the stethoscope out of her ears and looked at them in pure amazement. She looked back at me with the biggest smile on her face.
"Do you want to listen to your own heartbeat?" I asked. Lauren nodded erratically so I placed the other end on her chest when she placed it back in her ears. I waited until she was cheering again that she heard it. When she took it out of her ears she practically shoved it back in my face.
"Listen! Is it-is it bad? Do I need-need to be fixed?" She questioned rapidly. I mentally cheered to myself that I was able to take her vitals. I listened to her heartbeat and looked at my watch for six seconds. I counted the beats and added a zero on the end to see what it would've been for her total heartbeats in a minute. I wrote it down on my paper after I expressed to Lauren that it was perfectly normal.
"Can I listen to your breathing now? I have to make sure that's okay too." I asked softly. Once again Lauren nodded eagerly but instead of just handing me the stethoscope she decided to put it in my ears herself. "Alright Lauren can you lean forward for me? I have to listen to your lungs but I can only hear if I can place this part on your back." I showed her the opposite end of the stethoscope so she wouldn't be surprised by it.
The smaller girl followed as I said and leaned forward. "Can I have you take a deep breath for me?" I asked. Lauren breathed in deeply from her mouth and released her breath the same way. "Again, please." I moved the stethoscope and had her repeat the same process a couple more times as I went down the expanse of her back. "Your breathing is perfectly normal as well. Can you come sit down on the table?" I pointed to the examination table.
"I uh-I want my mom with me-with me though." Lauren spoke quietly. I looked over at Clara expectantly and she was quick to nod her head, belong Lauren to stand up and sit back down on the examination table. While she was sitting there Lauren held onto her mother's hand as she kicked her feet back and forth.
"I'm going to use this light," I held up the instrument in my hand. "To look into your eyes first. If that's okay. Do you want to use it first?" I held it up to Lauren. Her fingers brushed against mine as she took the instrument and examined it. She nearly blinded herself when she pointed the light in her eye causing me to hold in my laugh. Even Clara had to prevent herself from laughing.
"Oww. That-that hurt. Is it gonna-gonna hurt when you-when you do it?" Lauren handed me the instrument again. I shook my head with a smile. The green eyed girl started biting at her nails while rocking back and forth.
"No, you're not supposed to look straight into the light. It'll be quick, I promise." I said. Lauren took her hand away from her mouth to look at me quizzically, her head tilted to the side.
"Promise?" I nodded my head at her words. "Okay." She hesitantly said. I made sure the light was on before looking back into Lauren's eyes. Her eyes moved around the room hyperactively.
"Lauren can you look right into my eyes. You can't move your eyes okay? Just look at me." I said softly. The green eyed girl nodded and looked into my own. I slowly reached up with my opposite hand to tilt her chin up just a little bit. When I was about to pull away, Lauren grabbed my wrist and kept it there. I quickly shone the light in her left eye before moving onto the right. As I went to go write the information down she wouldn't let go of my hand. "Lauren I have to write this stuff down."
"But I-I like it when you-you touch me. Your hand is-is very warm. It makes me-makes me feel good." She happily stated. My eyes strayed to Clara who held her hand to her mouth, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. "Why you-why you crying mom?" Lauren asked. Since her attention was on her mother I easily slipped away to write down her information before standing right in front of her.
"Sorry I'm just really happy." Clara choked out but she still managed to keep a smile on her face. Lauren shrugged her shoulders, not minding her mom after that. I chuckled to myself before stepping to the side of Lauren, so I was on her left.
"I'm going to use this again to look in your ears, then I have to look at your throat, and then finally I have to look in your nose to make sure you're not getting sick." I said. Lauren nodded and rocked back and forth. "Lauren can I have you stay still for a second?" She stopped at my words. I quickly moved along, knowing Lauren couldn't stay still for long. As I placed a scope on the instrument, I put it in her ears only for her to move her head away from me with a squeal.
"That-that tickles!" She giggled. Lauren rubbed her ear pretty violently to rid of the feeling. Eventually she let me look in her ears still with some difficulty but we managed. I went to the counter and grabbed a tongue depressor before standing in my spot.
"Alright Lauren I gotta look at your throat now okay?" I asked and she quickly nodded, pointing to the piece of wood in my hand. "This isn't going to hurt. I just use this to push down your tongue so I can see your throat." I held it up.
"Can I-can I use it on-on you?" Lauren was already grabbing the wood from my hand. I chuckled and bent down so that she could use it. I opened my mouth and stuck out my tongue, only now realizing that this probably wasn't professional. Lauren placed the depressor on my tongue and took a look. "You're all good-good doc." She said causing me to laugh out loudly as she handed me the depressor.
"Thank you Lauren, but it's your turn now." I went to throw the depressor away and get a new one. "Can you stick your tongue out for me and say 'ah'?" Lauren did as I said and I placed the depressor on the back of her tongue, using the light to look at her throat. When I was done I threw the depressor away and moved onto Lauren's nose. I tilted her head back by her chin and quickly looked before she could say anything. When that was all done I placed the instrument back on the wall and recorded everything on the patient info.
The whole time, Lauren made sure that she was either holding my hand in hers or holding it against her face. When doing things like taking her blood pressure, it was hard trying to work with only one hand. Both Clara and I were surprised when Lauren no longer held her mother's hand, both of hers focused on my own. After finishing her vitals by taking her temperature, Lauren began to rock back and forth on the table while biting her nails.
Clara had gone to sit back in her seat by now since Lauren wasn't holding her hand. I handed Lauren a picture and some crayons before sitting in the seat next to her mother. "Okay is there anything specific you would like me to look at?" I asked quietly. Clara watched Lauren color before taking a deep breath and shrugging her shoulders.
"She said her back has been bothering her but that's about it. We just needed to make sure nothing was wrong." Clara explained. I nodded and stood up again. I made my way to Lauren and saw that she was pretty deep in her coloring.
"Lauren can you step down from the table? You can keep coloring I just need to look at your back." I helped her get down and she instantly turned around so that she could keep coloring. I ran my thumb across the expanse of her spine, not finding anything. "Where does it hurt?" I asked.
Lauren simply shrugged her shoulders. "Okay," I mumbled. "Can you touch your toes? After this we'll be all done and I won't bother you anymore." I leaned against the table. Lauren didn't say anything again, she just kept coloring. I waited to gain my bearings, knowing this was going to be difficult. "Lauren I won't bother you anymore."
"But I'm coloring." She said. I sighed and just waited a couple more minutes as I tried to figure out what I was going to do. Before I had the chance of doing anything Lauren stepped back from the table and looked at me with the biggest smile on her face. "I will-I will let you check-check my back now." She bent over to touch her toes. I looked back at her mother with an incredulous look on my face only for her to shrug her shoulders.
"Alright, I'm just going to make sure your spine is not curving. After I look I'll find something to hopefully make you feel better okay?" I said softly. Lauren hummed in approval before she went on to hum a song to herself. I stood to the side of her before running my fingers along her spine again. When I couldn't find anything I mentally cursed myself before standing behind the green eyed girl, and avoided her mother's eyes. I didn't know why I was being so awkward about this.
I made sure there wasn't anything out of the ordinary and eventually I realized that there wasn't anything wrong. I patted Lauren on the back as a signal that I was done. "Okay, I didn't find anything wrong so my recommendation would be to see a chiropractor. She may just need her back popped. But if she's still in pain after that or it's worse, let me know and we'll set something up to dive in deeper." I nodded my head as Lauren returned to her coloring page.
"I know this might be a lot to ask but can you go with us? I can already tell that Lauren loves you, and she's comfortable with you so I feel like it'd go a lot smoother if you went. Only if you want that is." Clara asked. Before I had the chance to respond Lauren perked up and clapped her hands.
"Yes!" She exclaimed. Soon after I was pulled into a tight hug by the smaller girl. I smiled and hugged back but Lauren didn't pull away. Clara awkwardly smiled and motioned for Lauren to let go. "No mom. I like-I like hugging Dr. Y/LN." Lauren said.
"You can call me Y/N." I said. "But it's okay. I'll walk you guys out. Come on Lauren." I motioned for them to go first. As Lauren and I started walking she removed herself from hugging me only to cling onto my arm, her fingers interlaced with mine. While passing my office, Normani stood starstruck at the fact that I had made Lauren comfortable so fast. I laughed at her expression until we reached the front desk. "Camila, can you sign them out?" I asked. She nodded and talked to Clara. "Lauren do you want a sticker or anything?" I reached over the counter to grab the small container of stickers to hold out to Lauren.
The green eyed girl perused the collection of stickers and eventually found a couple she liked. "Can I-can I take these ones?" She held up three of them. I nodded my head with a smile and put the container back in its place. "You're my new best friend!" Lauren squealed as she hugged me once more. As I looked back up to Clara she was watching our interaction with a smile, being already done with the check out and everything.
"Come on Lauren we have to go." She softly said. Lauren shook her head against my chest and mumbled out her disagreement. I motioned for her to go as I smiled back.
"I'll walk you guys out, if you want to lead the way. I'll help you get her in the car." I said. Clara nodded and I followed her out of the building to her car. "Alright Lauren, you have to go back home and I got to go back to work. Okay?" I said as I opened the passenger door for her. She shook her head and fought against me so that she wouldn't get in the car. I didn't force her, I just stood to the side and looked at Clara for some help.
"Lauren we have to go." She said. "We'll come back soon okay? We'll come back to see her." Clara tried to touch Lauren's arm but she moved out of her hold, clinging onto me.
"No! I don't wanna go-go home!" She screamed loudly. I started to panic. Clara just stepped to the side and let her do her thing, obviously knowing how to deal with this. But I just didn't understand why she let me stand in the middle of this. Why couldn't she just have helped me. "I don't wanna leave my-my new friend Y-Y/N!" Lauren yelled.
"Lauren listen to me. Listen to me." I softly grabbed both sides of her face. She was even on the verge of crying, and I immediately felt bad. "If it's okay with your mom, you can come visit me sometimes and we can hang out, okay? We'll hang out lots because that's what best friends do." I smiled and Lauren nodded, furiously rubbing her teary eyes. "But in order for us to hang out you have to listen to your mom from now on. If you're not being good we can't hang out, and believe me when I say I want to hang out with you. She'll tell me if you're not behaving." I just came up with a bunch of bullshit.
"Okay." Lauren choked out. I helped her sit down in the car and eventually closed the door when she was settled in. I turned to Clara who had her hand over her mouth. She made her way to me and threw her arms around me. These girls love hugging.
"You're so good with her, thank you so much. I wouldn't bother about this if it wasn't drastic but can you spend more time with her? She really needs it." Clara asked softly. I nodded my head quickly as I took a glance at the green eyed girl in the car.
"Yeah definitely. Here I'll give you my card just in case." I handed her my business card from my coat pocket. "If you ever need anything, just call me and I'll be sure to be there." I smiled. Clara thanked me once again before making her way to her car, getting in and starting to to drive away. Lauren had rolled down the window so that she could stick her head out, her hand waving in the air.
"Bye-bye Y/N!" She yelled as the car got further away. I waved back until they were out of view, to where I dropped my hand back down to my side. I don't know how long I stood there before I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked back to see Normani looking at me with a teasing look on her face.
"Come on miracle worker, you got more patients to look over." She said already turning back to walk into the building. I took one last glance at where the car left before jogging back into the building, a certain raven haired girl on my mind.
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I'm really excited for this one
Also this book will stay in Y/N's POV unless stated otherwise