High Heels and Pink Glitter (18+) COMPLETE, FREE TO READ CHICK LIT

Bad, Bad News

As a rule, Nate loathed GP surgeries. As a healthy specimen himself, he'd had little need of his local GP over the years. Being a parent, on the other hand, gave you that familiarity with doctors' surgeries – small, cramped rooms, out of date posters exhorting you to get the flu jag and ancient magazines that featured gruesome real-life stories, recipes and knitting patterns.

The clinic, as usual, was running late. Nate's appointment was for 2.30pm and now it was quarter past three. His nerve had deserted him five minutes ago. Another five minutes and...

"Nate Walker."

To his horror, the person who stood in the doorway calling out his name was not his usual GP, a 40-something bloke who'd been at the practice since medical school. This GP was a woman, a young Asian who barely looked old enough to vote. He considered ignoring her and then bolting as soon as she went away.

The receptionist was looking at him. He'd checked in so she knew his name.

Following the GP into her room – another cramped tiny space occupied by a too-large desk, chair and PC, and an examination bed – he wondered if there was anything else he could pretend to have. But what he did have worried him too much. Honesty it was, then.

"Now, how can I help you?"

His chair was to the side of her desk instead of in front of it. Perhaps it was meant to make the doctor feel less like a headmaster at school.

Nate had gone over what he would say several times, rehearsing the words in his head until they sounded clear. The words and sentences flooded his mind now, jumbling up and falling over each other.

"I've got a wee bit of a temperature, I'm a bit tired and, er..." Unable to say anything further, he pointed at his groin. Temperature or not, he felt uncomfortably warm.

"Ah. I see. I'll just take your temperature, shall I?" She whipped out a thermometer and told him to stick it under his tongue.

"Mmm. 39 degrees. That is a bit higher than it should be. What are your other symptoms?"

Staring at the floor so that he did not need to look at her, Nate mumbled. "I've got this...thing on my cock, sorry I mean, penis. And it, er, hurts."

"You've never had anything there before?" Her matter of fact manner helped.

"No."

"I can get one of my male colleagues in to examine you, if you prefer?"

Weighing up the embarrassment factor in his head, Nate decided letting Dr Khan examine him was the least of two evils. Having two doctors in the know was more than he could bear.

"No, it's okay."

Once he had confirmed that he was sure, she got him to hop up on the examination bed and told him to remove his trousers and pants. Funny, how unerotic that sentence became when used in this context.

Dressed once more, he sat at the desk.

"You have genital herpes."

"Oh. God." Nate buried his head in his hands, shame washing over him in hot waves. He felt as if he was being washed in hot gravel, a prickling, uncomfortable sensation that made him long for fresh air and wide open spaces.

The doctor's voice was gentle. "It's easy to treat. Symptoms vary from person to person, but some people only get an attack of it once. Other people get flares up from time to time. The first incidence of it is the worst. You can manage it with acyclovir. I'll write you a prescription for it."

She scribbled on a pad.

"For the raised temperature, drink plenty of water, eat lightly and take a few days off work if you can. You don't want to be doing anything too strenuous."

"How did I get it?" Nate clenched his fists. Short as they were, he could feel his nails digging into his palms.

"The most common cause is unprotected sex with someone who has it. People are only contagious when they themselves are experiencing an attack."

She paused, handing over the prescription and watching him carefully.

"If you aren't lucky enough to escape with only one attack, herpes is for life I'm afraid. It tends to flare up when your immune system is compromised. In winter, for example, or when you're overdoing it work. What do you do, Mr Walker?"

Dazed, he told her he was a personal trainer and she nodded approvingly. "Well, that's one thing. I'm sure you are a fit and healthy individual. With any luck, you might only get the one attack and if you don't, you'll be able to fight off subsequent attacks much more easily."

She picked up a note pad and scribbled something down.

"Here. These are some websites you can look at. They tell you about herpes, what it is, how to live with it and how to minimise attacks when they come on. It's very, very common and most, if not all of us, have some form of the herpes simplex virus in our bodies"

Nate stood up, desperate to leave. This had to count as the most embarrassing ten minutes of his life.

Just before he reached the door, Doctor Khan spoke up once more.

"Ah, you ought to tell the person you slept with. She – or he – might not know they have it. It's best to be on the safe side. You can have sex while you are experiencing an attack, but you must use a condom."

"Thanks," Nate muttered, and fled.

Out on the street, he got into his car and drove to a chemist on the other side of the city. There was no way he was handing in a prescription for herpes treatment at his local pharmacy. Glancing in his mirror, he noticed he was still flushed, the image of the doctor telling he had a sexually transmitted disease fresh in his mind.

Anger had set in half way through the appointment.

The filthy, filthy slut How dare she give him an STD. How dare she not tell him of the risks and... and...

He'd known it must be too good to be true. The thought of that made him want to cry.