Anne Gallagher

I told you to stop objectifying women

"He's had this rash for over a month." Fiona points out to Jeremy. Since getting on her family plan for insurance, she's wanted to make sure we were all in tip top shape, and got physicals done by someone who wasn't at the free clinic. They kinda sucked when it came to exams.
"It's eczema. I'll send you home with a cream." Jeremy continues to look over Carl's arm.
"Who are you texting, Debs?" Fiona asks.
"Her boyfriend." Carl says as I start to make kissing noises.
"Shut up you two." Debbie shoots back.
"You have a boyfriend?" Fiona asks.
"I don't tell you everything." Debs rolls her eyes, getting an attitude.
"You used to." Fiona sighs.
"Don't worry, Fiona. You still have me." I smile, trying to cheer her up.
"All right, Carl, let's see your pits." Carl takes his shirt off for Jeremy to look over. "Oh, look there, you got a couple sprouts coming in."
"I've got some down below too. Think we can get a hot nurse in here to check those out?" He smirks.
"We'll take your word for it." Jeremy starts feeling Carl's neck. "Sounds like you are going through the throes of puberty."
"Stress of it all is giving me headaches. Might need some oxy or something."
"Frank back at the house?" Jeremy questions Fiona.
"Yep."
"He's dying!" Carl points out.
"His bed. He made it."
"We've got a whole file on Frank here. We aren't supposed to give him anything more than tylenol."
"You think my new insurance covers the pill?"
"It does." Jeremy nods. "Co-pay is 5 bucks."
"Damn, that's much better than waiting two hours at planned parenthood."
"I wanna go on the pill." Debbie says to Jeremy.
"What? No." Fiona argues. "You haven't even gotten your period yet."
"Donna Doty got her period." Carl says, putting his shirt back on.
"What?" Debbie exclaims. "She's nine!"
"And she's riding the cotton pony."
"This isn't fair!"
"I haven't started mine yet, either, Debbie. It'll come." She rolls her eyes at me and storms out of the room.
"That's the spirit, Anne." Jeremy smiles, writing a prescription. "Here's the eczema cream." He rips the paper off the pad. "And this one is for birth control."
"While you got that thing out, anything for pain meds?"
"Over the counter stuff should work just fine."
"Ugh, this isn't fair." Carl groans, hoping off the exam table.
"Welcome to the wonderful world of teenagers." Jeremy smiles. "Anne, wanna hop up here?" I nod and sit on the exam table. "Now, I'm gonna have to check you over twice, okay?"
"Twice?"
"I'm going to have to trigger your FA. Make sure little you is okay too. Mentally and physically."
"But wouldn't physically only take the once over?"
"Well, sometimes, for example, you may feel a small pinch in your stomach and think nothing of it. But little Anne may feel a big tummy ache. Things may seem bigger and more intense for you in that state."
"Okay." I nod. "I want that side of me to not be afraid of our body and what it does." He reads over my chart. "Okay, let's get older you checked out first." He feels my throat, and listens to my heart. "Any troubles?"
"Just a little tired."
"Well, to be expected. You've had a long year, medical wise." He takes the stethoscope off me. "Unfortunately, I do have to take blood today though."
"What for?"
"To check on your blood cell count. I also wanted to discuss the option of maintenance therapy with you guys."
"What's that?" Fiona asks. "Cause you know we don't do therapy."
"It's nothing mental. It's for her cancer."
"I thought it was gone."
"She's in remission. That means there is still a possibility of it coming back. And because she is still a child, there could be long lasting effects from the treatments we've already given."
"What kind of effects?"
"Well, there's the ones that affect her mind, such as learning and memory problems, emotional issues like anxiety or depression. Then we have our physical effects. Sexual development and fertility issues, heart problems, lung problems, growth and hormone issues. And there's hearing and vision problems that can occur."
"Jesus Christ."
"It's a lot, I know. I have a great website to help you guys learn more about all of this stuff." He writes it on a piece of paper and hands it to Fiona. "I'm also gonna write a referral to a dentist, as Anne hasn't lost all her baby teeth yet." He starts to prepare the needle for the blood test, and I can feel my heart rate speed up. "Carl, I need you to sit with her." Carl hops up onto the bed next to me. "I want you to watch me do this. Your FA is going to kick in when I do this, so be prepared." I nod, and let out a shaky breath. The needle gets closer, my breathing gets heavier, and my head gets fuzzier. I look up at Carl, shaking my head.
"No, bubba, no needle." Before he could respond, the needle was put into my arm.
"Shh, it's okay." Carl wipes away a tear I didn't know I had. "The hard part's over, right Jeremy."
"That's right. I think there might be a sticker and a cool band aid in your near future, too."
"I like cool band aids." I smile, watching the blood leave my body. "Don't like how I get them though."
"I don't either, but we have to make sure our favorite patient is not just happy, but healthy too." He pulls the needle out and puts a pastel pink bandaid on it.
"Pretty." I say, holding it up to show Carl.
"Very pretty."
"So, Anne, how have you been feeling? Any icks or ouchies lately?" I shook my head in response. "Good! I like to hear that. How are your feelings? Are you more happy, or sad? Maybe you've been angry?"
"Happy. But I was sad once when sissy didn't make dinner when she said she would. Was supposed to be spaghetti."
"I got home too late. She threw a bit of a tantrum. But I brought home pizza."
"So Anne was probably uncomfortable or scared of the last minute change. It's normal for kids in the same maturity range as little Anne. And when she was kidnapped, there is a possibility that she got so used to having a schedule that it can throw her out of whack when something goes differently than what she's been told."
"Even now? It's been years since they were taken."
"It can be a trigger. Not always, but sometimes maybe if she's experiencing heavy emotions or stressful situations. Tell me, what are her tantrums like?"
"They're really weird. All of the rest of our siblings would scream and cry and stomp around. She doesn't. It's like she acts even younger. She'll cry, of course, but she won't speak. Her thinking is a little more irrational. She talks to her stuffed animal, and she'll stumble on her words like she doesn't exactly know what she's saying."
"That's regressing. She's going back to an even earlier time in her life to make her feel safe."
"Safe from not getting spaghetti when I said I'd make it?"
"Safe from big emotions and change."
"I make decisions for her when she gets like that. I didn't know it had a name." Carl pipes up.
"That's probably why she does it sometimes. If you make decisions for her, she has that sense of security and knows there won't be much change, and if there is, that you're gonna guide her through it."
"So is this something we need to work on?"
"Not at all. It's probably the most healthy thing for her. But Carl, I want you to start talking to her. Like, asking her what's wrong, what you guys could do to try and fix the situation, things like that."
"I'll work on it." Carl nods.
"All right, I guess that's it. You guys are good to go. Anne, would you like a lollipop?" I nod my head. He reaches into a drawer on the counter, and pulls out a pink lollipop.
"Pink!" I hold out my hand. "Thank you!"
"You're welcome. I want to see you guys back next week to talk more about maintenance therapy, okay?"
"We can do that." Fiona nods. "See you next week." She leads us out of the room, and we head home.