by Brogan, Kim
I decided that it must not be Mrs. Bitner. After dressing, I stepped out of the shower room and into areas next to the sinks. The coughing still coming from the shower-room had that phlegm-sopped sound and was getting louder. I decided to wait just outside to see if the woman needed help. A few minutes later one of the law school students, Tanya Hunter, appeared. She was an incredibly thin girl with horn-rimmed glasses. I’d say she probably in her early-twenties. I liked her because she wasn’t at Cambridge to party. Most nights she stayed in her room and studied late into the night to pass two legitimate history courses being offered that summer. Tanya and I sometimes visited each other just to have a break from our schoolwork and jobs. She was a sweet kid from Atlanta.
“Tanya? You sound like hell. What’s wrong?”
She held up her arms, palms up, “I just can’t shake this cold. My lungs are filled with crap, and I can’t cough it up.”
“You need to get it checked. Have you been out to Addenbrookes?”
She frowned, “I’m not sure how to get over there.”
“You just take the bus, the 14A to Addenbrookes. Catch it just up the block.”
Tanya still seemed uncomfortable. “Can you come with me? I’ve never had to go to the hospital.”
What is wrong with everyone? Can’t anyone get themselves to a hospital? Is everyone so helpless? Well, she is young and her mom probably goes with her whenever she has to go to the doctors.
“I have to call the dean and see if he’ll let me go with you.”
I called Dean Hopkins and got the okay to accompany her to Addenbrookes. It was Friday so I had to be back by three-thirty to get to work at Marks and Sparks (the British nickname for the department store.) We caught the 14A and as we walked up to the doors of Addenbrookes I saw Henry.
“Maggie! How are you, darling?” He said, giving me a kiss on each cheek.
I chortled with glee. “Fine Henry. How are you?”
“Well as can be. Are you here about your arm?”
I motioned to Tanya, who was mesmerized by the charismatic Henry and his upper-class accent. “No, I’m taking Tanya in to be checked over, she’s had a cold that won’t go away and her lungs are full of phlegm.”
“Hmm, that sounds like Campbell’s department. You could go up and roust him; he’d see you quicker than the clinic. The clinic’s backed up right now with school physicals.”
I needed to get back to go to work, and spending hours waiting for a cold to be checked out wasn’t something I could afford. “Henry, would you go back in with us and ask Professor Adair to see us? I don’t know if he wants to talk to me.”
Henry laughed and looked at me suspiciously. “What do you mean? What did you do now?”
“I’m not sure, but whatever it was, he ran out without saying good bye.”
“I thought he made a late night sojourn to your dorm to treat a sick American? He can’t be too angry with you if you can blast Campbell out of his house in the middle of the night.”
“We had yelled at each other before he left. He didn’t say good night.”
Henry put his hand over his mouth to hide the grin, “Oh, this I have to see. Come on, let’s go back in.” He turned to go back inside.
I felt a little guilty and broached the issue, “I hope I haven’t prevented you from doing something?”
“I was just going to go out and get my dry cleaning. It can wait.” He smiled warmly at me.
We went up to the Infectious Disease Department, and Henry had a word with the nurse behind the modern desk with the frameless flat panel computer screens and wireless keyboards. Tanya was waved over by the nurse and told to fill out a form. In the meantime, Henry went back behind the desk and disappeared down a hall. I assumed the hall led to the examination rooms and doctors’ offices. Five minutes later he came to the desk and waved for us to follow him.
I felt a little bad for the half a dozen people who were obviously waiting their turn to see a doctor. But I desperately needed to get back to the dorm get ready for work so Tanya and I went back with Henry to an examination room.
“Alright Mags, I think I will pop out to get my dry cleaning now.” He peeked down the hall to see if anyone was coming, “I understand what you mean. Campbell seemed somewhat agitated when I told him you were here. But never you mind. He’ll fix you up when he gets done talking to his mother. Ta!” Henry gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, grinned and started for the door.
“Adios, Henry.” I said.
Tanya waved goodbye, “Thank you!”
We waited five minutes, looking through the medical brochures on how to prevent the spread of infectious diseases while we waited. The room had several pieces of equipment, an exam table and aqua walls displaying charts of the respiratory system. We talked a little about the National Health Service in Britain, and then, just as we moved on to the odd behavior of the British, the door finally opened and Campbell swept in through the door clothed in his lab coat, crisp blue shirt, black pants and stethoscope hanging around his neck.
He immediately looked at me and without expression asked, “Are we dealing with the same thing as Mrs. Bitner?”
I thought for a second, “I don’t know to be honest.”
Without any inflection, he turned to Tanya and asked, “What are your symptoms?”
Tanya seemed to be in awe of him. I could understand, he was looking strikingly handsome and authoritative in his lab coat and pressed trousers. His hair was a little longer than when we first met. His eyes were exceptionally blue, picking up the color from his deep blue shirt.
“I have a cough that’s getting worse and a headache that comes and go. I feel very tired, and it’s hard for me to concentrate on my studies.”
“Your cough, does it get worse during the day?”
“No, at night and in the mornings. But if I’m up and out doing something it’s much better. Same with my headache.”
Stethoscope in hand, he first listened to her chest and back. Then he examined her eyes, ears and throat. After taking a swab of her throat and nose, he placed them in tubes to be sent to the lab. I watched as he pulled out a prescription pad from his lab coat pocket. He wrote out a prescription and handed it to her.
“You need to come back on Monday; we should have the results of the samples. Now Tanya, can you take this slip down to the first floor lab and have them draw your blood? Maggie will join you in a few minutes. I want to examine her to see if we have something contagious in your dorm.”
Tanya nodded. “Thank you, doctor.” She hopped down and left the room.
I was nervous, my foot shaking up and down as I tried to remain calm.
“Get up on the table.” It was a command, not a request.
I blushed bright red and froze.
“Oh, for God’s sake, I’m not going to molest you. I really do want to check your lungs and get some samples. Mrs. Bitner came into the clinic and they called me down to consult. We couldn’t find the usual bacterial or viral infections. I suggested to the Bitners that they spend a few days off campus and she informed us yesterday that she started to clear up, but it got worse when they went back to sleep in the dorm. I think we might have something in the dorm like Legionnaire’s disease or MRSA. I want to examine you.”
“Okay.” I jumped up on the table and just before he put his stethoscope into his ears he said, “I want to apologize for my behavior the other night. I really don’t know what got into me. I’m quite embarrassed.” He looked deep into my eyes, “I hope you can forgive and forget?”
I didn’t think there was anything to forgive and I certainly didn’t want to forget, but it was obvious that he wanted to paint it as a momentary lapse. If I wanted to save face, I needed to play along. I didn’t show any emotion, but I nodded, indicating I was going develop selective amnesia.
He smiled. “Thank you.” Sighing he shook his head. “I just can’t seem to get on the right side of you.”
I wanted to say, “You were doing a pretty good job
the other night,” but I said nothing as he began to check my lungs. I did all the silly things he asked me to do, cough, breathe in, breath out. He took off the stethoscope and stepped back so he could look at me.
“Haven’t you noticed a problem breathing? You’re congested.”
I thought about it and my chest did seem tight, “I always have allergies. I take Claritin. I’m allergic to mold, and it seems every building in England is damp and has mold so I haven’t given it much thought.”
“Your lungs sound congested. Do you have a headache?”
I shrugged, “I always have headaches.”
I could see he was getting frustrated with my nonchalance. He took some samples from my throat and my nose.
“I meant are your headaches worse than usual?”
“Yes, but then you give me a headache...worse than usual.”
He chuckled and then turned serious again. “You’re the R.A. I want you to gather some of the people staying in your dorm. I’ll stop by at 8:30 pm tonight and examine them. It will take maybe five minutes each. I need to see if we are looking at three isolated cases or a mass infection.”
“Just what I wanted to do with my Friday night.”
“Here’s a prescription for an inhaler or Vaconase.” He wrote it out and handed it to me.
I looked down at his shoes, not wanting to connect with his eyes. He was wearing black loafers, nice Italian black loafers. The cost of the shoes must have been more than my semester tuition.
“Maggie?” He sounded like he had been trying to get my attention.
“Professor?”
“You can leave now.”
“Oh, sure.” I got up and walked out into the corridor. I looked back into the examination room and he looked up at me. He gave me a smile. Oh screw you Professor Adair. Screw you and your gorgeous smile.
*********************
Before I left for work, I arranged for eight Americans from the dorm to be examined at 8:30 that night. I left my sitting room open for them to wait inside for Professor Adair. Most of the other American and summer students who stayed in the dorm were young and unwilling to wait around on a Friday night for a doctor. They were all going out drinking. In fact, it was the night of the King Street Run.
The King Street Run was a rite of passage for many of the students who matriculated through Cambridge University. Current tradition requires drinking one gallon (eight pints) of beer during the Run. A pint was traditionally ordered in each pub along King Street, but since King Street now has only five pubs, the last three pubs are visited twice. The gallon must be consumed without puking or peeing. The official contest is timed, but most students compete in the King Street Run unofficially and rarely time each other, except to require that the drinking be done by eleven when the pubs closed. Those who finish are awarded bragging rights, nothing else, just bragging rights. It may seem stupid, but the British take their drinking seriously, in a frivolous way. Completing the Run is indoctrination into the strange world of the English. Upon completion you feel as if you’re not just a tourist, you’re part of Cambridge’s past and future.
I had been invited on the Run, but I hate beer. So I was going along for support and to maybe have a few drinks on the side. When I got off work I dressed for the occasion, taped a note on my door for Professor Adair to let him know the patients would be waiting in my sitting room across the hall, and joined the group of American students at St. Radegund, the smallest pub in Cambridge. It’s located on King Street near the now renovated Lion’s Yard, a small enclosed mall and parking structure. Normally the run wouldn’t start until around nine, but two of the runners had finals in the morning and wanted as much time as possible to sleep it off.
I walked through the door of the pub at 7:00 pm and laughed as they all yelled from a corner, raising the first of their pints to me in greeting. I ordered a rum and coke, which seemed to be a lot more rum than coke. They finished the first pint, and we took off quickly down the road to the Bun Shop, the second pub on the route. I had another rum and coke while the boys drank their second pint. We started getting louder and louder, which is almost obligatory on the King Street Run. Someone bought me a third rum and coke at the third pub, which was a mistake. One drink, I’m humorous; two drinks, I’m loud and funny; three drinks, I’m a pole dancer.
I was feeling the alcohol and knew I’d pass out if I had another. I got up and wished them all well and started to walk back to my dorm. It was only a five minute walk, but I didn’t think I was going to make it. The whole world was wobbly and fuzzy. I got back to my dorm room at 8:30 and fell onto my bed. I was almost asleep when I was startled by a very loud banging on my door. I went to the door and opened it. It was Professor Adair.
My rum soaked brain engaged. “Oh shit. What did I do now?”
He cocked his head and looked at me sideways. “Miss McGee, are you drunk?”
“I hope so, otherwise I’m schizophrenic and you’re a hallucination. What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to examine the people from the dorm. May I ask where I am supposed to go?”
I looked on the door for the sign I had left him, but it was missing. Holding my hand over my eyes, I pointed at the door across the way. He opened it and saw the eight residents having their own party. He looked back at me, nodded and then disappeared into the sitting room. I went back inside my bedroom, took off my shoes, and climbed back in bed. About an hour later I felt a hand on my shoulder trying to wake me.
I opened my eyes and noticed that he had turned on the light. “Oh, it’s you. I made the appointments for you, now what? You want to shag?” The alcohol had apparently cleared my brain of all extraneous crap like inhibitions and I was left with my primal urges. More than anything, I wanted to jump Campbell Adair and make him beg.
He pulled his hand off of my shoulder as if I had leprosy. “I wanted to let you know that we have a problem. Half of the people I examined from this building are sick. I’m going to need you to help me. We need to plot out their rooms and investigate possible causes.”
“You’re not serious? You want me to get up and be Watson to your Sherlock Holmes? Prof, it’s Friday night. Please, can’t you stop being an anal retentive asshole for just one night? I mean, come on, when you laugh or smile, you could melt any girl’s heart.” I stood up on the bed and put my arms around his neck. “Sorry doc, I’m not doing anything tonight unless it involves you getting naked.”
He looked like he was going to pass out. I took off my top and watched as he backed half way across the room away from me, still staring at my bare breasts. He did nothing; he was frozen in place.
Frustrated, I collapsed back down on the bed and rolled over on my side. “Okay, run home--pretend you don’t want it. Pretend your attraction is due to sunspots or a result of artificial sweetener. Whatever gets you through the night. I’ll see you in the morning. Go home and whack off.”
I heard some stumbling from the middle of the room. Turning back over I saw the Prof hopping on one leg trying to get his shoes and socks off. He dropped his trousers, took off his shirt and pulled his boxers off. I yanked my panties down and kicked them off. He was so tall; I was hoping he would fit on the bed. Scooping me up, he slipped into the bed next to me.
Within minutes, his hands had covered every inch of my body and his mouth was close behind. I loved the smell of his hair, his soap, his body. Our mouths were open and tongues entwined. His full-fledged erection pushed up against me, making me ache for it. I think all my blood rushed to my groin, causing a congestion that only a really good orgasm could release.
He pulled back and looked at me, “Cor, you have a gorgeous body.” His lips turned up at the corners and his eyes were limp with desire.
“So do you. Now, can we get back to the sucking and kissing? I’m a little frustrated from all the false starts.”
Professor Adair laughed. It was a gorgeous laugh, full and heavy, just like man’s laugh should be. He rolled me over on my back and d
ragged his open mouth down my chest and across to my right breast, kissing, licking and flicking his tongue against my nipple, his breath warm against my cool skin. Seconds later, my nipple was in his warm, wet, mouth being sucked slowly and hard. Reaching down between my legs, he fingered and rubbed me until I was wet and frustrated. I stopped moving so I could concentrate on the fire that was starting to build in my groin. He continued down my body, licking and kissing and nuzzling my round abdomen, running his free hand through the hair that grew curly and reddish blonde on my mound. Spreading the folds to my sex, his head disappeared and that hot, liquid tongue of his found just the right spot to drive me crazy. This man knew a woman’s anatomy. His tongue teased, his lips sucked, his fingers explored around and inside, my G-spot coming to life under his touch. I couldn’t stop responding, even if I wanted to, letting out a deep breath and a moan when he once again began the quick sucking and licking, hard and steady against my clit. The tingling started and I cried out. All I could do was feel this incredible wave start from his tongue and rush through my clit, my vagina, my abdomen, my breasts, and up to my scalp. I grabbed onto the sheets, screamed out and hung on until the waves of the massive orgasm passed.
Campbell climbed up, felt between my legs and guided himself inside, stopping as if he was just savoring the feel of our bodies together. I moved my hips and he grabbed them to stop the movement. He was still for several seconds and, when he did move, it was slow and sensual. Eyes closed, he concentrated on the sexual, erotic feel of our dance. When the speed picked up, he opened his eyes and looked down into mine. I felt connected to him from my head to my toes. We were a single organism moving in a pleasurable dance. Slipping his hands around my back, he picked up my hips. I wrapped my right leg around him, making it easier for him to penetrate deeper. Low whispery sounds fell from his lips as he picked up the speed of his hips plowing into me. I could tell he was coming, his thrusts were shorter, but more powerful. He stopped and growled, his voice low, like the grunt of a large animal. I quickly took over and picked up the rhythm as he continued to moan and wince as his pulsating pleasure turned to discomfort. He grabbed my hips to stop me from moving. We were quiet. After a minute or two, he kissed my lips and then slowly pulled out of me, holding his breath the whole time. When we disconnected he let out his breath and began to breathe again.