The same type of sore exists; one is at the entrance and the other is at the exit. Who is nobler than the other?
Both were just sores, only one was in the mouth and the other in the anus, and there was no such thing as whose sore was more noble than whose?
After pulling a week of all-nighters, my body was still holding up, but my anus had given out.
My name was Kaylee Lewis, a senior at the medical college. With graduation looming, I still hadn't settled on a thesis topic, and my professor had been pressing me for a while. In order to hurry to complete the task, after I stayed up for a week of night, finally my anus could not stand it.
Standing in the bathroom, staring at the bright red blood in the toilet, I thought I was dying. My professor had mentioned in class that this could be a sign of rectal disease, and in severe cases, even rectal cancer.
Oh my god, I was only twenty-two and hadn't even had a chance to fall in love yet. I hadn't even managed to win over my crush, and now I was facing cancer?
People who were afraid of dying always thought the worst. After a minute of panic, reason overcame fear. I pulled up my pants and rummaged through my desk for the disposable gloves left over from eating buffalo wings yesterday.
Then, back in the bathroom, I put on the gloves, closed my eyes, and steeled myself. I touched my anus. Yep, there it was, a pea-sized bump.
Relieved it wasn't cancer, I realized I still had a chance to date my crush.
I threw on a random hoodie and, looking quite disheveled, headed out the door. Outside the school, there was a pharmacy. As I entered, I saw the pharmacist talking to another young man, so I stood aside to wait.
Bored, I glanced at the young man. Hmm, he had three-dimensional facial features and gentle eyes, but what really caught my attention were his eyelashes. I was envious of his naturally long eyelashes. If only I had the guts to ask him where he got them done. But that wasn't even the most striking thing; the most important thing was that his nose stands upright in the middle of his face like a carved mountain peak.
I couldn't help but think that he must be very good in that aspect. Ahem... Kaylee, how could you let your mind wander about a stranger like this? I shook my head to stop my thoughts from going any further.
Unexpectedly, the young man noticed me. "Hey, your ears and face are all red. Are you running a fever? How about you go first?"
"Oh, no, I'm fine. You were here first, so go ahead. I can wait." I felt a bit flustered, like I'd been caught doing something wrong.
"It's okay, you seem more urgent than I am."
"Really, I'm fine." My face turned even redder as I insisted.
The pharmacist noticed something was off and came over. "Come over here and let me check your temperature," she said to me, leaving no room for refusal. I had no choice but to comply. It read 36.7°C, and only then did they both feel relieved.
"Is the thermometer broken? If she's not running a fever, why is her face so red?" the young man muttered under his breath.
By then, the pharmacist had already gathered the young man's medicine, two bottles of Vitamin C, four boxes of zinc gluconate oral solution, and five large boxes of mouth ulcer granules. As a professional, I knew this was a reasonable treatment for oral ulcers, but the quantity was excessive. Was the pharmacist treating the man as a horse?
The young man was about to pay when he froze at the total, over five hundred. "Lady, it's just a mouth ulcer. Isn't this a bit much?"
"It's due to a lack of trace elements and staying up late, causing stubborn ulcers. You'll need at least half a month to restore your immune system, so this is quite reasonable," the pharmacist explained earnestly.
I couldn't stand by any longer. As a medical student, I have to meddle a bit. "Hey, handsome, for mouth ulcers, just get a bottle of 2.5 Vitamin B2 and some oral ulcer spray. Fifteen bucks tops."
Before I finished speaking, the pharmacist shot me a venomous glare. I knew it wasn't suitable to cut off her sales, but I couldn't watch a handsome guy get ripped off like that.
The man's eyes lit up at my suggestion, and he looked at me with admiration. I met his gaze with righteous resolve. "Just a small favor, no need to thank me."
After the pharmacist handed him his medicine, she turned to me, still visibly annoyed. "What do you need?"
"Hemorrhoids ointment," I blurted out without thinking.
The young man beside me gave me a shocked look before regaining his composure. It was only then that I realized my mistake. Damn it, I was supposed to maintain a ladylike image in front of a handsome guy!