9 OPHELIA CLARK
October 17
“Open up and say ah for me.” Doctor Li peered into my mouth with a small flashlight and a tongue depressor. He had to stand on his toes to get a better look.
“Ahhh.” I tried not to gag and distracted myself with the gallery of thank you cards and photos of patient’s children that were thumb-tacked to the corkboard in the cramped, tiffany blue exam room.
“Looks good,” he said, taking the wooden stick out of my mouth and jotting down his observations in my chart. I sucked on the inside of my cheeks to get rid of the taste. “Well, Ophelia. Everything we tested today is completely normal and wouldn’t explain why you are having trouble sleeping through the night. I do see signs of fatigue, though.” He looked genuinely concerned as he reached for his rolling chair
