Allison had very brief appointment with Dr. Slater this afternoon. He looked in her ears and checked the incision for signs of infection.
Everything looks fine, he said.
Allison asked about her lingering nausea and headaches, the soreness in her neck.
That's normal, he said.
And what about the incision itself? What about this bump? she asked, fingering a spot just behind her right ear lobe.
He explained that in time, as the wound heals, the area surrounding the incision would smooth out.
What about your sense of taste?
It's still off, she said. Nothing tastes the same.
It's the nerve [the cranial nerve that transmits the sense of taste to the brain]. It's is still irritated and might take a few months to calm down.
Then he had to run, he said. We weren't surprised. His waiting room was packed with people, all there to see him. It was so crowded, in fact, that when we first got there, Allison and the kids and I all had to sit on the floor.
Is this it? Are we going to see you again? Misha asked.
There were seven of us in all, including the doctor, in a room that was most definitely not normally used as an examination room. Allison sat in an overstuffed armchair, the only chair available, while the rest of us stood. There were two low tables pushed up against the walls on either side of the chair, and they were covered in small bottles of clear liquid which seemed to be organized by the colored-coded striping on their labels. Tallulah, Finn, and Joy had become very interested in these bottles.
Shoo! he said to the kids, affectionately swatting them away from the tables. Shoo! He turned back to Allison and Misha.
No, not if you don't need to. But you can come by anytime. He smiled. I'm always here.
We shook hands and he was on his way.
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