The Doctor Doesn’t Do Drugs
Margot rubbed the ice cube into her temple, it was the fifth self-help remedy she’d tried today and it wasn’t working. Her hand was numb with cold, possibly frostbite, but her head still throbbed. She called the doctor.
‘It’s an emergency,’ she said. ‘I think I may have a brain tumour.’ Then she wept, for effect.
She paid the taxi driver with a cold, wet ten pound note and a half-melted ice cube, then crawled into the surgery wearing two pairs of dark glasses and a large-brimmed hat.
The doctor was wearing sandals, in November, which wasn’t a good sign.
‘Try these,’ he said, sliding a small bottle of bright yellow pills across the table.
‘What are they?’ Margot asked.
‘A placebo,’ the doctor said. ‘But they’ll make you feel better.’
‘Not now that you’ve told me, they won’t.’ Margot pushed the bottle back towards the doctor.
‘Dammit! I’m such an idiot.’ The doctor slapped himself on the forehead and put the pills back in his drawer. ‘It’s just- I don’t like prescribing heavy medication. If you can harness the power of your mind, you can overcome anything.’
Margot noticed the string of coloured beads around the doctor’s neck. She wasn’t reassured. She remembered something she’d been told about sales: the first to speak loses. So she folded her arms and waited, glaring, although the effect was tempered somewhat by her dark glasses.
After a short pause the doctor lost the round, ‘Fine,’ he said. ‘Try these then.’
This bottle was smaller and contained five round red pills.
Margot eyed them suspiciously, ‘More placebo?’
‘Nope, definitely not, no way. Not these babies, these are the real deal.’
‘I can tell you’re lying.’
‘Dammit!’ the doctor hit himself in the head more forcefully, almost knocking himself off the chair.
‘Listen,’ Margot said. ‘All I want is the magic migraine pills I was prescribed last time, the white ones with the little S in the middle. Is that too much to ask? You are a bloody doctor after all.’
‘I didn’t want to be a doctor, you know-,’
Margot rubbed her temples, ‘Spare me the life story, just give me my pills.’
‘Fine! Take a seat in the waiting room, I’ll bring them out.’
Margot did as she was bid. The music in the waiting room was a hypnotic blend of guitar and Indian chanting, gentle and soothing. She closed her eyes.
‘Here you are,’ the doctor said. ‘Your pills.’
Margot tipped the contents of the bottle into her hand and examined the small white tablets.
‘You wrote this on by hand,’ she said. ‘In biro. Look, this one isn’t even an S, it’s a number eight. What kind of fool do you take me for, you bloody quack?’
‘Dammit!’ said the doctor. ‘I’m trying to show you that there’s another way. But fine, I give up. You can have your chemical hit, and all the associated side effects. I’ll write you a prescription. Wait here.’
Margot waited, enjoying the music and the relaxing atmosphere. It’s nice here, she thought to herself, even if that doctor is a bloody fool. Then it dawned on her – her headache had gone.
So she went home.
The End
12/04/2014 Written in a post-migraine spaced out haze 🙂
A considerate doctor indeed 🙂
And yes, Music heals. Music-therapy is so cool! No drugs needed 🙂
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Thank you.
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Really enjoyed this. Great interaction and dialogue between the characters.
The picture is fantastic as well, perfect backdrop.
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Thanks – isn’t the picture great? Just how I felt when I had my migraine. Glad you enjoyed my silly tale.
thanks for commenting 🙂
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Great dialogue and picture to illustrate your story. Looking at a doctor like that, I think I’d have my doubts also. Funny story with a good moral. 🙂 I wonder if he charged her extra for sitting and listening to the music.
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Thank you. I don’t think the story was supposed to have a moral, it just sort of happened.
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Great story, with superb dialogue. I could easily imagine the situation taking place, and I got a good sense of the characters in such a short amount of time. Can’t wait to see what the next story has in store.
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Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed the dialogue. Hopefully the next story will be headachefree 🙂
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Nicely written and a got plot ending.
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Thank you 🙂
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Sounds like the doctor knew what he was doing after all! Great dialogue.
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Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed the dialogue. It was literally voices playing out in my head while I recovered from my migraine. should I be worried? Maybe I should visit the doctor myself!
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I hear voices too when I’m writing dialogue (but without the migraine)!
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Oh I’m sorry you get migraines, I used to get them when I was younger, haven’t had one in a long time now. So big hugs, and stay in the dark. I loved your story.
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Thanks Jackie. I had them when I was a teenager, then nothing until a few years ago. Now they’re at least once a month for a few days at a time. I have magic tablets though that make them go away (most of the time) and leave me feeling all floaty and surreal. I was floating when I wrote this. So there’s an upside to everything, even migraines 😀
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Damn girl, I never got the floaty drugs, I just passed out for a while. I’m glad you have something that helps. 🙂
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Another jewel. What I like about this is you have the comedic structure down — duck, duck, duck, goose. Funniest was handing the money with a wet hand and a small ice cube. Hilarious! You definitely have a good sense of comedy and timing.
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Thank you so much for all your lovely comments, they mean a lot to me. I have tried writing serious stuff, but it always ends up as comedy, I don’t know why. It’s a terrible affliction to have – and highly inappropriate at times (funerals especially, my suggestion that we play ‘funereal phrase bingo’ didn’t go down too well – it’s where you write three platitudes on a piece of paper and the first one to hear all three on their card shouts House. Bad bad idea.)
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Don’t stop doing that!
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