Feeling timid, Vera took a seat in the waiting room. ‘Wageningen West Medical Practice’ read a large sign on the wall. The receptionist gave her a friendly smile. ‘You look like it’s your first time here. Doctor Hulzehorst will be with you in a moment.’ Vera nodded uncomfortably. It had seemed so easy. Wageningen had only a handful of doctor’s practices. Vera had simply clicked on the first result of her Google search and made an appointment. All she needed was a salve for her cold sore. No big deal. She thought back to the conversation over breakfast.
‘What? You haven’t made an appointment with Dr Hulzehorst, have you?’ asked Bianca looking shocked. She was sitting at the dining table. ‘Surely everyone knows he’s a dirty old man.’ Vera raised her eyebrows doubtingly. She was not sure whether she should take this student myth seriously. But Willem-Jan nodded in agreement.
‘And I’ve heard that he dismisses everything as “women’s problems”.’ Willem-Jan was really getting into his stride. ‘But it can be much worse than that,’ he said eagerly. ‘It seems that at the practice in the city centre female patients nearly always have to strip off . The doctor has to listen to your heart beat, you see, and your bra interferes with the sound picked up by his stethoscope.’
‘Relax,’ Derk interrupted Willem-Jan’s scaremongering. ‘He won’t be as bad as all that.’ Vera felt a little reassured. Who’s your doctor?’ she asked him. Derk shrugged. ‘I’m still registered back at home.’ Willem-Jan took that as the green light to inflict all sorts of scary doctor stories on Vera. Derk rolled his eyes in irritation. Vera felt her anxiety increasing. Why hadn’t she put more eff ort into finding the right doctor? ‘Don’t worry,’ Bianca reassured her. ‘It will be fine. After all, you’ve only got a cold sore.’ Finally, with a heavy heart, Vera got on her bike.
Sitting in the waiting room, she was haunted by Willem-Jan’s words. An older man came and sat beside her. He gave her a broad smile. At least you haven’t got anything to fear from that filthy doctor, she thought. After ten long minutes, a young woman came along. ‘You must be Vera,’ she began. ‘My name is Doctor Hulzehorst. Please come with me.’ Bemused, Vera stared at the young woman standing in front of her. It was all she could do to stop herself bursting out laughing.
Illustration: Kim Peterse