Perhaps running to the nurse's office wasn't the idea. Her chest was already sore enough, but without a bra, the bouncing made things worse. She resorted to walking at a brisk pace and ignoring the hungry looks from those she passed.
Please don't run into Julie, she prayed to God while carefully proceeding across the Grand University Campus. When Keri finally arrived at the pharmacy, she was welcomed by the harsh smell of cleaning solutions. It was that hospital smell that unnerved.
The medical center was available to everyone on campus; it had a discrete services window where one could pick up medicine or contraception quickly, and a waiting room for appointments. Keri never had to worry about contraception before, but now she wondered if she should change her mind.
Keri signed the sign in sheet and marked emergency on the pamphlet. The seating wasn't comfortable in the waiting area, each chair had a thin cushion and cold handle bars. An older box shaped television hanged on the corner of the wall and displayed the local weather. There were few others in the room; she kept her face down trying not to draw any attention.
"Keri Pryde?" A male nurse summoned her. Apparently marking emergency on the form only made her wait twelve minutes.
She followed the rather handsome nurse down the hallways to a private room. A doctor was already waiting for her. Keri recognized her immediately.
Bethany Fulbright was iconic among all the sororities for her safe sex practice seminars that she hosted for all new freshmen. Keri's first thought her to be a model, rather than a doctor. Bethany Fulbright preferred to be called 'Nurse Beth', even though she had a PHD. She also had a habit of pretending her body was naturally so well endowed, and not obviously sporting massive implants! Her vibrant chestnut hair, and glorious green eyes, betrayed her age, which hovered in the forties. Other than that, she seemed to love the girls on campus, constantly making herself available whenever a serious inquiry came to fruition. Keri guessed it made sense for her to be here, although she half expected someone else.
"Hello Nurse Beth," she spoke politely, and closed the door behind her. The room smelled only a little less like bleach, compared to the hallway.
"Keri," Nurse Beth smiled, and motioned for her to sit on the padded chair in the center of the room.
"What seems to be the problem today?" There was a mild sense of concern in her voice as she read her chart.
Keri felt suddenly very awkward as her bottom sank into the examination chair. She felt uncomfortable explaining why she felt so urgently that she needed attention. "I'm um," she paused looking at Nurse Beth.
Nurse Beth sensed her confusion. "It's ok Keri, please tell me what's bothering you. You can trust me."
Keri sighed, shifting in her chair, and let it all out. "My chest feels like it was beaten by a sack of rocks." She couldn't hide the fear in her voice.
Nurse Beth raised her eyebrows in shock and jotted something down on her nurse pad. "Ok honey, let's have a look."
Keri nodded and pulled up her shirt.
At least it's warm in here, she thought to herself. Her bare chest kissed the air without too much discomfort, but she did feel a sudden urge to cover herself.
Nurse Beth got up and gently studied her. She carefully felt each of her breasts, and noticed how Keri grimaced just from being touched. "I see, is the discomfort focused on any one spot, or is it everywhere?"
Keri tried hard to remain still, but she was failing miserably. Her anxiety was causing her to shiver.
"It hurts everywhere, please be gentle."
The doctor proceeded as carefully as she could, and applied pressure only to hunt for any abnormalities. It was still enough to make Keri fluster and moan in pain. Beth's examination paused once she noticed a particular spot. "I see, this definitely looks like an injection site. Let me get a closer look. I know it hurts, but I need you to hold as still as you can." She spoke compassionately.
"Doing my best." Keri bit her lip as she felt her fingers trace the outline of the abrasion.
A few seconds later Nurse Beth sat back. "Interesting, let's run some tests and see what we have here. Are you suffering from any other symptoms?"
Keri placed a palm on her forehead. "No, other than a killer hangover."
"I can get you something for that, but let's draw some blood-work first."
The mention of blood-work made Keri's heart spike! That meant needles, long pointy needles!
"Blood-work!"
"Don't worry I'll be gentle," she responded with a wink.
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Thirty minutes later, Keri couldn't stop looking at the bandage wrapped around her left arm. She could feel her heart beating from the vein that was just opened by mankind's cruelest innovations, NEEDLES!
Keri rubbed the spot with her thumb, just glad it was over. Nurse Beth was gentle, but Keri still couldn't watch when the needle was about to go in, and her precious blood filled the vial.
Beth studied the forms in front of her after performing several tests with her blood. "I can tell you with almost certainty that you have been given an unsanctioned injection to both breasts. Your blood tests are mostly normal, but I'm seeing a synthesized serum causing your mammary glands to swell. That's the cause for the sudden soreness. It looks like you've been given a successful 'Beta-4' gene-enhancement treatment. It's approved on campus, albeit you were never listed as a patient for such procedures. As far as I could tell."
Keri gripped the bed. "A Beta-what? How could this happen?" She asked.
Nurse Beth placed her hand on top of hers to calm her down. "I've already reported this incident, and there'll be repercussions. Are you sure you never consented to some kind of enhancement treatment?"
"Never!" Keri was never aware that such a thing was even available.
Nurse Beth wrote several more lines on her pad. "Ok, well, let me run some more tests so we can figure out the damage, don't worry we'll get to the bottom of this."
Keri submitted to a chest x-ray, before she could put on her normal T-shirt again. She had now spent an hour in the medical center, before the Nurse had some concrete results.
Nurse Beth tried to make her comfortable, but the anticipation was killing her. "I've tested your blood extensively, and reviewed all your scans, and I can give you some good news."
"Good news?" Keri asked.
Nurse Beth cleared her throat before continuing. "It looks like the serum is actively at work, encouraging your breasts to grow at an accelerated rate. Within a day or two the pain should pass, and its progress will be complete. It looks like you were given an unsanctioned minor treatment, the affects will not develop much further."
"You said I was injected this?" Keri couldn't help but feel alarmed.
"Yes, the official name is a physical improvement therapy. An injection is given to the sides of each breast, containing a large amount of serum, and some steroids. It inflames the mammary glands, which allows an increase in blood flow, and thus easy passage for the therapy to reach the glands."
Physical Improvement Therapy? Keri pondered the meaning of the words. "What does it do, exactly?"
"Theoretically it artificially induces similar conditions that your body undergoes during puberty. It encourages certain sex organs to develop faster, without invasive surgery or implants." Nurse Beth could see the terror in Keri's eyes. "It has led to positive results in the past, including breast growth, and even mammary hyper stimulation. In some rare cases it can be used to encourage lactation as well."
"So someone's tried to fuck up my tits!" Keri's fear turned into rage!
"More like encourage growth, yes. You're nineteen, at this age, your body is still developing. It's a sensitive time, where hormones are at their peak. You're also more fertile that your ever going to be right now! At this time, an improvement therapy would almost certainly stimulate faster development of you're sexual organs, especially your mammary glands. With this serum in your system, it's also more likely you'll ovulate more frequently, but only for a short period. So, you should definitely contact me if you have longer or more painful periods."
More periods! The tension never seemed to end. "Is there…a cure?"
"A cure?"
"Yes a fucking cure!"
"Calm down, there's nothing to cure, the serum has already mostly passed through your system, and will likely flush itself out. However, the damage has been done, the pain will go away in a few days. This therapy, which is routine by the way, is actually works as intended, so there isn't anything we can do revert the changes."
"I think I'm going to be sick."
Nurse Beth immediately stood up and offered to rub her back. "That's the hangover, and I should let you know that we do offer this form of therapy on campus."
"Really."
"Like I said, its routine. Personally, I've offered this treatment to several students, and have overseen their development. On average, I've seen improvements go as high as a full cup size. However, this is the first time I've had a student come to me after receiving a non-consensual therapy." Nurse Beth continued to rub her back, which was starting to relax her a little bit.
Even if this was routine, Keri hated that it happened to her. "It hurts."
"I'm going to file this report with campus security as well, they'll conduct a full investigation. Meanwhile I'm going to prescribe you a pain suppressor. It will make you sleepy though, so I urge you to stay in your room, and rest for the remainder of the day. I'll notify your professors that you are on sick leave for at least forty eight hours." Nurse Beth stopped messaging her back long enough to fill out a prescription form, then helped her off the padded chair. "Tomorrow, I'll come check on you personally, the pain should subside by then."
Keri accepted the prescription with a shaky hand. "Thank you."
"It's going to be ok, we're going to get to the bottom of this."
Keri knew that Nurse Beth meant well, but she couldn't help but doubt her words. She left the medical center with a small bottle of pills, and an empty feeling in her stomach. She felt like she was walking in an alien body. Keri was so disgusted, feeling like someone invaded it, claiming control over it. She was angry, no angry isn't the word… She was damn furious.