Daddy Dearest

The car ride to the doctor’s office wasn’t exactly a lengthy one, but it was awfully quiet. Todd was still a little grumpy about being roused from his cuddle, and it didn’t help matters when Mark had him change his clothes. The Pink Floyd shirt was now lining the bottom of the garbage can, along with his socks briebriefs, and his pants safely tucked away in the darkest corner of the underside of the bed. Mark had wanted him to throw them out, but Todd could barely part with them so ruthlessly! After all those pants had been through too!

The most humiliating part of the entire debacle had to be Mark’s reaction to Todd’s briefs. They were two sizes too small, torn, sweat-stained, and all around disgusting. Todd was forced to get undressed and then re-dressed in the clothing Mark chose for him; khaki pants that Mark had outgrown a while back, a two-sizes-too-large polo shirt striped pink and yellow, cotton boxers, and wool socks. Everything seemed too large for him, but Mark promised it was only for today.

When they finally got to the office for their appointment, Mark was a little agitated about being ten minutes late, but he blamed himself more than he blamed Todd. Todd had grown up on the streets as a small boy, and he’d learned then not to waste anything that could be used again. Mark was upset with himself that he hadn’t gone over the specifics of that rule, particularly about underwear, but kept that to himself as a speech better reserved for clothes shopping later.

Doctor Russell Oxford was waiting for them, smiling warmly and inviting them back to the examination room. His gray eyes glittered from behind the lenses of his wire-frame glasses, almost as brightly as the top of his bald head glittered in the fluorescent lighting. He took both men by the hand in greeting and whipped out a pen from his pocket as Todd settled onto the table. “Todd, welcome back! Mark was so excited to hear you were coming home; he called Dev and me right after he’d gotten off the phone with you! I didn’t get an ounce of sleep that night!”

“That wasn’t completely my fault, Russ,” Mark slyly commented, earning a sideways glance for his troubles. Russ was maybe only as tall as Mark’s shoulder, but he had the years of experience under his belt to make him intimidating, even to a cop. Said cop only chuckled and returned his attention to Todd, who by now was sitting on the table and looking nervous.

“D-Doctor Oxford?” the small man timidly piped up, looking to Mark for guidance. “D-do you m-m-mind if…well…I haven’t seen a doctor since…I mean…”

Russell read the message clearly enough and nodded to Mark. “I understand, kiddo. He can stay if he behaves himself, but one false move, and he’s out in that waiting room again!”

Feeling infinitely better, Todd relaxed into the examination. Mark hovered nearby; only close enough to assure Todd he was there, and not too close as to get in the doctor’s way. Words of encouragement and praise were liberally applied when Todd was looking most grim, giving him strength to endure the majority of the exam without incident.

The reast bst began when Doctor Oxford reached for his drawer of syringes. “Todd, you’ve done a fantastic job. All I need to do now is draw a little blood and have it analyzed. Don’t worry, I’ll take Mark’s first to show you what I’ll be doing.”

“No needles.” The command was so cold and direct, it startled Russ and Mark for a second. Todd was already zipping his pants back on, shaking so badly he could hardly keep a good grip on the little zipper. “No. You aren’t sticking me with that. Not by a long shot.”

Mark postponed the blood draw long enough to reach out and grab Todd by the waistband of his pants. “Todd, you need to have your blood drawn. You aren’t doing this alone. It’s nerve-racking at first, I know, but this is important.”

Todd looked for all the world like a caged animal, eyes wide and desperate. “NO! No needles! Fuck this! I’ll take my chances! Let go! Let the fuck go!”

“Todd Thatcher, you have until the count of three to mend that attitude and apologize to Doctor Oxford for this outburst.” Mark was no longer as soothing as he was stern. He knew for a fact Todd was afraid of needles, but that was no excuse for this tantrum. “I’m warning you…”

“FUCK THIS AND FUCK YOU!” In a heartbeat, Todd was tearing out of the office and into the waiting room’s bathroom, ignoring the shocked occupants he’d zoomed past. Even before the lock could click, Mark was there and throwing the door back open. Todd squealed and cursed himself for getting himself cornered, but there was still a fight left in him. “NO! Mark, please! Oh God, please no! There has to be another way!”

Mark sympathized with Todd’s fear, but hauled him over his shoulder nonetheless and carried him in that fashion back to the exam room. “There isn’t, young man, so I suggest you resign yourself to that fact and accept what’s coming!”

Todd vehemently argued, his body shaking with his suppressed sobs and his eyes streaming with tears. “Doctor Oxford, there’s gotta be another way! Couldn’t you just punch me in the kidneys? And then I could piss a little blood out! Couldn’t you analyze that instead of sticking me with that…that…thing?!”

Russ was taken aback by the proposal, but regained his senses enough to shake his head. “Todd, I know you’re afraid of needles, but that never was and never will be an option. How about you go stand in that corner there until I finish with Mark, and then I’ll show you there’s nothing to fear. I’d send you to the waiting room, but after that little display, I’m not so sure I should.”

“Go on, Todd,” Mark encouraged, sending his charge over with a weighty swat. Minutes ticked by while Russell and Mark conversed in low tones about Todd, and poor Todd spent that time dreading the things to come and sobbing like a child. He knew he’d screwed up again! Damn his irrational phobia! He’d probably ruined his chances with Mark all over again! What a damned fool!

If Todd hadn’t been so miserable, he would have been able to overhear the truth of the matter. “Don’t be too harsh with him,” Russ whispered to his steadily-claming patient. “All I ask is that he apologize to the patients outside and to the receptionist. I’ve had patients with worse reactions to their fears. I don’t blame him at all for panicking.”

Mark growled to himself and cast a glance to the man in question. “You’ll get your apologies, Russ. Even if Todd has to write them out by hand! I thought I’d taught him better than this!”

“Mark, you can’t unteach a fear. Especially one a deep-seeded as Todd’s. I agree that swearing is unacceptable, but right now is too soon to act on punishing him. You’ll send the wrong message, and he’ll assume he’s being punished for panicking.” With the puncture bandaged and staunched, Doctor Oxford capped the last little vial of blood he’d taken and turned his attention to the contrite man. “Come here, Todd. I need to draw a sample.”

Todd could hardly move, he was so scared. Not only of the needles now, but also of Mark! “Please, I’m so sorry! Please don’t! I’ll behave this time! Please don’t stick me!”

Russ helped Todd out of his corner and into Mark’s lap, a place he knew the lad would calm down in regardless of current circumstances. “This was never a punishment, Todd,” he soothed, careful to block Todd’s view of the butterfly needle and two little vials he needed to fill. “Mark, can you distract him for a little?”

The cop was already working out a perfect diversion. He carefully tucked Todd’s head beneath his chin and held him so Doctor Oxford could easily access the veins in his arm. “Sweetie, it’s okay. There’s nothing to be afraid of. As soon as this is over, I’ll take you for something to eat, okay? Some ice cream, maybe?”

“Why?” Todd sobbed, resigned to his fate and unaware that the needle was already milking his vein for the red flow it held. “I was such a little bastard just now…Please don’t stick me! God, I don’t want to be scared anymore! Please, please don’t do it! I’ll behave! I promise! No needles!”

The doctor smiled as he began to fill the second vial. “It’s okay to be afraid, Todd,” he murmured when Mark volunteered nothing. “What isn’t okay is the fact that you swore at me, my receptionist, and my patients in the waiting roomwantwant you to apologize to them when you leave, and promise me that I’ll never hear an outburst like that from you again.”

Todd nodded, hiccupping as he choked on his tears. “N-N-Never again! Please don’t stick me! I promise I won’t flip out that way again! Couldn’t you please put the needle away?!”

“That would be terribly unsanitary, Todd. This is more of a time to throw it away.” Mark allowed Todd to look up after Doctor Oxford threw the syringe away and was placing a cotton swab over the tiny puncture. “All done, then. Was that so terrible?”

“Yeah!” Todd burst into fresh tears, wailing miserably into Mark’s shirt and completely willing to ignore Mark’s chuckling if only to have the comfort of his arms. His request was not long in being granted. Mark held him and rubbed his back as he cried, using this time to also thank Doctor Oxford and arrange for a follow-up appointment for Todd. ‘One without needles,’ he made sure to add.

On their way out, Todd tearfully made his apologies to those he’d traumatized, and was surprisingly met with a lot of sympathy and understanding. The receptionist even made the comment that she too disliked needles, and would have vomited and passed out before ever getting a chance to make a break for it. Mark kindly escorted the love of his life to the parking lot and helped him into the car, all the while murmuring soothingly and bestowing kisses on his sweet little tear-streaked face.

Nothing was actually said until they’d gotten on the road again, and then Todd felt it time to break his silence. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, unable to bring himself to look Mark in the face. “I must be so disappointing…I’ll go pack my things when we get hom-er, back.”

“Nice try, you.” Mark pulled over into a vacant parking lot and reached over to kiss his broken-hearted lover. “You won’t get away from me so easily. I want us to talk about that outburst when we go home, though. I know you panicked and weren’t thinking clearly, but I still want to stress that swearing under any circumstances is wrong and unacceptable. Okay?” Todd managed a meek ‘Yes, Sir’, and then found himself in another lip-lock. “Daddy’s not gonna let his baby get hurt. Now stop acting so guilty, and let Daddy spoil you for a little while. Hn?”

Todd smiled and nodded. “Okay, Daddy.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

There's gonna be a few chappies coming soon with discipline in them, just as a warning. I put enough implications in here, I would think, but it takes some of us a couple of tries before we get it. You know who you are. Don't be ashamed; I'm one too! ^-^