Brother’s Dilemma: Chapter 9

**Brother’s Dilemma: Chapter 9**
*By: SoleMann*

Oh crap… calm down, tensing up is only making things worse… stop thinking about the scent of Lexi’s bare feet that day… holy hell, the pain… why does it seem like I can still smell them… it’s past four in the morning, it must be my mind playing tricks on me due to sleep deprivation… well, if my mind can get me into this mess, maybe continuing past that point can get me out of it too…

“Oops! Sorry bro,” Lexi said when she realized how close her feet were to my face. Then as abruptly as they appeared in my face, they were gone as she slipped them back into her flats and got up to leave.

The doctor then opened the door telling them that I’d meet them in the lobby after I got dressed, and that mom might as well set up the appointment for my surgery with the receptionist while they waited. Before closing the door behind her, the doctor motioned towards my groin, and said due to the meds they’ll give, at least I won’t have to worry about that happening the day of surgery.

I looked down and was mortified to see a huge circus tent down there. The doctor probably figured that her exposed nylon feet had some part in it, but I hoped she didn’t catch on that mom and Lexi’s bare feet played a role in it as well. I quickly got up and turned away as she closed the door behind her. I then got dressed and met mom and Lexi in the lobby and we all headed out to the car.

The ride home was quite enlightening as I was able to fill in some of the missing blanks due to my zoning out on Lexi’s feet back in the office. As we casually chatted away, I found out that due to possible extended recovery time and that I couldn’t afford to miss any school or not graduate, that spring break wasn’t long enough to have it then. They decided it was best to wait until after I graduated, so it was set for the first Friday after graduation. Mom even joked about how it would be her graduation gift to me, which I didn’t find the least bit funny.

Mom said she felt bad since it meant I might be down for the summer, and miss out on all the fun activities like the usual extended out of town family vacation we had. She said in order to make it up to me, she would talk to the rest of the family about moving it to a shorter one during spring break instead, and that I could even pick the spot this year. As an added bonus, all my sisters would now be free at this time to help out if I needed them to bring me food, help me get up and around, or just hang with me so I wasn’t too bored.

The weeks flew by and the next thing I knew it was spring break. Since I had been given the option to choose where we went this year, I chose a popular beachfront spot. The place was full of young women in skimpy bathing suits and bare feet. It was everything a teen with raging hormones could desire, though short lived.

Things progressed fairly smoothly after that and I hardly thought about it until a week before the surgery. I was sitting in my room trying to study for the last high school tests I’d ever have to take. My eyes glanced out the glass-sliding patio doors, where I saw dad talking to the pool guy about getting it ready for the summer. My mind wandered to all the great summers we had playing in the pool, not to mention the times watching my sisters and their friends frolic in the pool or sunbathing right outside of the glass patio doors of my room.

Sure there were downsides to choosing the only room that led out to the pool from the back of the house as mine, such as intermittent lack of privacy. But they were far outweighed by the parade of girls coming through my room in their swimsuits and bare feet to get to the pool during the summer months. Not to mention the random pair of shoes or socks left at the door for me to have fun with. Fortunately, no one ever really seemed to notice, although it came close a few times like last year with Lexi’s one friend.

“What’s got ya down little bro?” Steph asked as she poked her head into my room.

I told her I just had a lot on my mind with school ending, tests to take and stuff. She asked if that stuff might have something to do with my surgery this coming Friday. I hung my head down, partly because it was true and partly because it was my sister asking about it. She tried to be reassuring and tell me everything would be fine and not to worry so much. Which seemed a little out of character, since we didn’t really get along most of the time. She said that she’s assisted doctors with surgery and stuff working in the ER, and if I wanted she could go over a few things to help me be prepared for it if I’d like.

In truth, I was quite concerned and reluctantly handed her the sheet the doctor had given me regarding pre-op stuff, and asked if she could give it a once over to see if there was anything else she could think of. She looked it over and said that it was kind of lean in prepping info. For instance, it didn’t say if they were going to shave you down there first or not. She went on to say that she’s had to shave many a patient before surgery and how it went much quicker if the patient had done a little landscaping beforehand. That if I wanted to spend less time with some stranger shaving me down there, I might want to do it myself this weekend. That was unless I wanted her to do it for me, since she had experience at it.

I shot her a glare and she busted out laughing, saying that she was only trying to lighten the mood. But that seriously I should do some manscaping down there. That I’d probably never shaved down there before, and I might break out in a rash, which is the last thing I’d want right before surgery. She then looked away apprehensively, and said speaking of rashes, I know you probably don’t want to hear this from your sister, but just to play it safe, you might want to keep your hands off yourself as well. My eyes shot wide open in disbelief and I gave her that WTF look. Yet she continued, I’m just saying given your track record with problems down there, you might not want risk getting overzealous and giving yourself a rash or abrasion or something. She shrugged her shoulders saying don’t look at her, she’s just a nurse, I asked for her advice, take it or leave it, and then she turned around and left my room.

What could I say? It was true, I did ask her, and what she said did kind of make sense. So the next day I dug out the old electric clippers dad used to use to give me a buzz cut, and went to work down there. It wasn’t the closest or neatest job, but I wasn’t going to use a straight razor or the electric one I used on my face down there. At least it would be quicker for them to shave there come Friday. As for not rubbing one out the rest of the week, I could see her point there as well. I hate to admit it, but there were times whether it be I was too forceful or what I stuck it in was too course and I got an abrasion or it swelled up. So hands off for the rest of the week it is.

The next couple of days were pretty straightforward. I finished off my last days of school, passed all my tests, and graduated with the rest of my class. Before I knew it, Friday was here and I was on my way to the med-center in a loose pair of sweatpants and a spare pair of tight-fitting clean underwear in a bag. Of course, dad had to leave town on a two-week business trip shortly after the graduation ceremony, so once again mom was driving me, and Lexi just had to tag along as well. I couldn’t get there soon enough so they could shave me properly, since the stubble down there from my poor attempt last weekend was starting to get itchy.

Once we arrived, mom and Lexi grabbed a seat while I went to check in with the receptionist. She had me look over a bunch of papers that stated I had medical insurance, that I understood that any medical procedure no matter how minor could have unforeseen complications, and how the med-center was also a learning facility so there may be an assisting intern present. I quickly glanced through all the paperwork, signed and returned them to her. As she went to close the tinted glass window between us, someone caught my eye way down the hall behind her. No, that couldn’t be…