A Little at A Time

Chapter 8
Bloodwork

I hopped into the passenger seat of Jessica’s car, wearing a fresh diaper. As she backed out of the garage, I started to feel a little sleepy. Without giving it any thought, I slipped my thumb into my mouth and started to suck softly. A few minutes later, I was fast asleep, sucking contentedly on my thumb.

Jessica gently woke me up as we arrived at the outpatient clinic, “Come on, Tim, time for your bloodwork.” At that moment, I suddenly realized what this meant. “Uh, bloodwork means a needle, right? I don’t think I want to do that!” On one level, I knew that I had had bloodwork many times and that it was no big deal. But, I couldn’t help it. I felt waves of fear crashing over me. The needle will really hurt! What if it breaks off inside me?! I folded my arms across my chest. “I don’t want to go!” I protested, again bringing my thumb up and putting it in my mouth. Jessica lost her patience. “Tim, this is ridiculous! It’s no big deal. You’ve done this many times and we need to find out what’s going on!” This made things worse. Now, in addition to feeling scared, I felt embarrassed and sad. I started crying. Amid the sobs, I begged “The needle will hurt. Please don’t make me do it!”

Jessica took a deep breath and when she spoke again, she was calm and spoke softly. “Tim, there’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ll be right there with you. When it’s all over, we’ll go get Ashley from Pam’s house and maybe you can spend a little time with Kevin.” Part of me felt like protesting, responding that Kevin was a little kid, so why would I want to spend time with him? But, I actually got super excited by the idea – it sounded like a lot of fun. I stopped crying and just sat there sucking my thumb. Jessica added: “And maybe, on our way over, we’ll stop for some chicken nuggets.” That sealed the deal. “Ok,” I said. I tried to unbuckle my seatbelt, but found it difficult all of the sudden. Jessica leaned over and unbuckled my belt. We headed inside the clinic.