The Apprentice

by Sahypo

Chapter 4

After the short ride home, Timmy immediately changed back into his birthday suit, and set about getting ready for school in the morning. He had already taken a shower over at Isaac’s house and had little to do before going to sleep. After he climbed in bed, his mind continued to swirl recounting the day’s events and the incredible way things had turned out when he “came out” to Isaac about his anatomic variations.

He replayed the visuals of Isaac’s toned, pale body and felt himself responding to his mental images. Timmy pushed his stocky penis up against his torso with the palm of his hand, and let his fingers caress the scrotum and testicle beneath. He felt himself become steadily stiffer under his hand, and felt the gentle curve of his erection resist the pressure he was applying. Rubbing his hand up and back over his erection was highly relaxing, and he savored the moment, and went very slowly, not wanting to hurry this treat. He could feel a bit of moisture in his urethral slot, and concentrated the rubbing and pressure on the slot under his glans, and ran a fingertip in the slot at intervals to distribute the wetness around his opening. He could tell that there was more of this strange sticky, slick liquid lately, and that it made masturbation a little nicer than it used to be. Of course, he always had some wetness under the tip of his penis; that came with hypospadias, as the last half to three fourths of an inch of his urethra was open to “the world outside” along the bottom. That was probably piss residual, he thought to himself - you can shake, you can dance, but the last two drops will be in your pants, went the old saying…

Timmy also enjoyed tugging on the flap of skin on top his glans. The foreskin was sensitive, and he changed his grip now, so that he was gripping his penis and also rubbing his thumb over the foreskin at the top of each stroke, and building speed as he thought more about Isaac, imagining things they might do if his fantasies were fulfilled.

Although Timmy could feel a tension build up, and the anticipation was beginning to mount, he still just managed to miss reaching the point of no return, and after a half hour of masturbation, his arm was done and he rolled over and fell asleep. He dreamt he was back in Isaac’s bed the night of his stay over and nightmare, and a smile crossed his face as he felt Isaac’s arms guarding him again.

Isaac had a fairly open Tuesday morning, so he woke late and called his family physician’s office around 9:30. Delilah, who ran the front office answered the phone “Doctor Selden’s office, how may I assist you?”

“Hi, Delilah, this is Isaac Daniels”

“Oh Good Morning Isaac!” he could hear her smiling into the phone.

“How much would Doctor Selden charge a cash patient for a basic physical, Delilah?”

“Oh, most all patients we see have insurance, Isaac, but if I remember right, I think he charges 115,--- er,… he says 125...he had to raise it a few years back.” “Who is the patient?”

“A neighbor boy…he isn’t from a good home and I’m pretty sure there is no insurance. Kid hasn’t had a medical checkup since he got shots to start kindergarten.” Isaac said.

“He is how old now?” Delilah inquired

“Twelve”.

“We would need parental consent--”

“Umm, that’s the problem. I’m aware of neglect in this kid’s home situation, Delilah, and even if the boy’s father was sober, consent might be a problem, and the boy has circumstances that I think Dr. Selden should see him about.”

“Are you talking about physical injuries from abuse, Isaac?”

“No, ma’am, he has some congenital issues.”

“Isaac, let me run this past Doctor Selden, and I will call you back. Is this afternoon good for you?”

“Thanks, Delilah, that would be great, yes” Isaac replied, and ended the call.

He drove himself into the community college campus and went in to the hangar office at the aviation maintenance department, reported for his exam and signed in on a roster. There were three other boys who were going to take their oral practical exams today, and momentarily, a man in khakis and a polo shirt came in the office and introduced himself and asked the four students to turn off their personal devices. He then collected a check from each of them to cover the testing fee. This man was called an IA, or Inspector Authorization. He was empowered to sign off aircraft annual inspection records and administer the exams that Isaac was taking today.

He led the four boys into the hangar, and over to an area where he had set up an engine on a stand for each of the boys, and several aircraft engine parts were arranged on four work bench tables. Each table had a small tool box with common tools inside. He told the boys that they had 3 hours to complete the exam, and assigned each student an engine, and work table. Two of the engines were gas turbines, and the other two were piston engines, similar to what was in an automobile. Isaac had no concern regarding either type, as he was prepared for anything that he was likely to face from the IA this morning.

The man set the other three boys to their assigned tasks and turned finally to Isaac to get his exam started.

Isaac had been given the work table next to an antique Pratt and Whitney R-985. It was a radial engine, with 9 cylinders arranged like petals on a daisy, and was good for about 425 horsepower. The examiner’s first question to Isaac was what the firing order of the engine was, which Isaac answered easily; its all the odd numbered cylinders in order first, followed by the evens.

“If this was an 18 cylinder engine, what would the firing order be?” asked the examiner. Isaac mentally applied the “magic numbers” 11 and 7, to get the answer; basically, you start with one, and add 11 if you can. If the sum is greater than 18, you subtract 7 instead. Keep that up until you end up with

“1, 12, 5, 16, 9, 2, 13, 6, 17, 10, 3, 14, 7, 18, 11, 4, 15, 8!” Isaac stated.

“Excellent!” the examiner said, and asked Isaac some other questions before setting him to a practical task that he had one hour to accomplish. “I have two magnetos here, one of them does not work. Your task is to figure out which one is inoperative, troubleshoot it and tell me what is wrong with it, and disassemble the other unit, inspect it, adjust it and test it. You have this tool box to use for the exercise, as well as that mag tester machine,” he said pointing out a piece of equipment on the bench. The clock stops when you tag the items and call me. You may keep any time that you have left to use in the next task… Begin now.” With that, the examiner left Isaac and went to the next student and laid out his practical task.

Isaac attached the first magneto to the tester and turned the machine on, and found it to be the faulty unit, and decided to autopsy it first, so he would have the most time to disassemble and adjust the “good” unit. He was fairly certain that what the examiner had done to disable the “Bad” unit would be obvious and it was. The examiner had only so much time to set this exam day up, after all.

The examiner had simply adjusted the contact points so they could not close, and the magneto could not fire. He set that unit aside.

Since the aviation regulations state that you must have approved manufacturers technical data available before performing any maintenance, the examiner had Xeroxed some adjustment specifications out of the service manuals for the magneto that Isaac was inspecting. Isaac disassembled his unit, inspected the parts to the manufacturers recommendations, and put the item back together observing the adjustment specifications on the data sheet.

Finally, he returned to the tester machine and set the lag angle for the magneto the specified number of degrees. He attached a yellow “Serviceable Item” tag on the good unit, and a red “Unserviceable” tag on the one the instructor had “bugged”. He had about 20 minutes left, and called the examiner over to report his findings. Again, the examiner simply said “Excellent” and assigned Isaac his next test item, a carburetor. The process was the same as for the magnetos, and he when he finished, he switched places with one of the boys who had started his test on a turbine engine. Isaac again had two practical challenges to complete relating to turbines, which took a bit over an hour.

At the end of the examination period, the examiner said that all four had done well, and handed each one a certificate indicating that they had passed the oral practical for Powerplant. They would still have sit for the Powerplant writtens, and repeat the entire examination process for the Airframe portion of the license.

About three in the afternoon, Isaac’s phone rang and Delilah was on the other end. “Isaac?..Delilah from Doctor Seldens office again…..”

“Yes, how are you?”

“Fine, thank you. Doctor says to bring your neighbor in to give a medical history, and he can see you on Friday, at four PM.”

“This Friday at 4.…got it”

“All right, Isaac, we will see you then”

“Thanks, Delilah!”

“Your welcome, bye!”

Isaac was in a good mood, considering that he had gotten two major schedule items taken care of and done today, the big test, and setting the appointment for Timmy. Now he had to make sure he got Timmy to Doctor Selden’s on Friday. He went home and got ready for his parents to show up, and he was expecting them about 5:30.

Isaac’s parents arrived about quarter of six, and he met them at the door “Hey, Mom! Dad!, How was the drive down?” Isaac asked, hugging each of them.

“Not too bad at all, son. How are things going here?“ his father inquired.

“Excellent! I just got out of my oral-practicals, and passed” said Isaac.

“Oh that’s great, honey” his mom, said as his dad smiled.

“Was it difficult, son?” his father asked.

“Not really, dad, but it was 3 hours…Long test, but it went well” Isaac said.

“Well, you must be hungry. We are going to take you out to eat. Are you ready to go?” asked his mother.

“Uhh..sure, let me lock up.” With that, Isaac sprinted back into the house and grabbed his keys and wallet, locked the house up and went back out to his father’s car.

They got in the car and drove over to a family style café a short way off the main drag downtown that they had been to frequently when his parents were still living with Isaac. They each ordered a favorite, and began to talk about the rentals and Isaac’s living expenses. His parents paid the bills and utilities on the house Isaac was living in, with the positive cash flow from the rental properties. Isaac had an account at a credit union so he could access the stipend his parents gave him for food, gas and entertainment. The arrangement worked well for all of them, as Isaac was able to stay in school and pay resident tuition, which was a lot cheaper, and his folks weren’t put in the position of being long distance landlords for the rentals. Isaac had always been a very mature and responsible boy, even as a child. They felt grateful to God that Isaac had never been trouble, or in trouble, really ever in his life. They knew he was absolutely trustworth with anything the chose to make him responsible for. They had also known that he was an extremely compassionate person. They had never heard him speak badly of others; his way was more to not say anything at all, if he couldn’t be civil.

“I do have something I must tell you guys” Isaac said, to get their attention.

“Oh, honey, is anything wrong?” his mother immediately became concerned.

“This isn’t about me, mom, and actually, I think it’s a good thing…I met this kid a few weeks ago, when I was out front washing the blue car…He lives with his dad, and it doesn’t seem like he’s being taken care of like he should. I know he suffers from neglect, and he’s been beaten and stuff like that.”

Isaac’s parents listened silently and waited for Isaac to continue.

“The day I met him was a Saturday afternoon…he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch at school on Friday….” Isaac looked up and away; this was beginning to get to him a little.

“Take your time, son” his father said, putting his hand on Isaac’s shoulder.

“So I gave him some leftover lasagna I was planning to heat up…I never seen anyone eat like that, dad…I’m sure it ain’t the first time he’s done without. I’ve made my mind up to help him if I can, and I want you two to know about this. I bought him some things to wear at WalMart ‘cause his stuff is too small and basically rags…. So I spent a little more this month than I usually do, …might be needing a little more each month for food and so on.”

“That’s not a problem…I want you to do what you think is right, but be careful, Isaac. Have you met his father?” asked his mother.

“No, and he doesn’t know where the house is…I’m keeping it that way so Timmy has a place to go if things get really bad for him.” Isaac said.

“Just do the right thing, and use your head, Isaac. We are behind you, whatever you decide” his dad told him. Isaac’s father never spoke much, but when he did, it was usually well thought out, and Isaac often sought his counsel. He and his dad had always been close, and his father had known Isaac was gay since he was about six years old. When Isaac came out to him at the age of 12, his dad just said “I’ve always known that” and gave Isaac a big hug and squeeze, the same way that he always had. He didn’t say much, but he had always been physically affectionate with his son, with hugs, and always making time for Isaac when he wanted to cuddle with his dad. They both missed those times, now that Isaac was an adult, and on his own, at least in location, if not yet financially.

“I just can’t imagine how someone could not care for their own kid…its beyond me” Isaac said. He told them about Timmy’s scrape with the bullies at school, and the trip to the batting cage. They talked some more about news from the extended family, and had a

pleasant evening out to eat together. They drove back to the house and Isaac put them up for the night. The next day, Isaac went to his Wednesday classes while his father checked on the rentals and he and Isaac’s mother left for their own home shortly after Isaac returned so they could say goodbye. They would be home in about 5 hours.

Isaac saw Timmy again the following day and told him he would be by school to pick him up, and that he had an appointment for him at 4 o’clock. Timmy was not all that hot on the idea of seeing the doctor, but Isaac was insistent, since it had been so long since he had been to one.

Friday afternoon came soon enough, and Isaac picked Timmy up about 3:30, as planned.

The ride to the doctors office went silently, and Isaac could tell Timmy was apprehensive. “Penny for your thoughts”. Isaac said.

“What?” Timmy turned and look confused.

“It means, care to tell me what you’re thinking’?

“I’m just hoping he isn’t going to stick needles in me and shit…”

“And shit?” Isaac teased.

“You know, whatever else they do to people” Timmy said.

“Well, I’m pretty sure he won’t do that. He’s going to take your vital signs and ask you questions, and he will probably touch and poke around on you a little, but it doesn’t hurt.”

Isaac looked over at Timmy, and smiled. Timmy smile back, but Isaac could tell he was still nervous.

“Little buddy, would you ever think I would take you someplace if bad things were going to happen?”

“Is the doctor going to have to look at my junk?” Timmy said.

“That’s the real issue, isn’t it?” Isaac asked..Timmy nodded and Isaac continued. “Timmy, it’s part of your body and those parts have to be checked like everything else to make sure all of you is healthy….Besides, he’s seen what you have many times before, trust me.” They pulled into the parking space next to the doctors building. Isaac turned the key and the VW died, leaving a space of silence between them. “Trust me, Timmy, it will be alright, and I’m going to feel better knowing you’ve had this checkup.”

“Isaac, are you worried about me, is there something wrong?” Timmy asked.

“Nothings wrong, little buddy, and if there was, I would tell you. I absolutely promise”.

“No kiddin’, no shittin’, hope to be a-dyin’ if you’re lyin’?” Timmy asked, with a big smile, using Isaac’s words “against” him, though Isaac didn’t mind…

“I pinky swear it”, Isaac said, offering a pinky to Timmy. Timmy hooked his own pinky onto Isaac’s and they “shook” on it.

In the waiting room, Isaac checked in with Delilah, and introduced her to Timmy, who blushed when Delilah told him he was gorgeous and that she had heard so much about

him from Isaac. When Timmy sat down and started looking for something to flip through from the pile of magazines, Isaac leaned in a bit farther through the sliding window and thanked Delilah for flirting with Timmy a little and boosting his self esteem a little.

“Anything for a friend” Delilah said, winking at Isaac. She had known Isaac and his parents since he was about 5 years old and Doctor Selden had become their family practitioner. Her own son was a little older than Isaac, and lived out of state attending law school. The practice was still small enough that most of Doctor Selden’s patients knew his children and Delilah’s son, as their children all went to school together.

Isaac asked Delilah about the insurance form, and she said, “Just put down “cash patient” and leave the rest of it blank for me. Everything else fill out what you can”.

Isaac brought the forms back to the seats and began to list his own phone and address as contact information, and gave the other sheet with all the health questions to Timmy.

“Whats your date of birth, Timmy?

“August 8^th”

“Wow, mines September 16^th.” Isaac said “That would make you the youngest kid in your class?”

“Yeah, but there is one other boy, I think his is the 15^th.” Timmy said, concentrating on all the items in the list. “Man, I’m glad I don’t have any of this stuff” he mused.

“What about your family history, do you know anything about your relatives”? Isaac asked.

“I’m not sure I have any. I know my grandparents are all dead, and I think there might be an aunt somewhere, but I have no idea where or who she is”.

“Hmm-kay… “ Isaac thought. This won’t take long to fill out at all….Soon they were finished and shortly Timmy was called in.

“You’re going in with me” Timmy stated, in a voice that indicated that he wasn’t asking…Isaac smiled and fell in tow behind Timmy and they went into the next room where a nurse in pink scrubs put a hand on Timmy’s shoulder and guided him over to a

scale. “Sweety, could you take your shoes off for me, please?” she asked in a sweet pleasant voice. “Okay now step up here and still really still for a for a minute, please”.

She swatted the weights back and forth on the scale until the beam balanced, and she announced the results as Timmy read the weights for himself “78 pounds” as she charted that. Next was the height measurement, and she pushed and prodded on Timmy’s shoulders and cranked his chin up a bit and said, “Hold it just like that, sweety.” Extending the little paddle out of the stature meter, it felt weird and cold on top of Timmy’s head, and she read the meter stick, “59 inches”.

“Okay, lets bring you guys in this room, bring your shoes”. As they made their way into one of the exam rooms. The nurse asked Timmy to sit up on the exam table and relax for her. She took his wrist and said, “I am going to take your pulse rate now, and then we’ll get your blood pressure, okay?” Timmy nodded to her, and sat quietly as she counted his beats for 15 seconds. She charted this, and turned back to Timmy. “Okay, Timmy, let’s get a blood pressure on you now…” she wrapped a cuff on Timmy’s arm and placed the stethoscope head in the crook of his elbow, and his eyes became a bit wide when she began to pressurize the cuff. “Its okay, Timmy, it will only take about a minute, okay?

“Have you ever had your blood pressure checked, Timmy?” Timmy shook his head no.

“Well, it won’t hurt your arm or anything, it just gets a bit tight, sweety.”

“I’m fine” Timmy croaked. He hadn’t said anything since coming in, and his throat was dry.

“Okay, that’s it…your blood pressure is very normal for a boy your age”, she said, taking a thermometer out of a glass urn with alcohol in it. She shook it down and asked Timmy to open his mouth. “Just put this under your tongue for minute or too, now don’t bite down it, it’s glass, okay?”

“Yes, Ma’am, I won’t” Timmy assured her.

After a few minutes, she took the thermometer out of Timmy’s mouth and read it. “Have you been doing any running or exercise before you came here?” she asked.

Both Timmy and Isaac shook their heads “no”, and looked at her a bit puzzled. “Well, he reads 99.1 degrees…are you feeling okay, Timmy?“

“I think so, but it is warm in here to me.” Timmy admitted.

About that time, Doctor Selden came in and greeted Isaac, then turned and said, “Timmy, its good to meet you…Isaac was a little concerned because its been so long since you last had a checkup. I’m going to give you a bit of privacy before we get started, and you need to take everything off down to underwear and put this gown on. I will be back in just a minute, okay?” Timmy nodded. “Do you have any questions for me”? Timmy shook his head in the negative “ Well, if you do, you just ask. And don’t be shy, okay?” Doctor Selden smiled and left the two alone. Timmy got off the table and undressed, as Isaac held up the gown and said

“Let me help you, these things tie in the back”. Timmy was now in his socks and underwear and Isaac draped the gown around him and tied it up. Timmy hopped back up on the table and did his best not to tear the paper cover sheet. Doctor Selden came back in the room and said,

“Okay Timmy, lets have you sit up on the edge of the table and we’ll get a look at your ears and eyes first, and listen to your heart, okay?” Timmy nodded and swung his legs over the edge of the table and sat up. Doctor Selden held a pen light and and asked Timmy to follow his finger. Timmy complied as Doctor Selden intently watched Timmy’s eye movement, and noted that his pupils responded appropriately to the pen light. He then examined Timmy’s retinas with a fundoscope, and found nothing of concern.

“Your eyes look quite normal, Timmy, no worries there….Lets have a look in your ears now.”

Doctor Selden gently brushed Timmy’s hair to the side and peered into each ear canal with an otoscope.

“Okay. You do need a good cleaning in your ears, but there is nothing wrong with them from a health standard.” Doctor Selden reported.

Okay, Timmy….I’m going to listen to your heart now…just breath normally…” The stethoscope moved around on Timmy’s chest, and then on his back. “Big deep breaths now, Timmy…” Again, the stethoscope moved around front and back as the physician listened to Timmy’s lungs this time. “Well, that all sounds in order as well.”

“How are doing so far, Timmy, alright?” the doctor asked. Timmy nodded “Yes, Sir. I’m fine”.

“Good, this won’t take too much longer…..can you open your mouth for me, please?”

Timmy did as he was asked, and Doctor Selden looked his teeth and gums over, and searched for signs of inflammation or injury in his mouth. He moved Timmy’s tongue around with the tongue depressor, and looked in Timmy’s nostrils with the penlight.

“Have you been to a dentist, Timmy?” the doctor asked.

“No” Timmy replied.

“Ever been to one at all?” asked Doctor Selden.

“Uh-uh” Timmy said, shaking his head side to side.

“Well, for someone who had never had a cleaning, your teeth are in great shape. Do any of them ever hurt when you drink something really cold?” Again Timmy indicated that they didn’t. It probably wasn’t any wonder that his teeth were as good as they were, since Timmy had only begun to lose his last primary teeth in the last few months. He was pretty much the stickler for brushing too, and Isaac had given him a brush so he could touch up after meals when he was there.

Next came the little rubber hammer, and all three of them giggled when Timmy gently kicked at the doctor when he tested Timmy’s patellar reflex. The doctor then lifted each of Timmy’s legs up and looked it up and down and turned them slightly from side to side.

“Okay, Timmy, I would like to check your spinal alignment, so could you stand up right here for me, please?” The doctor then asked him to bend over and touch his toes. Doctor Selden ran a hand over Timmy’s vertebrae, decided that there was no problem there, and had Timmy climb back up to the table.

“Okay, Timmy. This is the part that most boys hate”, he said smiling. “I am going to poke and prod a bit on your neck and tummy, and we have to look at your privates too. I am going to explain what I’m doing before I do it, so if you have any questions, just stop me and ask, okay?” Timmy nodded that he was ready, and the doctor continued.

“This is a check of the glands in your jaw and neck…I am looking for swelling” he said as he gently ran his thumbs under the insides of Timmys jawbone, and rubbed in little circles on his neck below his ears. That done, he moved down to Timmy’s belly and thumped on him with two fingers, while he listened to and moved the stethoscope with the other. “This is called auscultation, Timmy” the doctor said “We can tell things from the sounds.“ Timmy nodded and said “Okay. I didn’t know that.” Doctor Selden just smiled and pushed into Timmys abdomen just above the pubic bone.

Timmy went “Oooff” and Doctor Selden asked “Does that hurt or cause pain?”

“No, just pressure” Timmy said.

Doctor Selden now put on a pair of latex gloves.

“Okay, well that’s enough of that….I am going to examine your penis, testicles and scrotum now. I will be looking for abnormalities, irritation or infection, skin conditions, and anything that is out of the ordinary with your testicles.“

At that, Timmy began to laugh, and soon Isaac joined him. Doctor Selden looked confused, and didn’t get what must be some inside joke between the two of them.

At that point, Isaac decided to rescue his physician and let him know what he was about to find out.

“Doctor, Timmy has hypospadias and an undescended testicle…one of the reasons I brought him to see you is that we read that undescended testicles are a risk of cancer later in life, and he isn’t sure if he has both testicles or not.”

“ I see. Well let’s have a look, shall we? Oh, before we do that, Timmy, are you okay with Isaac being here or do you want him to step out for a minute?”

“I want him to stay…he knows all about it anyway, and I want him to know what you tell me about this, if that’s okay?“ Timmy asked.

“Of course, that’s fine. Would you slip your briefs down, you don’t have to remove them.” Timmy arched his ass off the table and slipped his briefs down his legs. Doctor Selden rolled the gown up, leaving Timmys chest covered, and exposing his groin.

The doctor looked at Timmy’s penis first, checking the skin for infection or lesions, noting the color and texture of the glans and inspecting the slit and opening under the tip of the organ. “Mild hypospadias…” he muttered, thumbing back Timmy’s foreskin flap and noting the moist pink inner foresking lining. “Foreskin looks good and healthy”.

Timmy felt himself becoming aroused from the attention being paid to his penis, and Doctor Selden could sense his patient becoming nervous. “Don’t be concerned, Timmy. I am used to it, and besides, if penises didn’t do that, none of us would be here.” He smiled at Timmy, and Timmy asked,

“Do a lot of boys have that happen?”

Doctor Selden just chuckled and said “Every single boy on the football team got an erection during team physicals…every one.”

“Well, I guess I don’t feel left out then.” Timmy said, smiling.

“I don’t see anything about your penis to be concerned with, Timmy. Now I am going to examine your testicle…I am looking for any roughness or lumpiness on its surface. I am also going to check your scrotum for any abnormality. Any questions or concerns?”

Timmy shook his head no, and the examination began. The doctor gently rolled Timmy’s walnut sized testicle around under the skin of his scrotum, and seemed satisfied that nothing was amiss with the one present. He palpated the scrotum and moved up along the left side of Timmy’s penis, tracing the path of the testicle’s descent through the inguinal canal. He could find nothing to indicate that the testicle was in the canal. For some of his patients with undescended testicles, he would be able to locate the gland under the skin of the pubis and actually “milk” it down into position in the scrotum, just like working an air bubble out of window tint with a squeegee.

“Timmy, it’s very important that you check your testicles often, like I have just done for you. The best time to do it is in the shower, when your scrotum is relaxed. Just roll it in your fingers like I did, and look for anything that is different from the last time you did this. I want you to do this once a week. Remember you are looking for sudden changes.”

“Okay, Doctor. I will.” Doctor Selden covered Timmy up and moved down to his feet and pulled his socks off. He talked to Timmy while he spread his toes and flexed his feet and ankles. Spotting no fungal signs, or injuries to his feet, and satisfied that his ankles were normal, he took Timmy’s hands and repeated his inspections of the areas between Timmy’s fingers and looked his palms over.

“This is important, Timmy. All men should do this, but you have an extra reason to watch your testicle closely. We know that boys and men who have one testicle have an increased risk of testicular cancer if they have an undescended testicle, and the risk remains high even if the undescended one is removed, or brought down into the scrotum…and we don‘t know yet if your other testicle is present.”

“Doctor, how do we find that out?” Isaac inquired.

“An ultrasound would be the first step…if there was any uncertainty in that test, a laparoscopic might be indicated, especially if the testicle was atrophied and needed immediate removal.“

“That’s a surgery, right?” Isaac wondered, and the doctor nodded.

“One done through small incisions with cameras…very quick and hardly any recovery time.”

“Umm, I have a question…” Timmy interjected. “Will I be able to have kids and stuff?”

“And stuff?” Isaac said, cracking him and Doctor Selden both up. Timmy clapped his hand over his face and groaned “Oh, God!”

After a good laugh, Doctor Selden addressed Timmy’s question; “There is no reason to believe that you wouldn’t be able to have children, Timmy. The degree of hypospadias that you were born with certainly has no effect on that, and assuming that your testicle makes sperm of good quality, it should be no issue either….we don’t know for certain unless you had a sperm count done, or your partner were to become pregnant. I will tell you this though, Timmy…Don’t count on having one testicle as a form of birth control. You may wind up being the second person to find out that you’re a daddy, okay?”

Timmy nodded. “Thanks, Doctor Selden. I wouldn’t take chances like that anyway.”

“You’re a very mature young man, Timmy….Oh, you can get dressed now. I will come back in a few minutes.” With that, Doctor Selden left the room again, and Isaac untied the gown for Timmy. In less than a minute, Timmy was dressed and ready to go.

When Doctor Selden returned, he gave Isaac a prescription slip. “The only thing I found is that Timmy does have a lot of buildup in his ears. This should clean them just fine.”

“What is this, Doc?’ Isaac asked.

“Industrial strength drain cleaner” Doctor Selden deadpanned. Both boys looked at him blankly, and the doctor began to laugh. “I’m just kidding. It’s a peroxide drop formulation made for earwax removal….Jeez, the looks on your faces….hahhahhhhaaaa”

“Man, you got me there!” Isaac admitted. Timmy just groaned again, like he had heard a bad joke.

“Have Timmy lay down on his side so the ear is straight up, and put about five drops of that in the ear. You keep it in his ear for about 10 minutes, and then do the other side. And we can schedule an ultrasound for Timmy whenever you want to do it…it‘s no rush, but don‘t put this off unnecessarily either. Any questions?”

“Got it, thanks….and thanks again for giving him the checkup, Doc.” Isaac said.

“Hey its your buck, kiddo” Doctor Selden said, chuckling. Isaac and the doctor shook hands and Isaac and Timmy went out to pay the bill.

After they left the office, Isaac asked Timmy if he was hungry, after all it was close to quarter past five.

“Maybe a little, but I’m feeling kind of weird”.

“What kind of weird, little buddy?” Isaac was concerned.

“Like I’m getting sick or something” Timmy said.

“Throw up sick, or headache, or ?” Isaac probed.

“Like hot flashes and stuff like that, and I feel weaker than I did this morning.“

“Shit…I bet you got the flu” Isaac said. “C’mon, I’m going to take you home.”

“Isaac, take me to your house…I’m afraid if I’m getting really sick I’ll be by myself at my house.”

“My house it is then” said Isaac and they drove away.