Matilda scratches her forehead disgustedly as she heads down the hall.
"Man... I wanna just be done today..."
She steps to the x-ray machine, and grabs a blank x-ray sheet.
She sets in the focus area, and flips the machine on.
She flips it off, and grabs the sheet.
"Blank. Great." she says to herself, and sighs.
She heads out of the room and down to Dr. Stevens's office.
"Gotta minute, doc?"
Stevens puts down his pen and stretches his arms, then rests them atop his head.
"Not really." he smiles at her, getting her to grin politely. "Whatcha need?"
"We've got a little blotch on the Reynolds x-rays."
She shows him the file.
"And I just checked the machine again, blank scan. Nothing there."
"Well, then, it had to be something in Mrs. Reynolds's mouth, Matilda. Probably something metal and circular."
"Wouldn't we have cleaned that out? It's large enough that..."
"Yeah, you'd think so." he interrupts, then turns back to his own paperwork.
Matilda's face turns red, being pushed aside like this. She takes a deep breath before speaking.
"Well what could it be that we'd miss it during hygiene?"
"Oh... maybe she had a sequin between her teeth."
Matida's face goes red again.
"Are you even listening to me? A sequin?!? How the hell--" Stevens looks up, his own face turning red-- "How would she get a sequin in her mouth?!?"
Stevens smiles at her.
"I said, 'could be.' Go check the machine again, though."
Matilda scoffs, and takes a paper clip from Dr. Stevens's desk.
Back in the x-ray exam room, Matilda grabs a blank x-ray sheet, and places the paper clip on it.
She flips the machine on, then off, quickly. She grabs the sheet and it faintly shows the outline of the paperclip. No blotch.
She grabs another sheet, and repeats this. On. Off. A little longer this time, making the outline clearer.
She does this a third time, then prepares a fourth time.
With the first three takes in her hand, she flips on the machine. Sweating from being slightly angry, the early prints slep from her hand. She picks them up, and sees that the third one is somewhat blurred, and the exact color of the blotch.
She sighs, realizing she overreacted.
She heads down the hall, flicks the paperclip at Stevens. He looks up at her.
"We're okay doc. Probably just a filling."
Stevens smiles, picking up the paperclip and putting it back on his desk.
"It just struck me as odd that it was perfectly circular, and that large. Coulda been my error, though. Sorry for freaking out."
Stevens shook his head, smiling. " 'S'okay, Matilda. You'll check this yourself next time, right?"
Matilda nods and heads back to the rest of her paperwork.
She removes her ID lanyard, and then digs into her purse. She pulls up her multivitamin bottle, which rattles as she lifts it.
She uncaps it, and sees only three left.
"Well, I need more of these," she thinks aloud, removing one. She hesitates, and then dumps the others into her hand. "Might as well take them all, and pick up another bottle on the way home. No lunch today." She pops them into her mouth, washing them down with some bottled water.