"Welcome, son, I’m really glad your mother decided you could come, she’s very worried about you," that was the first thing his stepfather said after they both had a big hug and a few kisses.

"Don’t worry, I’m going to make sure you get completely better, and I’m even going to give you something that will help you concentrate better on your studies, some vitamins that will do you good, you'll see."

He then told him to go to the room, get comfortable, and wait there, that he would soon go to give him a little medical check-up. Fran explained that his doctor had already seen him and prescribed the usual pills and syrups, but to that, the stepfather replied that from now on his doctor would be him and that he wanted to do his own examination and would prescribe whatever he saw fit, as it was very clear that what the other doctor had prescribed wasn't working at all. So he told him to start undressing and to give him his phone so he wouldn’t get distracted, promising to keep it for him.

Fran didn’t like the idea of undressing or giving up his phone at all, but he thought that he had to obey in some way, so he handed over the phone, which was out of battery anyway, asking him to charge it, and he stayed waiting, with no intention of undressing. He took off his slippers to be more comfortable and nothing more. After all, he didn’t see why he needed to undress just to have his throat checked…

After a while, the stepfather returned with some medical instruments, including a thermometer, a stethoscope, and something else that Fran couldn’t distinguish well.

"Are you still feeling this way?" the stepfather said. "Come here, at this rate…" and he started by taking off Fran’s shirt while saying he needed to examine him, which Fran found reasonable. He examined him and said that he needed to be careful with his lungs, as it seemed he had the beginnings of an infection, and right after that, he told him to open his mouth, pressed his tongue with something, and became very serious, telling him that he had swelling and a severe infection in his throat, that he was surely running quite a fever and that it needed to be fixed immediately.

He told him to lie down, palpated his abdomen, and asked how he was feeling in that regard. Fran told the truth, that he was okay but it hurt. The stepfather responded that with so many pills, he wasn’t surprised, and that his oral medication was going to end very soon.

Fran didn’t understand well…what did he think he was going to give him then?

By the way, his stepfather said, your mother also asked me to give you the three vaccines you have pending that they couldn’t give you because you were sick. I’ll give you the first one shortly, the other two as soon as your fever goes down because they can’t be given like that.

Fran didn’t like vaccines; his arm always hurt for a couple of days afterward, and he told his s...