It was exactly ten days after he had sex with Gail that Sam’s penis starting to itch. It wasn’t a bad itch, hardly noticeable at first, so he ignored it most of the day. Finally, after he had finished urinating and was alone in the bathroom, he thought he should take a look. It wasn’t easy. His belly had expanded over the years so it was necessary for him to lean forward and tighten his stomach muscles before he could see his penis. He realized it had been a long time since he had examined it and could understand the reason. It was not easy. In the harsh light from the overhead bulb, it seemed smaller and more wrinkled than he remembered. Had it always been that little or had it shrunken over time?
He peeled back the foreskin and saw a small red blotch about the size of a dime. It was red and appeared to be inflamed.
“Shit,” he said to himself.
Probably nothing, he thought. Give it a few days and it would likely go away.
He continued to examine it often during the days ahead and it did not go away. In fact it became larger and more inflamed. A white spot appeared on top of the sore.
The word shit became a familiar part of his vocabulary.
He decided that if it wasn’t better in seven days he would call the doctor. It did not get better.
When he phoned for an appointment, a cheerful woman’s voice asked his reason for wanting to see the doctor. “I’m just not feeling well,” Sam said, weakly. He wasn’t about to explain that he might have picked up a sexual transmitted disease.
She made an appointment for him later the same day. When he showed up he was only seated in the waiting room for a few minutes before the doctor’s nurse appeared to take him into the inner offices. She was the same nurse who had treated Sam and his wife for years so she was more like a friend than a nurse. She gave him the usual unprofessional hug.
“How have you been?” she asked
“Okay, I guess.”
“Are you coping with your loss okay?”
“Oh, I’m getting by,” Sam said. He wondered when he should tell her about his real problem.
After she had seated him in a small cubicle and started to take his blood pressure, Sam knew it was time to come clean. “I have a sore on my penis,” he said.
The nurse was startled. “What?” she said.
“A sore on my penis,” Sam repeated.
The nurse took a moment to absorb it. Her expression reflected her dismay. “Have you been active sexually?”
“Only once. The first time I have been with a woman other than my wife in over fifty years. Do you think it could be a venereal disease?”
“I don’t know. It’s possible. Did you use a condom?”
Sam admitted he had not. “Do you want to see it?”
The nurse blushed. “No thanks. We will leave that for the doctor."
“It’s not fair, you know,” Sam mused. “The first time I’ve had sex in over fifty years. What are the odds? Do you believe in life after death?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“Well, it’s almost as if Sarah is sitting up there on a cloud watching me. I think she disapproves.”
The nurse seemed to be fighting back laughter.
When the doctor appeared Sam explained what had happened and showed him the afflicted part. “The first time in over fifty years,” he repeated.
“What do you know about the woman?”
“Not a lot really. And there is no telling how truthful she was in what she did tell me. People do lie on those dating sites.” He didn’t explain that he had lied, too, “She said she had been a teacher in Africa and more recently in Mexico.”
“So it could be anything. Do you know her sexual history?”
Sam remembered how aroused she had been with him. He couldn’t imagine a woman who enjoyed sex so much being inactive. “Only what she told me.”
“Well, I can’t tell just by looking at it,” the doctor said. “The only way to be sure is to do a blood test.”
“But you think it is a sexual transmitted disease?”
“It looks like it.”
“How serious is it?”
“Probably nothing to worry about. Most of these things can be completely cured. I’m giving you a prescription for an antibiotic. Take it twice a day for fourteen days.”
“Any instructions? A salve or anything.”
“No just take the antibiotic. The test results will be back in a few days and we will know for sure.”
Sam took a deep breath. “Am I contagious?”
“You mean can you give it to someone else?”
“Yes.”
“Well, if it is a sexually transmitted disease you could give it to anyone you had sex with.”
“How about kissing? Or hugging?”
“That would be okay. But no sex. Understood?”
Sam nodded. “How long before you get the test back?”
“About a week,” the doctor said.
“You will let me know?”
“Sure. In the meantime, just be careful. Take the antibiotic and keep it in your pants,”
Sam nodded again. At wasn’t as if he was a child who needed to be told. After all, he was eighty years old.
Still, he was glad he wouldn’t have to stop hugging and kissing, especially since he had made dates with two other women for later in the week.
He hoped they wouldn’t be disappointed that he couldn’t have sex with them.
