Her heart just about jumped out of her chest at seeing her. She was about five eight, lean and slender. Her hair was long and dark, and quite curly in a way that made you think she had just come from a salon. Her eyes were a deep and stunning misty blue, almost like looking into a sparkling sapphire. Her skin was pale, and you could tell that she didn’t stay in the sun much. And even though it was colder in the room, her cheeks and lips had a light pink tinge.

Cuddy quickly recovered herself and looked back at the chart, sitting down on the stool.

“So, um…Genny, it says on your chart that you think you have broken your toe and that you have a laceration.” said Cuddy.

“No, I know that I broke my toe and yes, I do have a cut.” said Genny.

“Well, let’s take a look.” said Cuddy.

“I’m worried that the cut might be getting infected. I’m not really worried about the toe much.” said Genny, taking off her slip-on flats.

Cuddy saw that her little toe was taped together with the next toe and there was a gauze bandage on the side of her foot.

“It looks like you’ve already been to a doctor about your toe.” said Cuddy, taking Genny’s foot.

“No, I deal with toe problems all the time.” said Genny.

“You break toes often? How do you do that?” asked Cuddy, taking the bandage off.

“I don’t personally break toes often. I just deal with a lot of foot injuries, some mine, some others. I teach ballet and compete in professional Latin ballroom dance.” said Genny, looking at the cut on her foot as Dr. Cuddy inspected it.

“Oh, so how did this happen?” asked Cuddy.

“The toe broke when I landed wrong almost a week ago. I also teach a yoga class in the park once a week. The cut happened when my foot left the matt. There was an old bottle cap in the grass and I stepped on it just right so that it sliced the side of my foot.” said Genny.

“Did you get a tetanus shot?” asked Cuddy, letting go of Genny’s foot.

“I already had my tetanus, but I did get a booster. I try to keep the cut clean and make sure it’s dressed well, but it’s hard. Dancing, my feet get gross and I’m constantly in different shoes.” said Genny.

“I understand, but you really should be keeping off your feet for a week or two to let your toe heal.” said Cuddy, getting supplies to clean and bandage the cut.

“I can’t do that, dancing is my job and I’m used to the pain.” said Genny.

Cuddy sat back down on the stool and began to clean the wound.

“It does look like the cut might be getting infected. I’m going to clean it and put a new bandage on. I want you to clean this cut and bandage it with clean gauze twice a day if you’ve been dancing. I’m also going to take some blood. I want to make sure that the infection hasn’t spread to your blood. A blood infection…” said Cuddy, being cut off.

“I know about blood infections. Look, I just came here to get my foot checked out and maybe some antibiotics, not a lecture.” said Genny.

Cuddy finished with Genny’s foot and let her put her shoe back on. While she wrote in her chart.

“Alright, now I’d like to get the blood sample.” said Cuddy.

Genny didn’t speak, she just held out her right arm and rolled up the sleeve. Cuddy came over and tied the tourniquet around her arm, looking for a good vein. She noticed some old scars on Genny’s forearm.

“What happened here?” she asked.

“It’s nothing, happened a long time ago.” said Genny, obviously not want to talk about them.

Cuddy found a vein and stuck the needle in, but the vein didn’t give any blood. She was either against a valve or the needle was too big for the vein. She moved the needle around a bit, trying to get a flow.

“Sorry.” said Cuddy.

“It’s fine.” said Genny, watching the whole time.

After a minute and still no blood return Cuddy withdrew the needle and released the tourniquet.

“I’m going to get a smaller needle and try the other arm.” said Cuddy.

“Really, it’s alright if you stay on my right arm, I’m left handed any way.” said Genny.

Cuddy fumbled for a moment with the tube she held when she heard this. She turned back to Genny and smiled.

“It’s really better to try the other arm first.” said Cuddy, pulling up the stool again.

“Fine.” said Genny, rolling her sleeve up.

Cuddy saw a fresh bandage on her forearm in about the same place the other scars had been. She found a vein and stuck the needle in, getting a blood return almost immediately.

“What happened here?” asked Cuddy.

“I burned my arm on the oven rack.” said Genny.

“Do you want me to take a look at it?” asked Cuddy.
“No, it’s fine.” said Genny.

Cuddy took the needle out and placed a cotton ball and tape over the tiny hole. She turned around, taking the two vials of blood, and went to the counter, washing her hands.

“Genny, the scars on your other arm are in almost the same place and they look deliberate.” said Cuddy.

“Don’t…just don’t okay. You don’t know me, you don’t know what I’ve been through. I hate doctors, you never listen to people, never take them seriously. It’s just the same as when Leo was sick, screw this!” said Genny, jumping off the table and walking out the door.

“Genny, wait…” said Cuddy, hanging out the door after her.

Genny just walked out of the clinic and then out of the hospital. Cuddy walked slowly back to the counter where Genny’s chart was and looked it over again. She looked for her birthday specifically, May 12, 1984. Cuddy could have believed that it was just a coincidence that a young woman who looked so familiar and had the same birthday as her daughter, only two years earlier, but she didn’t. Something in her made her want to find out if Genny had lied about her age and who she was.

She picked up the chart and blood and took them out to the nurses desk, keeping the chart and sending the blood to the lab for the standard tests. At least she had a reason to call Genny and try to get her to come back. She was going to give her a prescription for an antibiotic, but she had left. Cuddy could call her and ask that she come back in to pick up the script and hopefully try to talk to her more.