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The Good Doctor
Dec. 29th, 2009 08:25 pm
Last night my back was bad. Cryingly bad. I actually went to bed before midnight, and I had the strangest dream.
The barking ghost was back, only he was fully manifested as a plague doctor, with dusty black overcoat, floppy-brimmed hat and the bird-beaked mask. He was poking me and prodding me with long, bony, pale fingers, which were not like a modern doctor's fingers because they were invitingly warm. Instead of making his usual barking/coughing noise, he was grumbling and muttering at me in a low, gravelly voice. At first, I was afraid of him, mainly because even in my dream I was in a dead sleep and he woke me up. I know it was a dream, though, because I sleep in the nude and in my dream I was wearing a long black gown - and my luxurious cotton sheets had been replaced with black silk. Now that I'm trying to recall the dream, I think I might have actually been in a fucking coffin because I couldn't really scootch away from the doctor.
He kept pushing and prodding at my ribs and side, and it hurt every time he hit the kidney area on my side. I wanted him to stop poking me, but I couldn't seem to push his hands away and I couldn't fully sit up. So I gave in and rolled onto my right side. He dug a warm, firm hand into my side and began rubbing my lower back & hips with the other. The one on my side hurt, and I was writhing, trying to get away from the pressure but he kept at it. I flopped all the way over on my stomach & tried to crawl out of whatever kind of confining box I was in, but he just grabbed the gown and kept working on my side and back. The more I struggled, the louder but gentler his grumbling got, as if he was at the same time trying to reassure me & trying to scold me.
Finally, he quit digging his knuckles into my guts, started rubbing my shoulders & pulled a blanket or covering of some kind up over me, patted me on the head & left.
It's the weirdest damned thing, though, because my back hasn't been nearly as bad today, and even the base of my shoulders, which is usually a huge knot, feels pretty relaxed. I don't know why the spirit of some medieval sawbones has attached itself to me. I don't know where it came from or why it's been visiting me. But I do appreciate its heavy-handed massage therapy :)
The barking ghost was back, only he was fully manifested as a plague doctor, with dusty black overcoat, floppy-brimmed hat and the bird-beaked mask. He was poking me and prodding me with long, bony, pale fingers, which were not like a modern doctor's fingers because they were invitingly warm. Instead of making his usual barking/coughing noise, he was grumbling and muttering at me in a low, gravelly voice. At first, I was afraid of him, mainly because even in my dream I was in a dead sleep and he woke me up. I know it was a dream, though, because I sleep in the nude and in my dream I was wearing a long black gown - and my luxurious cotton sheets had been replaced with black silk. Now that I'm trying to recall the dream, I think I might have actually been in a fucking coffin because I couldn't really scootch away from the doctor.
He kept pushing and prodding at my ribs and side, and it hurt every time he hit the kidney area on my side. I wanted him to stop poking me, but I couldn't seem to push his hands away and I couldn't fully sit up. So I gave in and rolled onto my right side. He dug a warm, firm hand into my side and began rubbing my lower back & hips with the other. The one on my side hurt, and I was writhing, trying to get away from the pressure but he kept at it. I flopped all the way over on my stomach & tried to crawl out of whatever kind of confining box I was in, but he just grabbed the gown and kept working on my side and back. The more I struggled, the louder but gentler his grumbling got, as if he was at the same time trying to reassure me & trying to scold me.
Finally, he quit digging his knuckles into my guts, started rubbing my shoulders & pulled a blanket or covering of some kind up over me, patted me on the head & left.
It's the weirdest damned thing, though, because my back hasn't been nearly as bad today, and even the base of my shoulders, which is usually a huge knot, feels pretty relaxed. I don't know why the spirit of some medieval sawbones has attached itself to me. I don't know where it came from or why it's been visiting me. But I do appreciate its heavy-handed massage therapy :)
