When the lab person printed out the stickers to go on the blood vials, I thought, no way. It was a very, very long strip. Longer than anyone else’s in the mostly filled waiting room.

But, as I said, I got into the Coben book and was transfixed by the page-turning wonder that it is. When I realized that people with numbers higher than mine were being processed, I dashed in to take a seat in a cubicle.

Long ago, I learned not to look. Maybe it was during one of my pregnancies when they would take 3 vials of blood at a time. The technician seemed to be taking a really long time. He was not a talker. I had not eaten since 7:00 last night.

Luckily, there was a distraction. The man next to me was being told he had to stay for three hours in the waiting room after. He was not happy. He said he’d just go around the corner and get some coffee. The technician said no, he could not leave the building. I was still pondering what his problem might be when my silent blood person seemed to be finishing up.

Lined up neatly were five vials. Four were for the allergist. I went home to eat. Meat. It’s on the list of approved foods.