The Hunter

Just inside there was a wall of ornate cut metal that had a jungle theme. The wall was designed to force the traffic flow to the right and there awaited a security turnstile followed by a metal detector/ sniffer set up and an x-ray station. Three armed security personnel observed the people entering the building. One operating the X-ray machine and the other two on alert. Ashley palmed a biometric reader at the turnstile and once through, she told one of the security people that she had a prospective employee with her. He the requested the turnstile to be unlocked and allowed me entry. They knew Ashley and made pleasant conversation while passing through the security set up. We walked down a long corridor her heels making a resounding click on the granite floor with each step. She was wearing a light perfume that was driving me insane. God, how could any man concentrate, or get anything accomplished with her around? I came out of my trance when we arrived at a door with "MEDICAL" on a tag, in the traditional corporate font, immediately next to the door frame. Again, I opened the door and Ashley spoke to the receptionist. She turned to me and said she would be back in about an hour and to wait for her here.

The receptionist/ nurse asked for my ID. She scanned it and handed me an Ipad. She gave me instructions about completing the questionnaires and to bring it back upon completion. I confirmed the instructions she smiled and nodded. Lets see, the obligatory HIPPA form, medical history, complete with details, insurance, next of kin, blah, blah. When I returned the electronic device to her she smiled and said, "Follow me."

"Gladly", I replied. Behind the door that had a sign for "Authorized Personnel Only" there was a scale with a device used to measure height and a short hallway with three doors on each side. She opened the middle door on the right and told me to undress and put on the "gown" sitting on the exam table.

"I'll be back in five minutes she said", I stripped and dressed in the gown such as it was enjoying the breeze, so to speak. As I struggled with tying up the backside of the gown, a knock on the door signaling immediate entrance into the room, occurred, followed by the nurse, nurse goodbody. That had to be a custom fitted nurse's uniform, there was not a wrinkle in it and the uniform accentuated her every curve. There was just a hint of cleavage next to a name tag that had LAURA on it. She had brown eyes and brown shoulder length hair that was slightly curled. Her make up was light (God knows she didn't need any), her eyeliner and mascara made those eyes look even more glorious. That perfume (Damn, what do they put in that stuff?) was exhilarating. I was getting an erection from just the smell (Jesus, and the "gown" did nothing to hide my arousal). She asked, "Do you need a hand with that?" Dumbfounded I just stood there and turned my back to her while she tied the top strings on the back of the gown. When she finished she patted my ass, and said "Nice ass." I turned around smiling and did my best donkey impersonation. She laughed, and said, "Nice comeback, That's a first."

I replied, "I try. In my opinion, being an original is the best way to make an impression. Good or bad, I think you will remember me." She opened the door turned and smiled with a curving finger to follow her I complied. I was weighed (95.5 Kg) and my height taken (1.9 m). She then led me back to the exam room and asked me to sit on the exam table. She did the normal heart rate and bleed pressure monitoring and said the Doctor would be in shortly. She left and closed the door, I immediately hear a discussion outside the door and then another knock whereupon the door was opened and another attractive face appeared.

She smiled and said, "Good morning, What is your name?"

"Jed, Jed Jones, But you can call me JJ, please." I replied.

She looked at the chart and came in. She extended her hand and stated, "I am Dr. Kilgore, and I will be giving you a physical exam today. I will exam you from head to toe so please don't be shy. Do you have any questions?"

I nodded my head and asked, "Do you have a first name?"

"Yes", she replied, "but Dr. Kilgore is how I prefer to be addressed."

"Yes ma'am." I said. True to her word, she looked at my scalp, ears nose throat, eyes, felt my face, neck, checked eye movement, looked in my mouth, felt my shoulders, arms, back. Came to my front where she listened to my heart and breathing asking me to inhale hold it and exhale, then, put her hand on my stomach and thumped the back of her hand a couple of times moved it several times and repeated the process. She told me to stand, told, turn around, bend over the exam table, and rest my elbows on the exam table. I heard her remove something from a drawer behind me and the unmistakable sound of a latex glove being snapped in place. I winced slightly knowing what part of the exam was coming next. There was a slight pause and the sensation of a finger probing my rectum (Thank God for small fingers). A well lubricated finger slid into my anus, finding my prostrate, she felt around a little and stated "cough", I did, she removed the finger and disposed of the glove. She handed me some tissues to wipe away the remnants of the lubricant. She then instructed me to stand and turn around. She then reached under the "gown" and did a testicle exam and a hernia exam. She noticed the scar on my left thigh and moved the gown to see the extent of the scar. She asked about it and I explained about the IED and the injuries were confined to my left side indicating a few shrapnel scars. She nodded understanding my explanations. She requested that I sit down on the exam table again. She got a small rubber tomahawk and did reflex tests on various parts of my body. Yep, head to toe, being thorough prodded and poked, I was asked about foreign travel, immunizations and any boosters. With that she stated, "Your body is in good shape, especially for the trauma it had suffered. You can get dressed. Enjoy the rest of your day with us". She got up and left.

I removed my gown and proceeded to get dressed. As I was gauging the length of my neck tie in preparation to tie it, there was a door knock followed by miss Laura, again with the perfume, Daaamn she smelled as good as she looked! She offered her assistance in helping with my necktie and I accepted. She ties a good tie, complete with dimple. She led me to the reception area and told me to take a seat. She made a call and Ashley appeared shortly thereafter. Ashley smiled and commented, "Well, I see that you survived."

I nodded and asked, "Where do we go from here?" We exited the office and came a little closer toward the front of the building and entered a door with a PSYCHOLOGICAL tag next to the doorframe.

We entered the office and Ashley spoke to the receptionist (Brenda). I took a seat and awaited further instruction. Ashley left and told me She would be back later. The receptionist came around the counter and asked me to follow her, which I gladly obeyed. She led me to a small well lighted room. There was a table with a booklet, one of those answer sheets with an endless supply of small circles on it, three No.2 pencils and a bottle of water on it. She asked me, "Have you taken the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) before?"

I told her, "Yes, but I do not remember exactly when." She explained that there were about 567 statements in the booklet that that I was to fill in the appropriate bubble corresponding to the number of the statement (strongly disagree, disagree, no opinion, agree, or strongly agree). She told me not to think about them too much and fill in the bubble that most closely corresponds to how I feel about each statement. Take time to make sure your answer lines up with the statement number or the results won't be valid. I assured her that I understood. She told me to press the button next to the door when I was completed. She smiled and left me alone to confront the MMPI alone. Well 567 statements and corresponding bubbles later (I only got offtrack a couple of times) I got up and pressed the button indicating that I was completed.

The receptionist opened the door and escorted me back to the reception office. She asked me, "Do you need anything (I hate when good looking women ask me that as thousands of inappropriate images flash through my mind) or have any questions for me?"

I smiled and said, "I could stand to use the men's room if you can point me in the right direction." She nodded and led me to a men's room not too far away.

She asked, "What is your name? How I liked Atlanta so far?"

"Jed." I replied, "Atlanta seems ok as far as cities go. I don't care for the traffic, but the good part is the are plenty of restaurants and things to do." I asked, "Do you live in Dunwoody? Where's a good place to eat lunch close by?"

She told me they, "Yes Dunwoody is a nice place to live. We have a cafeteria in the building. The food is pretty good. They have a decent salad bar and they have a different special every day. They also have pretty good hot and cold sandwich specials The burgers are pretty good too." We returned to the reception area where she told me it would be a few minutes before the Doctor would be ready to see me.

I looked at my phone to check emails and such and before too long she told me the doctor would see me now. I got up and the doctor opened the door and greeted me. "Good Day, I am Doctor Ross."

"Hello, Nice to meet you," I replied.

"Come this way and let's talk a few minutes" he added. I followed him to an office a little further down the hallway where I had taken the MMPI. He started, "I saw no glaring indications from the MMPI. The next part is the ink blot test. I will show you several ink blots and you tell me what they represent to you. There are no wrong answers. Please give me your first impression and try not to think too much about them." I had not played the ink blot game before. Some of the images looked like animals, some like food, some looked sexually suggestive. This went on for about ten minutes or so. Then Dr. Ross stated, "I would like to discuss some personal matters with you, If you don't mind?"

"Sure", I said, "What would you like to discuss?"

"Tell me a little about your childhood." He went on.

"Well" I explained, "I grew up in a rural setting, just my mom and me, I did have many acquaintances, but not many friends." I then went on to explain in my mind the difference. My high school years, dating, going into the service, the incident that led to leaving the teams, my relationship with Roberto, and here I am. He asked a couple of more questions and seemed satisfied with my answers. He asked if I had any questions, I shook my head. We stood shook hands and I went back to the reception area. As I was sitting down, miss Brenda was on the phone and shortly thereafter Ashley arrived to take me away. WOW what a morning.

Ashley asked, "Are you ready for some lunch?"

I stated, "Yes, I am starting to get a little hungry." She smiled and said we could go out or stay onsite and eat in the cafeteria. I asked what she normally did for lunch and she led me to the cafeteria. A large, well lighted space, filled with various sized tables with chairs. The food area had a salad bar, there was a sandwich line and a meal line. Todays meal was chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, chicken gravy, green beans or side salad, and peach cobbler. I decided to go with the salad bar and a club sandwich. Ashley went with the salad bar. She scanned her badge at the cash register and we found a table where we could talk.

She looked at me (my head and face) making several facial expressions and several grunts and mmmmm hmmmm sounds. I finally asked, "Is there something wrong?"

She just smiled and said, "I was just checking to see how bad your head had shrunk."

Oooooh I get it, that was a good one! You're funny, sometimes you just kill me! I jokingly replied.

She smiled and appreciated that I could laugh at myself. We talked more about her and what she liked and disliked about this area (Atlanta), what she liked to do in her "off time". She didn't seem like a high maintenance woman. She did like to work out and stay in shape. She lived modest lifestyle and said that someday she would like to get married and have kids. I told her a little about myself and that I would also like to get married someday and have kids (four - two boys and two girls). She laughed at my insistence on the sexes of future generations. I smiled enjoying the moment. I asked her about afterwork plans tonight and expressed my desire to see her again. She smiled and told me that she had no plans for tonight and that she looked forward to seeing me again for dinner. We talked about what we wanted to do, eat, etc. I told her I would like to eat something a little less formal and maybe have a little fun. She smiled and said I'll think about it and let you know after work. Sounded like a plan. She explained that this afternoon would be more physical than this morning. She suggested that we take a walk and allow our food to settle before going to the next appointment. We walked around the grounds surrounding the building. I noticed the trees, hedges, and bushes were landscaped to give the appearance of privacy we walked and talked and before long I took her hand in mine, she didn't resist and smiled up at me giving my hand a light squeeze. After about twenty minutes we headed inside again using the hand biometric at the door.

Ashley stayed with me this time. My next appointment was lab work and physical testing. After several vials of blood were taken and a urine sample was given. Ashley escorted me to a locker room. She told me to change into my workout gear and meet her in the gym on the other side of the locker room. The gym was about 50,000 square feet. There were about 8-10 people using the gym at present. Doctor Kilgore and Laura were present next to a treadmill. They motioned me over and explained the first part of the physical testing was a stress test. Dr. Kilgore explained the test and asked me to remove my t shirt. She then produced a razor and explained, "I will have to shave parts of my upper body to attach some sensors for the test."

I told her, "I understand." After shaving and attaching the sensors she cut some mesh from a roll and explained that this was to help keep the sensors in place and provide minimal disruption of my movements. Laura assisted with getting the mesh tube top on me trying not to disturb the sensors. She then connected the leads to the sensors and told me to get on the treadmill.

Dr. Kilgore attached the kill switch to my shorts, started the treadmill and pressed the codes for workout #22. She then explained, "The treadmill control will beep when there is a change in speed or incline of the treadmill. Please grip the handlebar from time to time to allow the treadmill sensors to read my pulse rate."

I told her, "I understand." The tread mill started with a brisk walk of about 2.8 MPH and shortly thereafter it beeped and showed and increase to about 3.5. a couple of minute later it beeped again indicating an increase in elevation. From there about every two minutes there was an increase in speed or elevation and then for the next 8 minutes there was varying increases in speed and elevation. It got up to about 10 mph at the fastest with an incline about a 6% grade at the steepest. 10 minutes later it slowed to a cooldown mode before finally stopping.

Ashley was there (dressed in her workout gear) when it stopped and handed me a towel. Ashley then led me to various workout stations. She had a stopwatch around her neck. I was having some Kelly LeBrock - "Weird Science" flashbacks which made listening to her instructions difficult. She explained that most of the events were timed to see how long it took me to accomplish the task or to see how many reps I could do. This started with 30 push ups, 30 sit ups, bench press at 100, 125, 150, 175, and 200#, squats at 200, 250, 300#, vertical leap tests, there was also a large hemp rope hanging from the ceiling (~ 20 ft up). I was to climb the rope and ring a bell at the top. When I got down from the rope climb she again handed me a towel and said, "Not bad."

"Thanks." I replied. She then told me to get a drink and cool down for minute. After a couple of minutes she told me the next part of the evaluation was to spar to determine my hand to hand combats skills. I smiled and confidently stated "Lions and tigers and bears, Oh my!" I took another swig from the bottle, and let her know I was ready when she was.

Ashley then led me to an area that had a boxing ring set up for the sparring session. There were four men already in the area. Two on one side of the ring and a lone individual on the other and one on the floor. I climbed into the ring and walked over to the lone individual. He put a set of head gear on me and helped me take off my shoes and put on shin/footpads. Then there were some fingerless gloves that had a small amount of padding in them and last but not least the mouthguard. The man across from me was a beast he was about 6'2" 265# of muscle. I mean muscle. Daamn, his muscles had muscle! If this bear gets a hold of me I am screwed. So I thought keep my distance, keep moving, for God sakes don't let him get you in a clinch. With that in mind I heard a bell. Ding. He quickly ran to center ring expecting me to reciprocate, which I did NOT. I wanted to learn more about his tactics, speed and discipline. I immediately start toward my left a few steps noting any changes to his stance, footwork, and reaction speed to changes in my direction, etc. I then quickly reversed my direction to continue the evaluation. He did not seem amused. He began to stalk me with his hands raised in an MMA/ "fighting cat" stance. I retreated changing directions at random. I thought, although strong as an ox, he did not appear to have the lightning cat - like reflexes that would be a deadly combination. As he got within striking distance he semi blinked and closed his eyes to focus his power (seeing his target mentally) on and through his punch. That along with an almost imperceptible tightening of the muscles (pecs and lats) telegraphed most of his punches. On his first approach he did hit me with a straight right hand that bloodied my nose and caused my eyes to water. He sensed my discomfort and came in for the kill. He stepped forward with his left foot and I saw his left pec tense and in a split second he threw a round house left hook intending to take my head off. I slid back slightly and ducked under the punch and answered with a thundering overhand right that caught him just below his ear where his jawbone meets his skull. He hit the deck with a grunt, he was out before he landed. The other two men quickly assisted him with smelling salts, a wet towel and an ice bag. I was impressed they took their time and didn't rush him to get up and leave the ring. Once he was safely taken care of and escorted out of the gym.

I was removing my gloves when the man from the floor came up and looked and my nose bleed and felt around my face a little. He nodded to the guy that helped me put gear on initially. My corner guy came back and said, "We aren't done here." I looked at Ashley and noticed her slight nod. I put my mouthguard back in place and my gloves back on.

My opponent geared up and said, "I won't be that easy." He was right, the first guy had been a boxer, (and not a very good one at that) this guy was not as muscular and showed more flexibility and agility. He moved his legs one at a time in a sweeping motion about head high letting me know that he was willing and able to reign blows from all extremities. We stood in our respective corners. Ding! We started slowly circle the ring studying each other looking for clues. For the next several minutes we sparred lightly to examine our opponent for defensive and offensive strategy clues (speed, strength, etc.) There were leg kicks and punches thrown by both of us, most were blocked or veered away from their intended target. As he threw a roundhouse left leg kick, I ducked under it. It brushed to top of my head gear and simultaneously I spun around throwing a backhand punch that glanced off his collar bone and landed on the side of his neck. It wasn't a knock-out punch, but it did hurt. I immediately grabbed his shoulders and threw a knee into his solar plexus forcing a unnatural exhale of the wind from his lungs. He bent over to get some wind and I put him into a submission choke hold. He "tapped out" and I released the choke hold. He kneeled and I tapped him on his shoulder. He looked up and said, "Good job, I didn't see the backhand coming."