#wisterialwhymsy

“Bin! You need to stay still.” You murmur, trying to hold back your laughter.

“It feels weird!” He giggles, trying to evade you.

“I’ll give you as many kisses as you want, just stay still for 5 minutes.” You plead, gently patting his shoulder.

He turns to you, eyes wide with hope before nodding and sitting still.

“Okay, first I need to check your temperature, this will feel weird.” You murmur, brow furrowed in concentration.

You gently pull back on the outer edge of his ear before you gently slide the tip of the thermometer in, angling it towards his ear canal, until you feel it in place.

You click the button, waiting for the reading.

“36.8! Perfect.” You pat his shoulder as you remove the thermometer, ejecting the cover into the bin nearby.

You quickly mark the reading down in your chart before grabbing the pulse oximeter.

“Can I please have your hand?” You ask as you turn the pulse oximeter on.

He holds his hand towards you, staring up at you with an expression you can’t fully place.

You gently hold his pointer finger, making sure to support the rest of his hand. You gently rub his finger, ensuring that it was warm enough for the pulse oximeter to recognise it.

“Okay, I’m going to put this on your finger to measure your oxygen saturation.” You murmur, eyes focused on the pulse oximeter as you place it on his finger.

It beeps quickly, showing a perfect reading of 100.

“Wonderful.” You murmur, removing the pulse oximeter and putting it away as you mark the reading in your chart.

“Now, I have to measure your blood pressure. This is going to wrap tightly around your arm, let me know if it’s too tight or hurts at all.” You explain as you wrap the velcro around his toned bicep.

“Is it too tight?” You ask, patting his arm and taking the opportunity to feel his muscles.

“Nope, it’s perfect.” He murmurs as he looks up at you, that unreadable expression once again evident in his eyes.

You nod, slipping the dial into the loop on the side and arrange the pump to be in a position where you could easily release the air.

First, you get an approximation of his systolic blood pressure. You slip a pillow under his elbow, ensuring his arm was supported before you began to palpate his wrist, feeling for his radial pulse.

Once you feel the thump of his heart rate, your eyes lock onto the dial and you slowly begin squeezing the pump.

You squeeze until 40, pausing to check if you still feel the pulse. You then increase to 80, pausing again. Then, once you reach 100 you notice the thumping of his pulse has stopped. You quickly release the pressure, reaching for your stethoscope as you drop the pump.

“You okay?” You ask, checking in with him as you begin to palpate his elbow in search of his brachial pulse.

He nods and soon after you find his pulse.

“Wonderful.” You murmur as you put the earpieces of your stethoscope into your ear.

You twist the end, making sure it’s on before placing your fingers on either side of the diaphragm.

You gently place the chest piece on where you found his brachial pulse before you grab the pump.

You turn the valve, ensuring that it was turned properly.

You then start squeezing again, adding 30 to the approximation of his systolic blood pressure until the dial reaches 130.

You then turn the valve slightly, letting the pressure reduce slowly.

You keep your eyes fixated on the dial, quietly listening for the telltale thumping.

You hear the first Korotkoff phase at exactly 120, a sharp and clear tap that indicates systolic blood pressure.

With your eyes remaining focused on the dial focusing on the loud thumps, you notice the distinctive swishing sound of the second Korotkoff sound at around 110.

As you near 100, the thumping softens, still audible, but quiet. As you near 90, it quietens further, turning into a muffled tapping. Then, once you reach 80, there’s silence.

You remove your stethoscope, turning the valve fully to quickly release the air.

“Your blood pressure was perfect!” You beam as you remove the cuff from his arm.

You quickly turn, writing “120” in one row and “80” in the other, before drawing a dotted line between the two.

“Okay, finally. I need to measure your pulse.” You murmur, gently moving his hand so it was resting in his lap, palm side up.

You gently palpate his wrist, once again feeling for his radial pulse.

Upon finding it, you look at the fob watch attached to your shirt.

You start counting each heartbeat, carefully watching the time to make sure you counted for a minute.

Once the minute is over, you quickly write down ‘85’ before turning back to him.

“Okay, I’m just going to double-check.” You lie, trying not to smile as he nods.

You positioned yourself so you could see both your watch and his chest. You return your fingers to his wrist, pretending to measure his pulse again.

In reality, you were checking his breathing rate.

As the seconds ticked by, you watched the rise and fall of his chest, counting each slow movement.

“Okay, wonderful. Your pulse was 85, which is a little high for you, considering you’re fit, but it;s still within normal range.” You tell him as you lean down to write 14 in the ‘breathes per minute’ section of your chart.

“I also was not checking again, I was measuring your breathing rate.” You giggle as you turn back to him.

His eyes widened, surprised at your admission.

“You lied to me!” He exclaims playfully as he wraps his arms around you, pulling you onto his lap and pressing ticklish kisses to your face and neck.

“I had to! If you knew, your breathing rate would’ve changed.” You breathlessly exclaim between giggles.

“Okay, I guess that's reasonable.” He says, finally stopping with his kisses.

You looked down at him, breathless from your laughter. 

“You’re adorable, you know.” You murmur, your voice soft as you gently run your thumbs along his cheeks.

“No you.” He murmured, gently squeezing your hips.

“You looked so pretty, all focused and serious.” He whispered, eyes locked on yours. “It was taking everything in me not to attack you with kisses.” 

You smile, internally melting at his soft admission, before you wrap your arms around his neck, tangling your fingers in his soft wavy hair.

“Is that why your heart rate was high?” You ask, grinning as he blushed.

“Maybe…” He whispered, looking to the side with a shy smile.

“Do I make you nervous baby?” You murmur, your grin widening as you notice his blush deepen.

He groans as he buries his face in your neck, making you erupt into a fit of giggles.

You sit like this for a moment, him hiding in your neck as your giggles faded.

“Binnie, baby. Look at me.” You murmur, gently running your nails across his scalp.

He slowly pulls his face out from the safety of your neck, his cheeks still flushed slightly pink as you smile at him.

“I love you so much.” You murmur and your heart softens when you notice his eyes brighten at your words.

“I love you too.” He giggles as you start pressing soft kisses to his face.

You press soft kisses to his cheeks, his forehead, his nose and his jaw- before leaning back to look at his beautiful face.

But when you do, you suddenly erupt into laughter, confusing your poor boyfriend.

“I forgot I had lipstick on!” You exclaim breathlessly as you look at the soft red smudges that now littered his face.

“Yah!” He exclaims before his eyes widen and he rushes to grab his phone. “You attacked me!”

You erupt into giggles at his dramatism as he opens his phone, examining himself in the camera.

“Wait… why do I look kinda hot?” He whispered, voice quiet.

“You look very hot, baby.” You murmur as you press more kisses to his cheeks, which were now flushed a soft pink.

He lets out a shaky breath, dropping his phone to the side. He pulls you closer, his hands resting firmly on your sides.

“You’re making it so hard not to kiss you right now.” He murmurs, his voice soft and full of emotion.

You smile, leaning in and brushing your nose against his.

“Then do it.” You whisper.