••••
"I know how stressful it can get for you, students. Even during the start of a new semester. All new classes, no idea what the new professors are going to expect from you. Finals are over, but that only means you have a whole semester to look forward to more of them. Why don't you take off your shoes and lie back on the table?"
I do as she requests, setting my shoes and socks next to the examination table and lying back. She takes my left foot in her hands and digs her thumbs into the meat of the pad. It feels terrific to get a foot rub, and I'm soon relaxing to the older woman's touch. With all of the stress over the holiday break, and then learning that the demons are coming early. . . Well, this is just what the doctor, or nurse, ordered.
"Just relax, and let me take care of you," she croons softly. Taking my right foot next, she starts giving it the same treatment the left had received.
