We got in the now significantly shorter line and I tapped my foot rapidly, waiting for the person in front of me to be called in so I could have my turn. Kayden squeezed my hand. “Do you know the official name for a fear of needles?”
I chuckled, caught off guard. “Can’t say that I do.”
“Trypanophobia,” he said as we moved up in line. “Phobiacomes from the Greek word meaning fear or panic.Trypanocomes from a Greek word that means boring, puncturing, or piercing. So, I guess, a more accurate translation would be a fear of puncturing or piercing.”
“If Kaylee ends up as smart as you, I am so screwed,” I said.
He laughed. “I’m sure you can keep up with her.”
One of the nursing stations opened up and the nurse waved me over to his station. “Which arm?” he asked.
“This one,” I pointed to my left arm.
“Have a seat,” the nurse said before looking at Kayden.
“He’s here for moral support,” I said quickly as I sat down.
The nurse raised an eyebrow. “Afraid of needles?”
“Yes, I have trypanophobia,” I said, snickering.
“Okay,” he said. I pulled up the sleeve of my shirt and the nurse rubbed my shoulder with an alcohol pad. “This will be pretty quick.”
Kayden squatted down in front of me. “You can bury your face in my chest if you want.”
My heart rate escalated as I watched the nurse taking the plastic safety locks off the shot.
I nodded. “Yep, let’s do that.”
He scooted closer and wrapped both arms around me as I leaned into him. I squeezed my eyes shut and inhaled deeply, trying to get air into my lungs past the panic in my chest.Wow, Jace was right about his cologne.I took another deep breath, letting Kayden’s woodsy scent wash over me. Memories of dancing with him at the wedding flooded me as I breathed him in.
“Ma’am, you’re very tense,” the nurse said. “If you can try to relax your arm it will hurt less later.”
“Am I not relaxed?” I asked, eyes already stinging with anticipatory tears. I felt way more relaxed in Kayden’s arms than I had the last time I’d updated my Tdap shot.
I felt Kayden’s head turn toward the nurse for a moment before putting his mouth close to my ear. “Did you know the fear of being stupid is called stultophobia? If you’re really worried about Kaylee being smarter than you, you might also have stultophobia. Pretty much anything that people are afraid of, to the level that constitutes a phobia, has a name.”
The nurse held my arm, and tears fell from my eyes as I gripped Kayden’s shirt in both fists. “And what level constitutes a phobia?” I asked, happy to play his game of distraction.
“I’m glad you asked,” Kayden said, sounding pleased as the sting of the needle pressed into my arm. “The most common way to classify a fear as a phobia is to determine whether it is intense, persistent, and unrealistic. Which makes for some interesting debate if you really think about it. Take arachnophobia. What is anunrealisticfear of spiders? It’strue that some spiders can kill you or paralyze you with venom, so that seems like an entirely realistic fear from my perspective.”
“You’re all done, ma’am,” the nurse said.
I lifted my head and glanced down at the small, round Band Aid a few inches below my shoulder.
“Thank you,” I said, rolling my sleeve back down.
Kayden released me and I stood up, wiping my eyes and cheeks with the cuff of my shirt. “Do you have thoughts? On the spider thing?” he asked.
I laughed. “Definitely a realistic fear. Therefore, arachnophobia can’t exist because, by its definition, the fear is never unrealistic.”
“Precisely,” Kayden said with a proud smile. “Though I think the unrealistic part would be more about the anticipatory fear of spiders and not living your life fully because you try to avoid them, that sort of thing.”
“Did you just change your stance on the whole thing?” I laughed.
“No.” He nudged my right shoulder with a playful smirk as we walked back to the entrance. “I think all phobias are legitimate, but debate is always a good distraction technique. Worked for both of us.”
I pressed my lips together suppressing a smile. “I’m glad you came, Kayden.”
