THE PROCEDURE DAY

1. What the doctor told him to do. What he did the opposite of.
4. The reading material in the waiting room, which had not been updated in fifteen years.
7. The person who used the phrase "just a small pinch." This person is now on the Burn Book list.
9. The clothing item that suddenly required strategic planning.
10. The first thing he stared at on the ceiling. The brightest ____ he had ever seen.
11. The stack of forms he pretended to fully understand.
13. The cold sensation that briefly tricked him into thinking that was the hard part.
14. The thing he was instructed not to look at. The thing he immediately looked at.
17. The instrument he chose not to look at. The instrument he could not stop thinking about.
19. The single instruction the doctor repeated four times.
22. The final accessory applied before the patient began walking like a cowboy.
23. The fee charged at intake for the privilege of being there.
24. The paperwork phase where the patient suddenly forgot how signatures work.
25. What the nurse checked while the patient attempted to behave normally.
28. The "very small" thing the patient immediately imagined ripping open.
29. The spot he stared at for the entire procedure. He memorized every ____ tile.

2. Where the patient went after the procedure, very slowly, in the passenger seat.
3. The local ____ that was supposedly about to "kick in any second now."
5. The Post-Op ____ began on the procedure table and has not yet stopped.
6. The appointment where the doctor determines whether the factory is officially closed.
8. The patient was instructed to wear ____-fitting underwear. Unfortunately, all his underwear was built for appearances, not survival.
12. The doctor said "just a small ____" and the patient knew immediately he had been lied to.
15. The object containing every form he signed without emotionally processing.
16. The one person in the room he was certain had seen worse.
18. The garment with the back that does not actually close.
20. The number of medical professionals in the room. Somehow still too many people.
21. The room with the magazine. Where the patient sat for forty-three minutes thinking about everything.
23. The building he entered confidently. The building he exited horizontally.
26. He counted backward from ten. He made it to ____.
27. The transportation arrangement the clinic cared about significantly more than the patient did.