Portrait

            The doctor held the litmus strip up as if it were the daintiest teacup in England. His hair was swept to the sides in wings and his spectacles rested in a well-worn crease in the middle of his nose. His vest was stretched up over his pleated pants and his feet were the only part of him still slender and youthly. His other hand was now in his pocket, pushing his white lab jacket around to his posterior. That’s all, there was no bustling doctor’s office around him, no harried nurses or pale patients. Just he and the grey backdrop.