Screaming Pain

Joan never heard of the malady she presented to the doctor. 300-word flash.

Screaming Pain

“Dr. Minki, I have a terrible headache! I’ve had it since Sunday! It feels like a giant needle is being pounded into my brain! Help me please! I can’t sleep; I eat very little. I am desperate!” cried Joan Albus.
“Let me look you over, do some tests and we’ll see what we can do for you,” the doctor said soothingly.
Joan gritted her teeth on an agonizing scream, then nodded.
Gently the doctor moved her neck around, checked her pulse, then took a blood sample. He examined inside her mouth and throat. Next, he listened to her heart and lungs.
“So far you are a perfectly healthy patient with tonsilitis.”

“Would that give me head pain?” asked Joan.
“Not usually. You say you eat very little. What have you been eating?”
“Mostly what I usually eat when I have a sore throat.”
“Let me guess, soup, clear tea, pudding…” Joan shook her head at every suggestion.
“What then?” the doctor asked.
Joan whispered her answer.
“Well, there is your answer. A case of prolonged brain freeze from too much ice cream!”
“I’ve never heard of it,” Joan insisted.

“If I were you, I would stick to milkshakes thin enough to drink through a straw slowly and only one a day with the other foods I mentioned earlier in between. I’ll schedule for a tonsillectomy as soon as possible.”
Looking abashed, Joan took a prescription for antibiotics and left for home. While driving, she hit her brakes suddenly but still managed to crash into a van in front of her. She got out to exchange information when a sign on the van stopped her short. If it hadn’t hurt to laugh, she would have.
“Leave it to me to crash into an ice cream truck!” she told herself.