tomtomsaywer

[tomtomsaywer]

Just the beginning of a cardiophile short story I'm writing. Let me know what you think. I am still working on the technicals as well (syntax editing etc etc.)

Ryan shifted uncomfortably in the stiff vinyl chair, arms crossed, fingers drumming against his bicep. A four-hour cardiac exam—what a waste of time. His schedule was already tight with the new job, and now he had to sit in this sterile clinic, dressed in a crisp oxford shirt, fitted trousers, and polished leather shoes, waiting for a test he didn’t even believe he needed.

The air smelled like disinfectant and aging paper. A television murmured in the corner, playing some medical news segment he ignored. His gaze flicked to the clock. **Twenty minutes** already. Too long.

His fingers twitched toward the gym bag at his feet. *"Bring your workout gear—you'll be working up quite a sweat,"* the nurse had said when scheduling the appointment. The warning had irritated him then, and it irritated him now. His heart was fine. He exercised. He didn’t smoke. He could take the stairs without feeling winded. His chest had never given him a reason to worry. But that dumb DNA test flagged him for a "routine cardiac screening"—some nonsense about genetic predisposition, a weak correlation between his Northern European ancestry and heart disease.

If he hadn't taken that test, he wouldn't be here. He'd expected something interesting from the results, something that could make for a good anecdote at parties. Maybe a surprise lineage. Instead, the test had confirmed exactly what he already knew: just white, just plain. And now, thanks to that, some doctor was about to strap electrodes to his chest and make him run on a treadmill like a lab rat, and whatever else.

He exhaled sharply and shifted in his seat, feeling the quiet, rhythmic thud of his heart against his ribs. It was steady, slow. The thought of someone listening to it, pressing a cold stethoscope against his chest, feeling his body, made him oddly self-conscious. His heart was just... *there*, beating away, keeping him alive. But now, under scrutiny, he couldn't stop thinking about it. He ran a hand absently over his chest, fingertips pressing into the firm muscle just above his heart, feeling the pulse beneath. The process made him feel uneasy, almost vulnerable. He worried—irrationally—that somehow, his nerves would show up in the results, that his slightly elevated heart rate would be misinterpreted as a sign of something wrong.

His heart gave a quick, irritated kick at the thought.

*"Mr. Cromwell? Mr. Ryan Cromwell?"*

A voice snapped him out of his thoughts. A nurse stood in the doorway, flipping through a chart.

He stood, rolling his shoulders, forcing himself to breathe evenly as he followed her into the exam room. The walls were painted a dull beige, and a large medical poster of the cardiovascular system hung beside the examination table. It was an intricate illustration—arteries and veins, thick and branching, pumping life into the muscular chambers of the heart. Across the room stood an elliptical, a treadmill, a weight scale, and a height measure.

*"Alright, Ryan,"* the nurse said, scanning his file. *"Dr. Connor will be in shortly."*, she said, her eyes connecting with ryans only briefly before she made her way toward the door.

*"Thanks,"* Ryan muttered, his voice coming out tighter than he intended.

He set his bag down beside the workout equipment and took a seat on the exam table, his heart continuing its steady, expectant rhythm.

Ryan sat on the examination table, shifting slightly as the paper crinkled beneath him. The air was crisp with the scent of antiseptic, the faint hum of medical equipment filling the silence. His pulse beat a quiet, steady rhythm in his chest, but now that he was thinking about it, he could feel it more than before—pressing against his ribs, throbbing beneath his sternum.

The cardiovascular poster beside him caught his eye again. The heart, large and anatomically precise, sat at the center, its chambers vividly labeled, red and blue blood vessels sprawling outward. His gaze trailed down the superior vena cava, following the pathway of blood into the right atrium, then through the tricuspid valve, down into the right ventricle. His own heart mirrored those motions, a constant cycle of contraction and release, a mechanical efficiency he’d never really considered before. Again, his hand absent mindedly felt around his own chest. "Here" he thought, the atrium, just here, and here, the left ventricle, feeling the thumping inside, He looked down almost expecting to see the anatomical drawing within his chest.

The door clicked open.

Ryan sat up straighter as a man stepped inside, he felt as though he had been caught, his hand feeling the pumping of his beating heart. What a bizzare thought, and yet, his pulse quickened

The man, clearly his doctor, mid thirties, wavy blond hair, scruffy dark beard, and chestnut eyes, smiled, seeing Ryan quickly shuffle his had away from his heart. "Beginning the heart exam without me, are you?"

"Uh, no I-I" Stammered Ryan, immediately feeling his face turn bright red.

"Hahaha, great to meet you Ryan, my name is Doctor Connor.

Dressed in a white coat over dark scrubs with a name badge read **Dr. Connor, Cardiology.** The two Ns, stylized to look like an ECG reading.

He was a very handsome man, tall, broad shouldered wavy blond hair, and a dark stubble beard across his face. Clearly he was someone who hit the gym.

Probably a runner, thought Ryan, which, given his medical focus, a high intensity cardio workout, seemed just right for the doctor.

Ryan noted the way the coat fit tight across his chest, and the deep V in his scrubs, giving almost too much visibility to the doctors collar bones and neck. Finally The doctor spoke again his throat flexing as he spoke.

"you are Ryan Cromwell, yes?" he said, looking with a furrowed brow, at a clipboard Ryan didn't even notice he was carrying.

"Yes, sorry, you just surprised me" A garbage excuse Ryan thought, for being so enamoured by the doctors good looks he nearly forgot how to speak.

"Ah great then sorry to have spooked you", shutting the door behind him, his voice a calm baritone. He flipped open the chart, on his clipboard. *"Four-hour cardiac exam today. Routine screening flagged by genetic testing, correct?"*

Ryan nodded. *"Yeah, I guess so."*

Dr. Connor pulled up a stool, sitting just in front of him. *"Do you have any symptoms? Chest pain? Shortness of breath? Dizziness?"*

*"Nope. Feel fine."*

Doctor Connor, looked directly into ryans eyes.

*"Good,"* Dr. Connor murmured, writing something down.

"Ryan, are you nervous?" Asked Dr Connor, his eyes darting up and down ryans body, clearly noting the physical indications.

"Uh to be honest, I do have a bit of white coat nervousness", Ryan admitted.

"Oh, no worries, we can solve that" Dr. Connor announced standing up, and removing the doctor coat, and hanging it on the wall.

He turned to back to ryan, and asked "Better?"

The doctor now stood in tight scrubs, hugging the curve of his pecs, biceps, and abs. The pants, held tight to the doctors tight ass. Ryans jaw nearly dropped to the floor, but he managed to slow the racing of his heart, just slightly, and compose himself long enough to say "Uh, thank you, but, that's just slang for medical procedures make me nervous"

"Hahaha, I know, sometimes humour helps people calm down" Dr. Connor said, as he strode back to the table, taking a seat, extremely close to Ryan, rubbing shoulders, as it were. "Don't worry, I wont let anything happen to you, I promise" He said, and he put his right hand on Ryans knee, stroking it gently with his index finger.

Ryans cock, gave an immediate twinge, Ryans heart skipped a beat in his chest, Ryans face flushed even more red, and Ryans throat tightened to the point he could hardly speak. "Thank you" he whispered.

"Excellent, Now, we need to get at your heart" Doctor Connor shifted his hand from Ryans knee, to the small of his back, while his left hand moved to touch ryans pec. The fingertips pressed lightly against the crisp fabric of ryans shirt, and pressed ever so slightly into Ryan’s pec, just over the exact spot where his heart struck against his ribs. Through the thin barrier of his shirt, the doctor could feel it, steady and insistent beneath his index finger. Ryan’s breath shuddered.

"Good rhythm," Dr. Connor grinned.

The doctor was becoming increasingly unprofessional, Ryan thought, but he wasn't about to complain. This pivot definitely made him forget about his nervousness.

Doctor Connors finger touched the fabric just above ryans nipple, as he stood letting his hand slide away from ryans chest.

"Ok well, I'll give you some privacy, and you can change into your workout gear, and then we will start" Dr Connor said moving for the door.

As he opened it, Ryan realized just how quiet it was in this little exam room, the barely noticeable noise from the waiting room, seeming deafening as it poured in the open door.

"I'll wait outside the door, just give a firm knock, when you're ready and I'll come back in." He said as he left

Just before closing the door he turned his head back in to say "See this room is extremely private, we can get up to anything we need to, and have no interruptions" and the door closed.

Ryan sighed, shaking off the lingering tension as he pulled his trousers down, stepping out of them carefully. He folded them neatly—more out of habit than any real concern for wrinkles—then reached for his athletic shorts. The material was cool against his skin as he pulled them up, adjusting them around his waist.

The room was still and quiet, save for the faint hum of fluorescent lighting. He bent down, grabbing his left sneaker and sliding his foot in, tightening the laces with practiced ease. He moved to the other, balancing on one foot as he tugged the shoe over his heel.

As he shifted, his elbow accidentally knocked the aluminum height ruler against the wall. Clap! The sharp noise cracked through the stillness like a gunshot.

Ryan flinched, jerking upright—just as the door swung open.

Dr. Connor stepped inside.

Ryan was not ready.

He stood there, half-dressed—his pants gone, replaced with gym shorts, but his shirt was still fully buttoned, crisp oxford fabric hanging over his waistline.

The doctor’s eyes flicked over him, brows raising slightly in surprise before his lips curled into an amused smirk.

"Didn’t mean to rush you," Dr. Connor said smoothly, stepping inside as if this was completely normal. "Heard the knock—thought you were ready."

Ryan’s face burned. He swallowed hard, his heart hammering too fast, the sound suddenly deafening in his own ears.

"Uh—yeah, just finishing up," Ryan muttered, his voice tight. He should have reached for his buttons, started undoing them, but somehow his hands refused to move.

Dr. Connor shut the door behind him, his expression still amused, but there was something else in his gaze—something unreadable as he took a slow step closer.

"You don’t have to be shy, or nervous Ryan. " the doctor said, his voice dipping just slightly. "I’m going to see your chest in a few minutes anyway. Here let me just help."

Ryan really wished his heart wouldn’t react to that statement the way it did.

He felt as though Dr. Connor could already hear it—the quickened rhythm, the sudden change in cadence. The way it wasn’t the smooth, controlled pulse it had been just minutes ago.

Dr. Connor’s gaze flicked down, just for a second, to the spot over Ryan’s left pec—exactly where his heart pounded the hardest. Ryan wondered if somehow doctor connor had xray vision and was looking directly at his heart now.

Ryan swallowed.

Dr. Connor’s voice was softer when he spoke next.

"Let’s make this easier. Here—" He took a step closer, lifting his hands toward Ryan’s shirt.

Ryan’s breath caught.

The doctor’s fingers brushed against the first button, just beneath his collar. His touch was slow—deliberate—as he popped it open.

One.

Then the next.

Two.

Ryan couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. He stood there, the hammering of his heart, pounding in his ears and neck.

Dr. Connor continued, unbuttoning with methodical, no medical precision, revealing inch by inch of smooth, warm skin, until—

Ryan’s heart gave a violent thud as the final button slipped free, the fabric parting fully.

Dr. Connor exhaled slowly, his fingers brushing the shirt aside, and skimming lightly over Ryan’s now-bare sternum, pressing just enough to feel the movement underneath.

"There it is," he said, gently tappying ryans pec. "Your heart, it's beating so, so fast, Ryan".

His palm settled flat against Ryan’s chest, directly over his heart. His thumb brushed absently over the curve of his pec, rubbing ryans nipple, before moving underneath his pec, as if feeling for something specific.

Ryan’s pulse slammed against his ribs, hammering into Dr. Connor’s palm. The sensation was intimate, too much, too close.

Dr. Connor smiled, just barely.

"Yes, very fast, dont tell me you're still nervous?," he murmured.

His fingers pressed deeper, feeling the thick pectoral muscle beneath, and the steady contraction and release of the hard-working organ deeper still. Ryan could practically feel the blood being pushed through the chambers, the power behind every beat, and the pressure of doctor connors hand.

"Uh yeah, a little, sorry.." murmured ryan.

Dr. Connor’s fingers lingered for a moment longer, pressing gently into the firm muscle of Ryan’s pec, feeling the strong, rhythmic thudding of his heart against his palm. The sound of their breathing filled the quiet space between them.

Then, slowly, he pulled back.

Ryan exhaled sharply, the absence of contact leaving his skin tingling. He swallowed, unsure if his heart was racing from nerves or something else entirely.

Dr. Connor smiled, just slightly. He reached for the stethoscope draped around his neck, the black tubing shifting as he lifted it with practiced ease.

"Let’s get a proper listen," he said.

Ryan nodded stiffly, his throat too tight to speak.

Doctor Connor motioned with his stethoscope, for Ryan to remove his shirt entirely.

Ryan dutifully obeyed. Shrugging his opened shirt off, and setting it on the exam table before turning once more back to dr Connor.

Doctor connor placed the earpieces of the stethoscope in his ears, and rolling his shoulders slightly as he adjusted the diaphragm between his fingers. Then, with a quiet, deliberate motion, he reached out, pressing the cold metal of the stethoscope against Ryan’s bare chest.

Doctor Connor had a renewed focus on his face, and a deliberate target within ryans chest.

"Ryan I'm going to check the valves of your heart, 1 by 1" Doctor Connor said.

"I'm going to start with the aortic valve"

just to doc connors left of ryans sternum.

Ryan inhaled sharply at the sudden chill, his pec twitching involuntarily.

"Deep breath," Dr. Connor instructed, his voice a low hum.

Ryan obeyed, sucking in a slow lungful of air, his chest expanding against the pressure of the diaphragm.

The doctor’s expression shifted slightly as he listened—focused, intent. His fingers curled lightly around the stethoscope, keeping it firmly in place over ryans chest.

"Good," he murmured. "Steady. Strong. Your aortic valve sounds excellent."

He moved the diaphragm slightly, sliding it just to the right, and the other side of ryans sternum. Again, listening intently with a slightly furrowed brow. "I'm going to listen to your pulmonic valve now".

Ryans eyes glanced over to the poster of the heart, and could clearly see "pulmonic Valve" labeled. Ryans eyes darted back to dr connors intense look as he was listening.

"Okay", dr Connor said and now tricuspid.

He moved the stethoscope down further, closer to the bottom of Ryans pec. Ryan could feel his heart pumping hard deep inside his chest. The pressure of the stethoscope against his chest only made him feel more pressure pushing out against the doctors hand.

"Great, and now for the apex, or mitral valve" said Dr Connor. As he removed the stethoscope from ryans chest, and was about to place it back, just below ryans left nipple he paused. Ryans heart was beating so hard in his ears, he thought he might pass out, but he persevered.

The doctor placed the stethoscope right under ryans nipple. The now warm metal, making contact, Ryan felt a rush. His heart was literally centimeters from the handsome doctors hand, and the intensity which Dr Connor was looking at his chest made Ryan nearly dizzy. Ryan could feel his heart hammering against doctor connors hand. The beating being measured, carefully by Dr Connor.

"Ok ryan" dr connor said breaking ryan from his though. "Your heart, at least while resting sounds excellent." Dr connor said.

"Your heart is still beating quite hard, and fast, for being at rest, Ryan. But you did say you were nervous." Dr. Connor said, as he shifted away from Ryan, and took a step into the middle of the room.

Turning back to ryan, dr Connor said "I think we will move on, and move to exercise", he said while extending a finger and prodding ryans left pec. "Yes, let's get this really hammering, shall we?".

Ryan felt a twinge happen again in his pants. The way the doctor kept touching his chest, and feeling his heart, was a totally different feeling for Ryan. And, now, the thought of his heart, racing while Dr. Connor felt and listened to was beginning to feel, exciting.

Ryan feeling excited by the prospect thought, what an odd feeling. Then he wondered if the nurse might walk in and see Dr connor, holding his pecs and feeling his pumping, pounding heart, and that might be embarrassing, somehow. Looking at the poster of the heart on the wall, Ryan began to wonder what his heart even sounded like.

"Uh, of course yes, let's move on to exercise..."Ryan managed to say. "It is private in here, right? Like nobody is going to come in?" He followed up. "Lub-dub, Lub-dub, lub-dub." He thought to himself, that's what it always sounds like in movies and games. Certainly that's it?

"Of course. The door is locked, and the room soundproofed, so nobody can hear. The treadmill and other equipment can get quite loud, so this room was soundproofed to make sure that the other examinations going on are not disrupted." Dr. Connor said calmly. "Why, are you worried someone will barge in, or...?" He trailed off unsure of what else to say.

"No, no not at all". Ryan said, glancing at the labeled anatomical poster of the heart.

"I was just thinking about the exam, and all the different parts of my heart" Ryan said absently raising his left arm to his chest again. Feeling the thrusting of his heart, deep in his chest behind his pec. "And i was thinking about the sound the heart makes, and I just, I don't know was worried someone might walk in".

"Well, it's perfectly private! So no worries there."

"Ryan, have you ever heard a heartbeat in person?" Dr connor asked.

The question took Ryan by surprise. He tried to remember, but nothing came to mind. "Only on TV, or video games or whatever, so I guess, No?"

"Well it's something really special. I do it for a living, so I forget that most people haven't heard a heart, beating, in real life."

"As you can see on the poster there, there are four chambers to the heart, and we listen to the valves that let the blood flow out, but not back." Dr connor continued, "the apical, pulmonic, tricuspid, and mitral valve all serve to let blood flow one way. During an exam doctors listen to make sure the valve sounds strong, and that there isn't any backward blood flow."

"If you've never heard a heartbeat before you might not know the sounds." "You know what Ryan, i think you should use my stethoscope, and try it out for yourself!, what do you think?"

Dr. Connor removed the stethoscope from around his neck and handed to ryan.

"Oh, ok, yeah, that would be really cool!" Ryan said. He felt some calm come over himself, but that washed away at the prospect of feeling Dr. Connors chest. Ryan inserted the ear pieces into his ears, and the room went totally silent, except the distorted noises funneled through the stethoscope head.

"Exaclty Ryan, try it out!". Dr connor said. His voice slightly muffled by the stethoscope.

Ryan reached out, and placed the head of the stethoscope, on the doctors chest, just under his monogrammed "Dr. Connor".

The crinkling of his scrubs, made a lot of racket in ryans ears but he could hear the faintest lub-dub sound behind the crinkling.

"Ryan, I meant for you to use the stethoscope on yourself..." Dr connor said interrupting ryans thoughts.

"Ohhhh" said Ryan immediately growing red, and pulling his hand away from the doctors body. "I am so, sorry, of course that's what you meant...".

"Hahaha it's ok, you know what, you should listen to my heart, maybe that white coat nervousness will go away, if you know I'm human too". Dr connor knealt down, in front of ryan on the exam table. He looked up, and guided ryans hand down, through the V neck of his scrubs and onto his firm left pec. Ryan could immediately feeling the throbbing of Dr Connors heart, pushing hard against his hand. It was so very slow. Dr Connor guided ryans hand just below his pec. The entire firm, and taught pec was moving with every beat of the doctors heart. Dr. Connor guided the stethoscope head, and ryans hand just below his left nipple. It was an odd sensation, Ryan thought he could literally feel Dr. Connors heart poking through the ribs at this point. Dr connor removed his own hand and let Ryan hold on by himself.

Ryan shifted his grip on the stethoscope holding the head with his index and middle finger, while his palm cradled the doctors pec, ryans thumb, delicately touching his nipple. "Wow". Ryan said softly. He could feel the doctors heart, the atrium, pumping in his palm. He could feel the left ventricle literally tapping his fingers. And all the while the sound of the doctors heart was filling his head. Lub, ryans palm filled with pec muscle as the throbbing heart pushed up. Dub, the ventricle tapping ryans fingers. Whoosh, the sound of the blood moving out, and ryans hand sinking back into pec, as the heart surged blood outward.

Lub, dub, lub, dub, lub, dub. "So slow, so strong" Ryan thought to himself. "The heart of a runner?" Ryan whispered.

Ryan could feel his own heart rate surging. He could feel himself, now fully erect, against his abdomen. "I really hope the doctor doesn't notice how hard I am" he thought to himself. He looked up from the doctors chest, and saw Dr Connor smiling, faintly with an odd smirk. "Oh god, did I say that out loud?" He again thought to himself.

Lub, dub, lub, dub. Time seemed to slow down, had he been here for hours?

"Well then" Dr connor said breaking the silence of the room "are you feeling less nervous? You look, less nervous."

"Yeah I'm feeling -something- less nervous" Ryan struggled to maintain composure, as he pulled his hand away from the Dr's chest,his thumb, drawing along the Dr's nipple as he spoke the words.

"Great, did you enjoy that?" Dr. Connor said with a coy smile.

"Honestly, yes. Yes I really enjoyed that" the reply came out before he could even think. "I mean, wow", --"stop, just stop speaking!!"-- Ryans mind went, but his mouth wasn't listening. "Like, your heart was incredible sounding, and your chest, was just amazing, hahahahah" a nervous laughter erupting from his mouth. "I really liked how i could feel your heart, and listen at the same time"

--"stop it stop it stop it"-- ryans mind pleased to his mouth.

"And like, i just want to say, you're really fit, and I liked that, so thank you".

--"what the fuck"--

Dr. Connor maintained his smile.

"Well thank you for the compliment. Usually these cardiac exams, aren't a 2 way thing, but, I have to say it was kind of fun. And I'm very happy you enjoyed it too" giving a slight nod, down toward ryans shorts. Ryans hard cock gave a quick little thrust, shifting in his shorts, as the doctor looked.

"fuck he knows"ryan thought. "Wait, is he into it?" He noticed the slightest hold in the gaze Dr. Connor had toward his cock. Ryans balls pulled tight to him, at the thought, and his cock gave another little thrust, shifting his shorts as he sat.

"Ok, right then, it's time to move on the more physically taxxing part of the exam." Dr. Connor said, again breaking another long silence. "Ryan, my expectation for this part of the exam, is that you get your heart beating as fast, and as hard as possible."

"For the exam, we want to put stress on your heart, and see how the valves perform at high rate, but also, I would like to know the volume and size of your heart. Once you complete your exercises, I'll take a listen, and feel your chest, to measure the amount of expansion."

"I'd like to get a good feel of your apex, right after the exercise as well" Dr connor reached out and proded ryans chest, just under his pec. "Ideally, we would get this really thrusting hard"