Page 2 of Heat Clinic

She hands me a clipboard, so I find a seat and set my bag down in the one next to me as I go through the routine questions. There’s the expected name, age, gender, dynamic, and sexual orientation questions followed by more personal ones. Last heat or menstrual period. Relationship status. I circlesingletwice. Reason for your visit today. Symptoms you’re experiencing. Number of pregnancies and number of children birthed. Medication taken.

Underneath the intake paperwork, there’s a discreet pamphlet about domestic abuse and how to safely ask for help. It’s been laminated to the clipboard. I flip the paperwork over and continue to fill out the back.

When I bring it back to her, she doesn’t even look up from her computer screen, so I set it down on the counter, then go back to my chair and wait. My foot bounces as I sit there and contemplate if this is something I really want to do.

“Emily,” a nurse in faded pink scrubs calls out from the door to the back. “Hi. Follow me, please.”

I rise and grab my bag and follow her in, ignoring the way my heart beats against my ribs. We go into an exam room and I sit while she takes my vital signs.

“One hundred point eight degrees. When did your heat start?” she asks.

“A few hours ago. They come on really fast. Should I have called ahead?”

“No, it’s fine. We offer other routine services Monday through Saturday from six to six, but our heat and rut services are twenty-four hours. A heads up phone call that you’re coming is nice. We have escorts who help omegas who need it through the parking lot. Alphas have their own parking lot and come in through the back of the clinic, but sometimes people get confused and accidental crossings happen. Here, take a card. It has our office and emergency numbers on it. Make sure you put it in your phone.”

I take the business card and pocket it while she looks at my questionnaire and starts typing stuff into the computer.

“So I see you’re here for heat services today. How did you want to treat that?” she asks.

Treat it? Are they really going to make me say it out loud? “Umm, I thought… Don’t you…” Everyone’s heard the stories. Are they exaggerated?

“We have pharmaceutical or holistic treatment options. You can either get a heat blocker shot or you can choose the room and board option until your heat has run its course.”

“I don’t react well to blockers or suppressors. I’d like the, um, holistic room and board option. Is that still free? I have insurance, but it’s not great.”

She finishes typing her note. “It’s completely free. The program is paid for through government grants and private donations. All right, since this is your first time here, we have an intake video for you to watch. It’s about ten minutes long, and then the doctor will come and see you and answer any questions you have. If everything is good to go, then we’ll take blood samples and you’ll meet your beta attendant and get your room assignment.”

The video is dry and boring as a narrator moves about the screen, standing in front of anatomical models as she explains the variances in omega and alpha anatomy. It reminds me of the videos we had to watch in health class as teens. The ones that resulted in a lot of giggling as our beta softball coach tried to force us to take it seriously.

The narrator leaves the models and walks down a hallway, showing off the secure omega wing, and then she takes the viewer to the rut room.

And then it’s not boring at all.

The rut room is enormous. There are rows of black vinyl padded cutouts in all of its walls. Each hole is staggered at slightly varying heights. She heads to one of these cutouts and sticks her hand through, the camera following as they show the small enclosure just beyond the wall. The tiny room is cushioned in washable vinyl and bare except for handhold straps that dangle off the walls and ceiling.

Next, she shows how stirrups unfold from the wall. A smiling, clothed actor joins her and demonstrates how the rut room is used. He enters the cubicle and lies down as the narrator helps him get his legs in the stirrups and straps him into place, then angles them until he’s presented properly.

The video cuts to another room that’s similar but different. The cutouts are lower, and the floor is padded. In this one, the actor slips his legs through the opening and turns, draping belly down over a padded bolster.

The demonstration ends abruptly as the credits roll. My first thought is how sticky the floor must get, and a bubble of hysterical laughter escapes me.

Am I really doing this? When I shift in my seat, the slick lips of my pussy rub and slide against one another, and my clit throbs. I might be alarmed and nervous about the idea of being rutted raw by a room full of strange alphas, but my body is thoroughly on board. I pull at my shirt to fan my hot face.

They leave me there for what feels like way too long, and then there’s a knock on the door. “Come in!” I squeak.

The doctor, an Indian woman with gray-streaked hair, opens the door and smiles at me. “Hello, Emily. Nice to meet you.” She shuts the door behind her and leans against the counter. “Do you have any questions for me about what you saw?”

My mind goes blank as every question I had planned leaves my head. “I, umm… That’s a lot. How many…”

“We average about two dozen omegas a day and two hundred alphas.”

“Two hundred!” Oh, God. Two hundred was a lot. Every day? For three days?

The doctor smiles, the lines alongside her mouth showing that it’s something she does frequently. “Yes, but remember that not all alphas will visit every station or stay for every treatment cycle. We accommodate all sexual orientations and do not discriminate, but you are encouraged to tell us your orientation, limits, and preferences in advance. Some alphas also have a weaker pheromone tolerance than others. All participants receive a color-coded arm and ankle band, and our beta attendants are trained to stop and redirect as needed. We have a strictone-strike and you’re outpolicy across all facilities nationwide.”

Some of my panic fades with her reassurance. “Right.”

“Are you still interested in continuing, or would you like to discuss your other options?”

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