Amber walked into yet another drug store. She was wearing a grey hoodie with "Miami Dolphins" on it (http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMjAw/z/kF0AAOxy14VRR7Um/$T2eC16hHJHYE9nzpgId5BRR7UmVhU!~~60_35.JPG), a totally unremarkable piece of clothing of the sort that could be bought practically anywhere in Florida, together with blue jeans and a cheap non-brand-label pair of sneakers.<br/><br/>She waited for the pharmacist to be free, and then smiled hopefully at the middle aged woman. "Hi, yes, um, this is kind-of embarrassing. My mum is getting on a bit, and she keeps complaining of cramps in her belly. She also has the ... um... well this ..." She lowered her voice to an embarrassed whisper, "... terrible flatulence! And I've heard her in the bathroom, making all sorts of grunting noises, and she always comes out looking grumpier than she went in!" Amber shrugged, then looked up at the woman in the white coat behind the counter. "The thing is, she flatly refuses to see a doctor. So I looked up the symptoms she has on-line and I'm hoping it's just constipation. Do you have a gentle laxative I could give her, just to see if it will get things moving? I don't want anything too strong, just in case it's more serious, you know?"<br/><br/>The woman smiled and nodded understandingly, and reached behind the counter for a small white box. "One of these taken after each meal should do the trick. If they don't do anything within forty eight hours, or if she has really loose bowel movements all of a sudden, you should stop using them and get her to a doctor right away."<br/><br/>Amber nodded, paid for the drugs, took the box and added it to the other four identical boxes in her purse, thanked the pharmacist, and turned to leave.