Whose moment was this?

My patient and I chatted as I did her Pap test. I always try to carry on a bit of light conversation during this uncomfortable task.

I withdrew the brush, trying, as always, to do so without knocking the tip into the speculum. Who knows what happened next, but the flexible plastic handle bent like a bow, sprung from my fingers. flew through the air like an arrow then bounced off of the wall and onto the floor.

My patient did not miss a beat but continued her story about her college-age son. Could she really not have noticed the brush as it circled above her and landed on the floor next to the exam table? Barely suppressing my urge to burst out laughing, I fumbled for a new brush and repeated the sampling. If my patient was aware of my antics, she was too polite to say.