Filed under: Abortion
The story with her is that she’s fourteen, she’s in high school, and she wants to go to college. She’s the kind of girl who used to make a lot of mistakes, she’s saying from the white chair in the corner. This is a wake-up call, and she’s lucky to have support. The tissue she dabs to her eyes turns black from her mascara, and this makes her seem even more upset.
There’s one to her left who’s asleep, drooling little puddles on her shoulder. In front of her are two more, one crying into her hands, and the other reading a book she won’t remember in a few hours. The medicine they got is strong shit. If you manage to stay awake, you talk your head off and don’t remember it later. It’s probably better that way.
The first girl, though, the fourteen-year old, she wants to talk. Sometimes they want to talk, and so you let them, because maybe you’d want to talk too. It doesn’t matter what she’s saying. You always just listen and nod, offer tissues and hugs.
She’s saying that she was scared to tell her mom, because usually her mom gets upset easily. With a stethoscope in your ears, you only hear white noise, but you nod anyway. You know the story. You look up from the straight scars on her arm into black-rimmed eyes. She wants kids someday, she assures you.
The water gushing from the old faucet drowns her out while you wash your hands. She knows you’re barely listening while you tend to other patients, and you both know she doesn’t need you to. You could be anyone, as long as you look back and nod every once in a while—this isn’t a new story. After an hour in recovery, you give her the instructions for at-home care. She starts for the door, then glances back, taking it all in for a moment.
“Thanks,” she says softly, facing away from you. She pauses, turns around, and hugs you. You feel her pain leaving, you feel her shoulders relax.
“Of course,” you say as you hold her a little tighter, “of course.”
1 Comment so far
Leave a comment
Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries 
I don’t really understand what i just read but maybe i’ll know later.
Comment by sexyboii June 6, 2010 @ 4:11 AM