The social butterfly, prolific writer and aspiring student nurse, Adeleah Atkis, recounts how her life was changed completely after being sexually assaulted by a male friend, she once referred to as a brother. Consequently, her identity as a writer...
There was a loud knock at the door, that immediately woke me. It was a few minutes after the tenth hour in the morning, which meant I should have been getting myself prepared for the long list of appointments of that day. Elena rushed to open the door and in walked a beautiful scent. It was Josephine's. I looked up to see the always neatly attired and always early, slender figure. She was one of my dearest sisters. She was the eldest of my group of friends and just as they say, "with age comes maturity", she defined that impeccably. She was lovable and had a motherly aura. Her smile had always lightened the entire room.
"Sleeping!!!" she screamed furiously. Elena jumped at Josephine's comment. I laughed. Josephine glanced at me angrily and walked out of the room, leaving the door opened. I knew she was angry because, as always, Elena and I, were going to be late for the day's plans. When Josephine left, I broke the silence of the room with uncontrollable laughter which made Elena chuckle a little. I could hear the angry steps of Josephine as she climbed the stairs to return to her room. She hated being late and we had made her irritable.
Elena went to brush her teeth in the bathroom, while I proceeded to leave the bed. While standing, I felt an incomparably terrible pain in the lower part of my back. That pain was accompanied by dizziness when I was walking towards the doors of the closet. I slowly moved towards the sofa and sat. It was a horrible feeling and instantly, I knew something was wrong. Elena left the bathroom to get her towel, ingredients for her face mask and shower gel. She saw the puzzled look on my face and asked me if I was ok. I simply did not have the strength to respond and I saw the confused look on her face. I was just laughing so hard at Josephine's little episode of tantrum a few minutes earlier and now I looked like the planet was sitting on my head. She gently rubbed my head and said, "I guess it is one of those moods again. Alright, I am going to shower". I faintly smiled and then she closed the bathroom door.
I was lost in thoughts. I began wondering about the possible issues that caused the feeling. Then in that moment, I remembered that I had felt like this before. I had several experiences of feeling sick since the month had started. I left classes several times just to receive fresh air. I noted nausea, back pain, terrible headaches, and bloating among other issues. Often, I had tried to ignore because I believed it was the introduction to my period, but as I sat there in the sofa, I was growing more worried. It had been about three weeks of having those strange feelings and three weeks of no menstruation. What was happening?
I was disturbed from my thoughts when I heard footsteps entering the room. Josephine had returned. She sat next to me in the sofa and for a while, we sat in silence. "What will you wear today?" she asked. I did not respond. I had reverted to my thoughts. She glanced at me and before she could ask again, I erupted into tears. Her facial expression changed. I watched as the tension transitioned into confusion, then sympathy and then both. I gasped whenever I tried to explain what was happening, so she gently placed my head on her shoulder. I cried even more, until she started humming. Then the door of the bathroom was opened. "Jose, you came back", said Elena while closing the room door. Then when she walked closer, she realized I was crying. She sat beside me on the sofa and sighed. "I knew something was wrong", she mumbled softy, and then she rubbed my head. Josephine was still humming, and Elena joined her.
I was so focused on the beautiful harmony they produced that I did not realize I had stopped crying. Josephine's voice was that of soprano and Elena's complemented hers, as an alto. I was sitting between two beautiful souls. That gave me peace. I felt like the tornado in my head was silenced by their peaceful voices. In that moment, I felt blessed to have them as sisters and all I could do was sigh.I loved them.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Later that day we joined our colleagues in the city. We had a mandatory meeting that was organized by our lecturers. Elena, Josephine and I, met in the medical faculty. We shared the passion of helping others. We three, aspired to be doctors. I met all my sisters, Elena, Josephine, Serenity, Treasure, Madison & Jasmine, in medical school.
Later that night, I was up writing. Elena came over to the sofa and offered me a cup of tea. Curious, as usual, she asked, "Leah, what are you writing?". I was writing another poem. I proceeded to read the first stanza to her.
