VESSELS UNKNOWN

TWENTY FOUR

Part of me didn't want to get off the bed despite the burning sunlight piercing through my open window. I grabbed my pillow to block the morning rays off my face.
There was a feel  of wetness underneath me. I turned over to check it out. Sure, I couldn't be bed wetting, haven't done that since I was five.

The sight of blood on my sheets knocked me out of bed. My right shoulder hit the floor first, sending searing pain around my shoulder blades.

I let out a scream so loud, I trembled at the resonating echo. Pints of blood splashed all over my bed, soaking the mattress in layers.
The overwhelming stench of human blood filled the room. I couldn't gauge how much blood I had lost.

One look at my wrist, I went into frenzy, shaking nervously. Quickly, I grabbed my phone and fired off 'SOS' texts to my friend.
   
         Minutes later, Nkasi was at my front door looking flustered, looking worried.
         "It's 6am for Christ sake." She complained. "What could be so important that you can't wait till morning."

        "It's morning already." I mumbled.

She looked at me, then tensed. "Is everything alright?"
I shook my head. "No."

       "Then, what is it?" She asked swiftly, looking me over.
With trembling fingers, I pointed to my bed. She followed the direction of my finger.

          "Holy Mary!" She screamed, subsequently making the sign of the cross.

I rolled my eyes. Nkasi was anything but a Christian. So she gesturing the cross sign was a bit of mockery to those who were actually Christians.
She doesn't even go to church, so I wondered where she learnt to make the sign of the cross.

          "Where in God's name did this come from?" She asked, dipping her fingers into the mattress.

I cleared my throat, "Shouldn't you be doing that with a gloved hand? You know bacterial and all?" 

She pulled her fingers away as if she had been suddenly burned. Eyes on me while washing her hands in the bathroom sink, she fired off questions.
         "But, whose blood is that?"
         "Mine, of course." I paused. "Who else?"

        "Menstrual flow then?" She asked, wiping hands on the towel. " If you are bleeding this heavily, "You need to see a gynecologist ASAP. Menstrual period this heavy needs immediate medical attention."

I paced the room shaking my head and muttering to myself. "It's not that."
She looked at me pitifully. "There's nothing to be ashamed of. You are my friend and you can totally confide in me."

Flustered by her inability to pay attention to details, I pulled my underwear down. "See, I am not in my period."

           "Oh....." She raised her eye brows in understanding. Her gaze sharply moved from the bed and then rested back on me. "So, where did that come from?"

I dropped to the floor, rocking myself over, whimpering.  Her eyes washed all over me one more time. Then she spotted it. The huge gash that spread dangerously over my left wrist.

          "Oh father, son and the Holy ghost!"  She screamed, and descended on me in a constricting hug.
Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets in fear. I remained still, allowing her fear to meet mine. 

   Perplexed, She searched my face again,  "Whe.....Where....Where did you get that from? Were you in a fight?" She asked running across the room, filling the kitchen cabinets.

           "What are you looking for?" I asked, keeping my gaze on her pensive self.
           "The box.....Erm....the first aid box!"