The Missing Part

The Missing Part 1

The Missing PartA sharp pain jolted against the inner layers of her abdomen as her hands clutched around her knees, pressing them against her body. The pulsating pain, once a mere ache she could sleep through, now proved to be more than just a bad case of digestive discomfort. She laboriously stretched her legs, pushed herself out of bed, and dropped onto the soft pink carpet. To her dismay, the pain of the fall didn't distract her from the throbbing in her stomach. She wanted to cry out for her mother, but her vocal chords filled with a groaning sound that echoed through her body. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she pulled herself up, slowly coming to a crawl towards the closed door. When she finally reached the door, she aimlessly latched onto the door handle, flinging it just enough to open it slightly. With this small victory, she rose to her feet, still clinging to her abdomen, swung the door open and stumbled over to her mother's room. Herbody landed against her mother's door causing her to fall to the ground as she reverted to thefetal position. For the next few hours, her mind left her body because the pain became too muchto bear.

With the valedictorian leading the proud graduates, they walked towards the doors of the gym and dispersed into the cafeteria, to join their family and friends. She looked around hastily to find her loved ones and finally froze her gaze when she saw her best friends gathered with their parents.
"Congratulations dear! Where's your mom? I didn't see her," Her best friend's mom jeered.

"Thanks auntie. My mom's not here actually, I told her not to come. I just wanted to spend this day with my friends," she smiled. She had mastered the art of lying at 8-years-old; the truth was she hadn't bothered to tell her mom. Knowing her mom had been working 6 days, 75 hours a week for the past few months, she didn't want to bother her. With the forged smile still on her face, she watched the joyous families celebrate their milestone.

It was six o'clock when she regained enough strength to control her body. The nurse had given her another small white tablet, which she gulped down without hesitation. She lay on the hard bed looking up at the off-white ceiling, waiting for the doctor to return. More than anything, she ached to put her clothes back on under her hospital gown. Though the small room was warm, her body felt exposed even with the thin cotton cloth layering her naked skin. When the doctor finally returned, he proceeded to examine her abdomen searching for a hard spot. He noticed her discomfort and tried speaking to her in an attempt to help her relax her taut muscles."Have you ever felt this kind of pain before?""No," she lied.He continued to press his fingers against her sides as she closed her eyes waiting for him to finish.Multicoloured lights flashed all around her as the crowd danced to the lyrics of "Dancing Queen." There wasn't a sad face in the crowd as the newly married couple spun in the middle of the floor amongst their jubilant family and friends. Off in the dark corner of the banquet hall, she was grasping her abdomen through her silk dress. Beads of sweat ran down her forehead as shewiped the tears seeping out of her eyes, smudging her makeup. She hid as long as she could until it was time for her family to thank the guests for coming. The next few days were a blur to her while she lived in her room vomiting and suffering high fevers as the pain in her abdomen pulsated. All that kept her from screaming out was her conscience as her family enjoyed these irreplaceable days. Laughter and cheers rang throughout the house as her family merrily celebrated her sister and new brother-in-law's marriage.Shivers ran up her spine causing her eyes to open suddenly. She stretched her eyes to fight the fog that surrounded her but realized the haze was in her head. The distinct smell of the surgery room reminded her where she was. Instinctively, she attempted to lift her body, but the agonized muscles in her abdomen pulled her back into the hospital bed. A ticking noise sounded through the room harmoniously with the sound of her slow breathing. Her eyes and ears searched the room for the clock and then upon finding a circular object on the wall, focused the little energy she had left on trying to make out the hands on the clock. It was about 12:50 a.m. She thought to call her mother but she knew Desperate Housewives was still on and that she had work in the morning.She shuffled the sheets off and lifted her gown to look at the remains of her body. Tape covered the three blood-encrusted cuts as her fingers ran across them, now realizing that a part of her was missing. Draping the sheets back over her body, she turned to the side, pulling her knees towards her chest. She then slowly sunk back to sleep.