Don't look back

Chapter six

I pushed open the glass doors and the sharp smell of antiseptic filled my flared nostrils. I stumbled to the front desk where a young blond woman with a bored expression on her face was nonchalantly sitting. I murmured a greeting and hastily signed my name on the clipboard. I sat back down in the waiting room and started nervously chewing my fingernails. There were only two other people there. A pretty black girl who looked to be about Jasper's age, and an older woman, probably in her 30s, with a black eye and a surly look on her face. 10 minutes later they called my name and I slowly followed the nurse into an exam room and sat on the crinkly paper. She took my height, weight, temperature, and blood pressure. Then I was alone again. But I'm always alone. Even when I'm with other people. The black cloud threatened to engulf me. It pierced the pads of my toes and traveled painfully to my tingling scalp. It washed over me, taking away my sights...my hearing. The vague sound of background music that was playing became lost as if I was in slow motion, not moving. That's when the pain started. Like someone was stabbing me from the inside. My head felt like it was going to rip down the middle. I took deep breaths. "My name is Everly Robinson. I'm 16. I'm pregnant. The pain will be worse if I keep it." The pain slowly subsided and I was receiving the blunt aftershocks of it when the doctor walked in. He was tall and muscular with slick blond hair. "Hello Everly! I'm Dr. Martin. How're you feeling", he asked holding out his hand. I shook it and quickly let go muttering a "fine". His face became kinder and he looked at me in sympathy. "You're 16, right?" I nodded my head. "Well, I can assure you, you are in the best hands." The rest of the appointment consisted of him asking me questions about my health and towards the end he announced that he needed to get an ultrasound. He put cold goo on my stomach and started swirling it with some kind of device. A fuzzy object appeared on the screen and the unmistakable shape of a minuscule baby was seen. My heart sped up in my chest. "Uh oh", Dr. Martin said. "What?! Is something wrong with the baby?!" I didn't realize what I had said until after and immediately clapped my hand to my mouth. "No...", Dr. Martin said slowly. "Your child seems very healthy. But you look to be about 8 weeks pregnant. It's illegal to have an abortion if you're more than 6 weeks along." My world stopped. Life stopped. I stopped.