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I pull my hand from his. “I haven’t had sex! And he’s not my boyfriend!” Now Mom stifles a laugh.
I hate everything.
“Mr. and Mrs. McKinley, if you’d step out of the room for—”
“No! Look, I’m sure it’s your job to be careful of this stuff. But I’m not a girl who lies to her parents. He’s not my boyfriend. I’m still a virgin. And I’m in a lot of freaking pain, so please don’t waste our time and just fix me!”
NowDadstifles a laugh. I’m a lot like my dad in this way. When he gets worked up, all his thoughts explode at once.
“What she said,” he says, shooting me a wink.
“Okay then, let’s start with the ultrasound,” the doctor says to the nurse. What she doesn’t say, but what I can see in her eyes is:that would show us if she’s pregnant, anyway.
“We’ll get you back for the ultrasound,” the nurse says. “One of your parents can come back with you.”
“Momma,” I say pitifully.
“Of course, baby.”
Dad takes Sarah and Aaron out to the waiting room while I get an ultrasound done.
After looking at all my surrounding organs and seeing nothing of concern, the tech decides I should have a transvaginal ultrasound.
What is that you ask?
Well, that’s when they take a wand and shove it inside you so they can get a closer look at things.
Shame? Dignity?
There’s none left.
But they find the problem. The ultrasound confirms the doctor’soriginalthought. It’s a cyst—though it’s not on my ovary—it’s on my fallopian tube. And it’s pretty big. Which means, apparently, it has to be removed.
“Like surgery?” I ask in a panicky voice, now back in my room in the ER.
The OB doctor they called, an incredibly relaxed man in his fifties, smiles softly at me. “It’s more of a procedure. It’s outpatient, which means you go home today. Probably within a few hours. Getting everything prepped and you sedated takes longer—”
“Sedated?” I ask, voice trembling.
“Hey,” Aaron whispers in my ear, “you can handle this. You’re strong.”
“Trust me,” the doctor says, “you wouldn’t want us doing it when you’re awake. Once we get you back there, it’ll take a half hour or less. I do procedures like this almost as frequently as I deliver babies. It’s simple. It’s called a laparoscopy…”
He keeps talking, but I zone out a bit. I’m not sure Iwantto know the specifics. Aaron squeezes my hand, bringing me back to reality.
“That way, we only have to make two tiny incisions. Healing time is much faster, and you’ll be able to return to normal activities quickly.”
I take a deep breath and nod. “Okay.” Not like I have much of a choice, anyway.
“Good then. I’m going to make sure everything is underway. A nurse and an anesthesiologist will be in to talk with you and get you all set up.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Mom says.
The doctor nods and leaves. Mom comes over and bends down and kisses my head. “You’re gonna be fine, honey.”
“I’m kinda scared.”
“I know. It’s always scary having to go through something like this.” She runs her fingers through my hair, trying to settle me, but it’s not long before the nurse and the anesthesiologist come in, and I get more questions asked of me and new information thrown at me. Once they’ve given me some stuff to make sure my stomach is “neutralized” a.k.a. so I won’t throw up and choke and die on my own vomit when they try to intubate me, they leave us for a few more minutes. Then it’ll be time. To meet my fate, I guess.
