Chapter 14: Wake Up Call
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Odai
"So what brings you here toda, Odai?" The therapist asked as we sat in her office alone.
I shrugged as I played with the sand that was inside of the container.
"I see you like the sand huh?" She said.
I nodded.
"We call it the Garden Of Peace." She said. "It calms people down and makes them forget their problems for a while."
I rolled my eyes and looked up, dropping the little stick.
"Look. I don't wanna be here. I know you don't either, so let's just keep it quiet. You'll still get your lil check." I spoke up pulling out my phone that I snuck back.
"Odai, I'm here to help you." She said.
"Look-
"Mrs. Stenson." She answered.
"Yeah. Whatever-
"Odai, come on. Just answer a few questions for me." She begged.
I rolled my eyes. "Fine. What do you want to know."
"Well, when is your birthday."
"March 27th." I answered.
She nodded. "An Aries huh? I'm Virgo."
I awkwardly smiled at her.
"Well what are you here for?" She asked.
I sighed. "I got into a fight with this girl over her boyfriend. My parents found out about some things they weren't supposed to, I got pregnant ..so now I'm here."
"Congratulations ..how far along are you?" She asked.
I took a deep breath. "I didn't keep the baby."
She looked at me. "Oh I'm sorry ..well how did the fight start? What happened?"
I laughed. "Her boyfriend wanted me, she started the fight, and yeah."
"Did you win the fight?" She asked.
I nodded hesitantly. "Yeah! I whooped her ass- I mean I won." I said correcting myself.
She nodded. "My son goes to your school. He didn't tell me about a fight."
"Who? What grade is he in?" I asked eagerly.
She chuckled. "His name is Ma-
Her phone started ringing, cutting her off.
"I'm sorry. Let me turn this thing off." She said.
She quickly turned off her phone and looked back over at me.
"What were we talking about?" She asked.
I shrugged. "I forgot."
"Well, my son told me about some little girl that won't leave him alone. I was thinking about going up to the school to find out." She said.
I shook my head. "You should do that. That'll be so embarrassing. Trust me."
She nodded. "We'll tell me Odai, how many guys have you had sex with. Were you always protected?"
I nodded. "Well- sometimes. I had sex with maybe about 10-15 guys .."
She looked shocked. "Why so many? Is it deeper than that?" She asked.
I shrugged. "I don't know ..and no. I just love sex .." I admitted.
She nodded as she took notes. "Well I'm assuming that was your first pregnancy, correct?"
I shook my head. "No .. I've been pregnant 6 times .. two miscarriages and four abortions .."
She looked up at me even more shocked.
I started to feel even more disgusted with myself.
The buzzer went off, indicating that our time was up.
I quickly got up.
"Oda-
I ran out of the room and quickly outside, passing the crowd of people into my father's truck that was outside waiting for me.
I was extremely embarrassed and that was my last time going to therapy.
--
Ashley
Laying on the table, I heaved into the garbage can.
I was currently in the hospital, waiting for my results.
I've been bleeding a bit and I got extremely worried, so I rushed to the hospital and checked myself in.
My stomach was in knots, I was throwing up a lot, having stomach pain, headaches, and was extremely weak.
I didn't know a baby would feel this bad.
This was my first pregnancy and I thought it'll be sweet.
"Ashley?" The doctor said coming into my room.
I nodded and sat up.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
I sighed. "Horrible."
He chuckled and got right back serious.
"Well Ashley, you don't have a lot of nutrients and we've found alcohol in your system. Have you been drinking?" He asked.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, forgetting that I drunk two glasses of Hennessy two days ago.
I nodded. "It was before I found out I was pregnant." I lied.
He nodded. "You're four months pregnant. It says here that you knew."
I sucked my teeth. "Can you get with the results."
He sighed. "Well ..I just want you to stay calm."
"What is it?" I asked confused.
He sighed again. "You have HIV."
My heart started beating rapidly and my head started to pound.
"W-what?" I said.
"Ashley, we caught it early, which means that you can still be treated. You can keep your baby, but it will be a chance that the baby will have the virus too." He said.
I started to breathe heavily and next thing I know got out the bed and blacked out.
Jumping up from my sleep, I was damp with sweat and I quickly placed my hand on my stomach, feeling the bump my baby made.
I sighed in relief and got up to make me a cup of tea.
Maybe that was sign that something was going to happen.