INSTALLMENT #7

Genevieve stepped out of the phone booth and took a seat on the bench next to it. She wanted simply just to take a moment before deciding to contact Julianne. There were so many things going through her mind, including the care of her unborn child. She had to find a doctor quick and begin getting checkups. Just as she began thinking about checkups, her thoughts automatically went back to Dr. Hendricks. She felt awful about all of the mess she’d caused. Dr. Hendricks must have been so confused after she’d left her office that day. Genevieve suddenly changed her mind. She would wait until she’d seen her mother before attempting to contact Julianne. She would however, contact Dr. Hendricks. She felt it was the right thing to do. Suddenly her stomach began to growl in the worst way. The emptiness she’d felt from the hunger was unlike any hunger pain she’d ever felt before. She decided to go into the deli and get a bite to eat.
She walked into the diner and took a seat at the counter. Two waitresses at the end were chatting about their boyfriends and their kids. As she waited to be served, suddenly a sharp pain went through her lower abdomen. She put her hand on her stomach and figured she had better get some food fast when all of a sudden she abruptly screamed out from another sharp pain that startled her and she instantly knew this was no simple hunger pang. Without looking back one of the waitresses began yelling assuming Genevieve was simply an impatient customer, “Hey, hold your horses, I’m coming!” Luckily however, the waitress listening intently to her co-worker’s conversation happened to look back. “Oh my goodness Cathy, something’s wrong!” They immediately ran to Genevieve’s side along with a male truck driver who happened to be taking a lunch break. “Are you okay honey, tell me what’s wrong?!” said Cathy. “My baby! I’m pregnant! I think something is wrong with my baby! Oh God!” yelled Genevieve. “Call the ambulance quick, Marie!” About 10 minutes later Genevieve could hear sirens in the far off distance. Yet instead of the sound getting closer, it seemed to fade into the distance, she wanted to scream out but the pain was too much.
About 3 hours later, Genevieve was awakened by the sound of a doctor speaking with a nurse. She tried to move and suddenly felt a bit of soreness in her left hand and looked down to see that she had been given an IV. “What happened? Where am I?” asked Genevieve. Both the doctor and nurse slowly turned to look at Genevieve. Trying to hide the look of dread on his face, the doctor walked to her bedside, “Hello, my name is Dr. Bronson, I know that you must be confused wondering why you’re here. Tell me, do you remember anything at all?” “Well” said Genevieve, “I remember being in a diner and then all of a sudden there was this intense pain in my abdomen. After that I heard the sound of fire trucks and that was it. What happened doctor? Did I black out? Is everything okay? What about my baby?” “Well now first things first, we need to confirm who you are. The I.D. we found in your purse says Genevieve O’Hare. Is that correct?” asked Dr. Bronson. “Yes, but please, I really need to know what’s going on.” said Genevieve impatiently. Letting out a long sigh, the doctor proceeded to tell Genevieve what had just happened to her. “Well, Genevieve, first let me explain. Sometimes, during early pregnancy, the conditions inside of a woman’s womb, for whatever reason, aren’t conducive to bringing a fetus to full term. Now, there are oftentimes several reasons why this takes place. And by this I mean, spontaneous abortion.” “Spontaneous abortion? What do you mean spontaneous abortion? Are you telling me that my baby didn’t make it?” asked Genevieve as her voice began to shake and the tears began to well up in her eyes. “I am so very sorry Genevieve. Although, we were able to identify you by the I.D. that was in your purse with you at the diner we couldn’t locate any emergency contact information for you. Is there anyone you’d like for us to call? Is there someone who can come and help you to get back home perhaps?” asked the doctor. “My mother, you can call my mother, she’s in L.A. Her name is Rosetta.” “Okay” said Dr. Bronson patting her on the leg, “I’ll get the nurse to put a call in to her right away.”
Genevieve, put her head back on her pillow and sobbed. She couldn’t understand why it seemed as though everything in her life was at odds with her. Or why the very basic and fundamental joys in life always seemed to slip right through her fingers in ways that were simply too painful to bear. The nurse came into the room about 30 minutes later letting Genevieve know that her mother had been informed of what had taken place and would be up as soon as possible. The nurse was very kind offering her something for pain, “Here you are honey, take this, it’ll relax you and stop any subsequent pain that you might feel.” Genevieve gulped down the pills and turned over on her side. As she let the tears flow, she drifted off to sleep. Perhaps, only if in her dreams, she could have what she always wanted; love.

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