Chapter IX

Chapter IX

          “What’s your name?” The older lady sitting behind a desk opened up a file.

          “January Rossi.”

          The older lady pushed her glasses up and coughed twice before pulling out an envelope with January’s name of the front.

          She wan handed it along with a sheet of paper. “Please sign so that it’s on file that you received your money.”

          January shoved it into her hoodie pocket and quickly signed her name. After the secretary retracted the paper January stood off to the side and open the envelope.

          The bills felt crisp and looked like they were just printed off at the mint. In side of it was three hundred bills, one fifty bill and a ten bill.

          January waved at the secretary to tell her everything was fine.

         

The time was ten a.m. and the day was October 10 when she sat at the hospital waiting. Some time last week the doctor called her cell phone to make an appointment. Dr. Penny said the appointment was ‘a necessary evil’ and that ‘it was extremely important’. The wording left her stomach feeling like jello. She had no choice but to say she would come.

The phone conversation ended with Dr. Penny telling her not to worry. Apparently there is a charity in NYC that helps pay for a doctor after being raped.

The small office she waited in seemed way to white. It smelled too clean and it was too quiet to be a place where people die.

“Come on it January.” Dr. Penny called from her door.

“How are you feeling now?”

“Like s**t, but thanks.”

The doctor didn’t react to the slip of the tongue. Instead she wrote something down. “I was wishing you would have brought someone with you. Right now you need someone.”

“My parents live down south.”

“I thought you had a southern accent.”

“You caught me. So what was so important that I had to come?”

“It’s your test results.” She pulled a sheet of paper with a chart and small words.

“Have you ever heard of Rohypnol?”

“Not at all. You’re going to have to spell this one out for me.”

“I know you’ve heard of it, but people call it by other names.” She looked up from over her glasses. “People call it La roche, R2, Rib, Roach, Roofenol, Roofies. I’m afraid your drink was spiked.”

Small speckles of lights came to her eyes and she thought she would pass out.

“But, but I trusted him!”

“I’m so sorry. That’s what happens. Girls want to be loved and guys abuse that. I’m so, so sorry for the pain you feel right now.”

 

January had started crying again, something she had been doing too much of in the past 9 days.

“Have good news for you though. According to the blood work you don’t have a STD. But there is a downfall. If you have HIV is won’t just show up in blood work so soon. You’ll have to get tested for every year for a while until we know for sure that you do not have HIV. But don’t let what I’ve said get to you. For now take a deep breath. When you were here on the first did we do a pregnancy test?”

“No cause I told you I’m no birth control.”

“I would still like you to take a test. Also would you like to prosecute your attacker?”

January had known she would be asked that. Deep down she wanted to. She wanted Jared to feel the pain she did, but it wasn’t worth the cost of her family and friend finding out. She would rather take a bullet to the head then tell her family.

“No.”

“Are you sure about that you…”

“No.”

The subject was dropped and Dr. Penny handed January a pregnancy test. “All you do it pee on it for 9 minutes and wait another four minutes. The bathroom is next door. Give it one of the nurses and come back here.”

January did as she was told. When she pulled down her gray sweatpants and winced (she still hurts ‘down there’). The nine minutes the test took seemed to be forever. Also in that nine minute she prayed harder then she has any other time in her life. At one point she even begged God that she would go to Mass more often. After the nine minutes was up, she capped the test and sat with her head in between her knees.

Pregnancy was something she had thought of many times. And the child, the child wouldn’t be at fault but she didn’t think she could emotionally deal with the baby.

She stayed in the bathroom with her head in between her knees until the smell of urine became too much. Before leaving she washed her hands once, twice and a third time. Deep down she knew she was just trying to buy time. Breaking the test in half crossed her mind a few times but she knew there was a point she would have to find out the truth. She hasn’t slept over ten hours altogether in the past 9 days.

Quietly she took the test to the nurse and sat in the room. Her mind most have ran a mile an hour. She thought of her mother crying, her father angry.

“C’mon Janus you can’t do this to your self.”

She sat there bouncing her leg up and down. If the doctor didn’t come in soon she was sure she would explode. Her body and soul were torn and destroyed now she needed some closure.

Ten minutes after January gave the nurse the test Dr. penny knocked on the door.

“Come in!”

Dr. Penny shyly opened the door and sat in the chair by January.

“January I have just a few questions. You said your parents live down south, right?”

“Well my Mom lives in North Carolina and my Dad lives in Virginia, but its south when you think of New York.”

Dr. Penny nodded slowly. “And if you were pregnant how do you feel of abortion?”

“Aaahh… It’s a sin. I’m pro-life.” Then it hit January. Her face went numb and she could hardly breath. “Dr. Penny am I…?”

“I’m so, so sorry January. I can’t tell you how much it break my heart so see you with such pain…”

“Just say it!” She quickly yelled.

“Miss Rossi…you’re pregnant.”

Reviews

[Tina Kline]

Wow for sure! I didn't think this would happen. At some point I'm thinking she's going to have to say who did this too her now.

[Coyote Poetry]

Wow. Could this situation get worst. Not going after the man for raping is crazy. A sad ending to a strong chapter.
Coyote

[Daydreamer54]

Ohh, this chapter waS VERY TENSE AND NOW I DEPPLY FEEL SORRY FOR HER. I'M AGAINST ABORTION TOO AND IT'S SO A STICKY SUBJECT BECAUSE THEY;RE A WOMAN LIKE jANUARY WHO HAVE TO CARRY THEIRT RAPIST;S BABY AND,,,I'm pretty sure january might have second thoughts on the probation thing so she won't have to live with the pain,but that would be against her belief. *sucks in breath* wonder what she will do now.