Forgetting Charlotte

The Vomiting

Chapter five: The Vomiting

I originally thought the stress had made me sick. Phillip had insisted I go the hospital after I came to. They even called an ambulance but I refused and to his dismay he sent me home with Jolene, who was till snickering over Alicia's shoes. As Jolene drove me home she recounted how she swore I was going to faint so all three of them had leaned in closer, only to have me vomit directly on Alicia's pencil skirt and designer shoes. She told me how Phillip had dragged me to his office, all while attempting to soothe Alicia and admonish Jolene. Alicia's quip about Jolene being English and having a Dolly Parton song for a name had sealed Alicia's fate with her.

Jolene had grown up in Oxford with her mother, who was a HUGE Dolly Parton fan. So much so that Jolene had confided in me that the locals believed her to be mad because of her outrageous Dolly inspired outfits. When time came to send Jolene to college, instead of pushing the elite oxford university, Jolene's mother encouraged her to apply for and eventually go to the University of Tennessee. I had laughed when she originally told me over a bottle of tequila, but she was sensitive about her mother's obsession with American country. It was at college where we had met, and every day I was reminded how lucky I was that we ended up dorm mates.

I didn't know at the moment if Jolene shared my feeling, after walking in and deciding my apartment was still uninhabitable she decided to have a sleepover, something I could not appreciate more. She walked me to my bed where I crawled in on the side I always slept on when he was here. My mind went blank the moment my head hit my pillow. I slept all that night and through half the following day, I would have slept through the weekend if Jolene had not shaken me awake late the next day.

"Charlie, you seriously need to wake up, I think I should take you to the doctor, you are starting to smell bad again." She winked at me as she held her nose. I lifted myself from the bed intending to head to the shower, but my legs gave way "All right Charlie, that's enough, I'm dragging you to the emergency room. This flu is kicking your butt." Jolene grabbed a blanket and after stuffing me in her Prius she ran in the house and returned with my bathroom trashcan.

"Just in case." She said as she carefully placed it on the floor next to my legs. I looked over at Jolene, gave a weak smile, and chucked in the trash can. "EWWWWWW!!! Okay well that was gross, let's hurry then."

Jolene had tried to convince the girl at check in that I was on the verge of death, but she remained unconvinced and now we sat here wondering how long it would be before I was seen. Jolene tried to keep me from thinking by retelling the look of horror on Alicia's face, but I couldn't laugh anymore. My stomach hurt and my head was pounding.

Cursed ER, what's the point of calling it an emergency room if nothing was viewed as an emergency? I tried to watch the TVs they had placed everywhere in the waiting room but Matt Lauer's smiling face brought my thoughts back to him. I remembered how much he would laugh at me for watching "drama" news: 20/20, Dateline, even the Today Show seemed to bring a smile to his face. He called it the "minstrel news" claiming that they took basic situations and made them more exciting to spurt out in 15 minute intervals. I watched intently as they fed me my daily dose of news, insisting that if he paid more attention maybe he would be more aware of what was going on in the world. He would laugh and say he was fully aware of what was going on in HIS world. I wondered if he was watching Matt Lauer now.

"Charlotte? Charlotte Boyd?" the nurse looked right over us as Jolene raised her hand in perfect student posture and began to grab me and my things. "You're up." The nurse held the door for me but stopped Jolene mid step. "Not you, just the patient."

"But she's terribly sick and can't walk on her own!" Jolene wailed, attempting to get around the rather burly nurse.

"Are you family?" The nurse asked as she scribbled something on her sheet.

"Yes, I'm her sister!" Jolene huffed. The nurse stopped writing and looked up at Jolene. She looked up and down at Jolene's curly red hair, green eyes and tall cream colored body and then turned her dark irritated stare at my straight auburn hair, honey colored eyes and short olive colored skin. "We're adopted?" Jolene squeaked.

"Stay." The nurse held her hand up at Jolene like she was a disobedient puppy and swept me inside the large metal doors

I followed behind the nurse feeling more nauseous than ever. "So why are we here today?" she asked as she placed the blood pressure cuff on my arm.

"I haven't been feeling well lately." As I answered her I watched her stick the thermometer under my tongue and take my pulse all without once looking at me. I wondered if she would even blink if I told her my arm fell off.

"And what kind of symptoms are we experiencing?" She was rapidly writing things as she pointed me to the weight machine, still without eye contact.

"Well I have been feeling sick and basically I can't keep anything down." My answer made her eyes shoot up and she stared at me intently.

"So you have been vomiting, for how long?" The tone of her voice had changed and now she was once again sizing me up and down.

"Um, well about two days now." Her gaze lingered on my midriff and I found myself wishing she was ignoring me again.

"Are you sexually active?" She is reaching into several cabinets now and was pulling out items, her eyes keenly staring at me.

Am I sexually active? "My boyfriend and I just broke up, so not really."

"When was the last time then?"

"Um, well probably about 4 weeks ago?"

"I see." She hands me a plastic cup. "Fill this up and leave it on the shelf in the bathroom. You're in the first bed on the left. Wait there and the doctor will be with you in just a moment," and with that the glowering eyes were gone.

I was left alone to wonder what urine had to do with vomiting but maybe I had an infection. I peed in the cup, left it on the shelf and walked back to the curtain covered corner. I changed into the gown and laid myself down on the bed. I couldn't understand why hospital walls were always such a bright white. It was like a glaring white. It was what the last flash you see before you pass away must look like I imagined and that was not comforting. Wouldn't it be better green? I mean green is more soothing, like sitting in a meadow. The idea of green made me feel nauseous again and I grabbed nearby trash can in anticipation.

The doctor walked in just as I was promising myself I wouldn't eat Jack in the Box tacos in the morning ever again! The Doctor stared at me just as the nurse had and I imagined him trying to find the words to tell me I had some fatal disease.

"Good evening!" I said cheerfully, hoping it would coax out whatever he was going to say. No need to drag it out, I thought to myself, I'm a big girl.

"Good evening Ms. Boyd, My name is Doctor Lee, I understand you have not feeling well." He extended his hand to me quickly and gave me a matching smile.

"Call me Charlie Doc. And yeah, I've been vomiting for 2 days now, I'm pretty sure It's the stomach flu. Can you vomit from stress?" I was sure the nurse had already shared her theory.

"Yes, well Charlie, have you been noticing changes in your body lately?" He seemed to be speaking to me slower than a normal person.

"I know I must be bit skinnier but it's only because I haven't been able to keep anything down. I mean I have been a bit depressed lately, personal matter. I think the stress just added to me getting the stomach flu." The Doctor shook his head and stared intently down at his clipboard as if his next words were written there somewhere.

"Yes, the nurse informed me that you had recently broken up with your boyfriend. Did you use protection while you were together?"

Oh God! He had given me and STD! BASTARD!! I considered the idea that he had left me for someone else but I couldn't handle the thought for long. I was sick with the thought now, suddenly I vomited again. "Well, no. I thought we were exclusive," I squeaked. "What did he give me Doc?"

"A child." It came out of the Doctors mouth like a brick.

"A WHAT?!"

"You're pregnant."

The last thing I remember were those fucking bright white walls.