Stockholm Syndrome

Alanna got up slowly, and with a quick glance back at Juliette, who ushered her away, knelt down in front of Lissie. Lissie sighed and looked up at the ceiling to avoid catching eye contact. Alanna gently exposed the wounds on Lissie's shoulder, and Lissie still flinched slightly.

"Check Cap-refill." Erin mumbled to Alanna. The doctor look at Erin with a small smile.

"Good call." She took Lissie's snow-white hand in hers and pressed down on her fingernail on her index finger. She looked troubled when it took only five seconds for the nail to turn from white to a more healthy pink colour.

“Slow blood flow...” Alanna muttered looking troubled.

“Could be something else,” Erin mumbled, meeting Alanna’s gaze.

“Lissie?” Alanna called.

“Yeah?” The teenager groaned.

“Does anywhere else hurt?” Alanna asked, trying to tune out the concern in her voice.

Lissie met Alanna’s eyes and game her a small half-smile, “If I said no, you’d just look anyway wouldn’t you?”

Erin giggled in spite of herself, and Alanna smiled slightly before answering, “But of course.”

Lissie closed her eyes and for a moment it looked like she had lost consciousness. With a look of fierce concentration on her face, she lifted up her polka dot t-shirt, revealing her abdomen, and a long line of stitching running along under it.

I was no doctor, but it clearly looked infected.

To my surprise, Erin was first to speak. “Lissie, how did that happen to you?”

Alanna chimed in, “An appendectomy? Did you have your appendix removed?”

Lissie shook her head. Her eyes were still closed, and tears were beginning to spill.

Surprisingly, Angelica was the one to enlighten us. “I... I think, I know.”

We all turned to her in surprise, including Lissie. Our jaws hit the floor when Angelica pulled up her dark blue tank top slightly to reveal a faded scar, almost identical to Lissie’s.

“Definitely no appendectomy, too low. I watch enough medical shows to know that.” Angelica smiled slightly, at her knowledge.

Alanna cleared her throat. “Then what is it, Angelica?”

Angelica sighed. “I got this scar ten years ago. I was sixteen. The baby was breech.”

Everyone looked at her in wonder, Juliette especially. This was an answer no one expected. Angelica met Lissie’s gaze and asked simply, “When did you get your C-Section?”