Falling with Every Step

Pete parked the car in the parking lot at the hospital, and Pete, Mary Jane, Gabe, and Vicky made their way inside. They made their way to the nurses’ station where a young girl looked up at them. “What can I do for you?” she asked them.

Vicky, Gabe, and Pete all looked at Mary Jane. “I need to see a doctor,” she said quietly.

“What’s the problem?” the nurse asked.

When Mary Jane didn’t say anything, Pete answered for her. “Um, she was raped,” he whispered to her, hoping no one around them had heard. He looked around and saw there were only two other people around, and they were both on the other side of the room.

“Oh,” the nurse said. “Well, first you need to fill out these forms.” She handed Mary Jane a clipboard with numerous papers to fill out. “You can have a seat over there,” she said, pointing to the nearby chairs.

The four of them went over to sit down. Mary Jane filled out the papers, and Vicky offered to take them back up to the nurse. “Okay,” the nurse said. “If you just wait a few minutes, a doctor will be with you shortly.”

“Thanks,” Vicky said before turning around and joining the others again.

Five minutes later, another nurse came out and called Mary Jane’s name. Mary Jane turned to the others and said, “You guys can stay out here.” The other three nodded their heads, and Mary Jane followed the nurse back to a room.

“This is all my fault,” Vicky told Pete and Gabe.

“What are you talking about?” Pete asked.

“MJ and I had a fight earlier tonight. We made up, but I still feel like if it hadn’t happened, she wouldn’t have went off with Chris, and none of this would have happened,” Vicky explained.

“Vicky, it’s not your fault,” Pete said.

“He’s right,” Gabe agreed. “It’s my fault.”

“What?” Pete asked.

“If I hadn’t broken up with her, we would have been together all night. She never would have been alone with Chris. And to think, I broke up with her because of that son of a bitch,” Gabe said.

“Will you guys stop it!” Pete said, raising his voice. “It’s neither of your guys’ faults. It’s Chris’s fault, and only his.”

The three of them sat in silence for a little while before a nurse came out. “You guys can go back and see Mary Jane now,” she told them. “She’s in room 145. It’s down the hall to the left.”

“Thanks,” Pete told her as he, Gabe, and Vicky made their way to Mary Jane’s room.

Vicky was the first one to enter. She saw Mary Jane lying on the bed, crying. “I am so sorry,” she told Mary Jane.

“Why?” Mary Jane asked.

“This is my fault.”

“Not this again!” Pete cried.

“Vicky, this isn’t your fault. You weren’t there. You didn’t do this to me,” Mary Jane told her.

“Still,” Vicky began.

“No!” Mary Jane yelled. “It’s not your fault any more than it’s Gabe’s or Pete’s. You guys didn’t do this to me. Chris did. It’s his fault and it’s my fault.”

“What?” Gabe asked. “This isn’t your fault.”

“Gabe, yes it is,” Mary Jane said as more tears trickled down her cheeks. “I was the one that agreed to go upstairs with him. I knew something was up, and I didn’t stop.”

“But you tried to stop him,” Gabe said.

“You said no, MJ,” Pete said. “He raped you. This isn’t your fault. Don’t think that.”

“But,” Mary Jane began.

“No!” Pete yelled. “This isn’t your fault, MJ.”

The doctor walked in the door, interrupting their conversation. “Hi, I’m Dr. Lyons,” she said. “You must be friends of Mary Jane’s.”

“Yeah,” Mary Jane answered for them. “This is Pete, Gabe, and Vicky,” she said pointing to each one as she said their name.

“Well, I’ve got your test results back,” Dr. Lyons said. “The good news is that you don’t have any diseases, including STDs, HIV, or anything like that.”

“And the bad news?” Mary Jane asked.

“Well, we can’t tell right now if you’re pregnant or going to be pregnant. Seeing as how you were raped, I am assuming you don’t want a pregnancy. There are a couple of things that we can do to help ensure that. One thing is an emergency contraceptive pill. This will help prevent pregnancy. The sooner you take it, the more likely it is that there will be no pregnancy,” Dr. Lyons told her.

“Is that considered to be an abortion?” Mary Jane asked.

“Well, that all depends on your perspective,” Dr. Lyons said.

“Can I think about this for a minute?” Mary Jane asked.

“Of course,” Dr. Lyons said. “I’ll be back in a little while, okay?”

Mary Jane nodded, and Dr. Lyons left. “What do you guys think?” Mary Jane asked.

“It’s all up to you, MJ,” Vicky said.

“I don’t want to be considered a bad person if I do this,” Mary Jane told them.

“MJ, no one will consider you a bad person because of this. You were raped. This isn’t an abortion.”

“What do you guys think?” Mary Jane asked Gabe and Pete.

“I agree with Vicky. It’s all up to you,” Pete said.

“They’re right,” Gabe said.

“I want to take it, but I’m scared of how people will think of me,” Mary Jane admitted.

“No one will know except for us, and we’re not going to look at you any differently,” Pete told her. Gabe and Vicky nodded their heads in agreement.

Mary Jane smiled at them, and Dr. Lyons came back in. “Do you need more time to think about it?” she asked.

“No, I’ve made my decision,” Mary Jane said. “I’d like to take the pill.”