You're My Favourite Sound

I glanced over at Hazel as she wriggled in her uncomfortable plastic chair in the clinic's waiting room. I wasn't here to spur her on, I wasn't here to talk her out of it. Whether it was right or wrong, I was here simply to support my best friend on a decision that she had made.

"Don't think about it so much, you don't want to get too worked up," I tried advising.

The younger woman nodded and tucked some of the hair that had escaped her messy bun behind her ear, "Yeah."

A door opened, breaking the awful silence, and both our heads snapped up as a female doctor who looked to be in her early fifties stepped out with a clipboard.

"Miss. Owen?" she called.

"That's me," came Hazel's small voice as she sat up straighter in the chair.

"I'm Doctor Leonard," the kind-faced woman introduced, "How are you?"

Hazel didn't answer, just dropped her eyes into her lap.

"Would you like to come through?" She had shoulder length dark hair that she obviously dyed, and her smart fashion sense yelled that she wasn't too old to look good.

"Yes," Hazel said, looking back up again, "Thank you."

Doctor Leonard looked at me and then back to Hazel, before asking, "Would you like your sister to come in with you?"

"Oh, I'm not-" I started, but my 'sister' cut me off.

"Please?" she pleaded to me.

I opened and closed my mouth like a goldfish, and then answered, "Sure."

"Thanks," Hazel whispered, and we both got up from our seats.

I followed her through the door, both receiving a smile from the doctor, and into the next room where we took a chair each behind a wooden desk. Doctor Leonard, after closing the door, came around and sat in front of us, putting the clipboard down on a shelf behind her.

I turned my head to Hazel, just to give her a look to tell her everything was going to be okay, that I was here, but her eyes were glued to the glass of water on the desk in front of us, along with a small packet sitting next to it that held one single white, rounded pill. I could feel a small thumping against my rib cage.

"Now, Hazel, I understand you must be feeling nervous, maybe a little sick?" asked the doctor.

Jesus, I felt asthough my nerves were going to vomit out of my mouth, fuck knows how Hazel was feeling right now.

She nodded slowly, "You could say that."

"I assure you there is nothing to worry about. Once it's done, it'll all be over."

Hazel nodded again, "Good. Th-that's good."

"Now, I just want to go through with you what is going to happen, okay?" She waited for another nod from the terrified looking girl sat opposite her, before continuing. "Right, so there are two pills you are going to take, one today and the other tomorrow. The first pill, the one you will take today, blocks the hormone progesterone and weakens the attachment of the pregnancy to the womb. And then the pill tomorrow will soften the neck of the womb, cause the womb to contract, and the loss of the pregnancy."

Hazel chuckled ever so slightly with no humour, "Pregnancy."

The doctor and I glanced at each other for a brief moment. "It's good that you've come here with Hazel today," she told me, and then went back to Hazel, "I strongly recommend you have someone here with you tomorrow."

Hazel instantly turned to me, "Will you?"

I nodded lightly with a small reassuring smile, "Of course."

"The procedure is very safe," the doctor continued, "After the second pill, you will have some strong cramps in your stomach and there will be bleeding. This could start within a half hour after taking the pill, and you may pass the pregnancy any time between a few hours and a couple of days later, it's different for every woman... I know you've had the counselling, but do you have any questions?"

Hazel simply shook her head. The doctor looked from me to Hazel, to the pill on the table.

"Ready then?" she said, sliding it towards her with the glass of water.

It seemed so ordinary it was scary. There were no hospital gowns, no beds, no medicine smell. Just a glass of water and a pill.

Hazel looked at me, I looked at her. Her glazed eyes pulled at my heart terribly, but she soon took a deep breath and replied, "Ready."

The redhead reached for the pill and both the doctor and I watched as she popped it out of the packet and placed it onto her tongue. I felt my breathing quicken as she reached for the glass next, taking a huge gulp and swallowing it whole.

There. That was it. No turning back now.

On the drive back to her and Joshi's apartment, I sat behind the wheel, trying to steady my breathing at what my best friend had just done. Hazel sat next to me, staring out into the streets of LA as they rushed by. There was a deadly silence in the car, so when my cell started vibrating in one of the capartments in between us, the pair of us jumped.

"It's Joshi," I said after reaching for it.

"I'm not here," Hazel said quickly, her eyes suddenly wide.

I placed the phone in the holder next to the radio and put it on speaker so both of us could hear. "Hey, Josh," I began, "Shouldn't you be working?"

"I didn't go in today," came his reply. It sounded strained.

"How come?" I asked, stealing a glimpse of Hazel as she kept her eyes firmly on the phone.

"I broke up with Mario."

I had to slam on the brakes to stop us from hitting the car in front at some traffic lights. "What the fuck?" I exhaled, "You two are perfect for each other, Joshi, why would you do that?" Hazel was thinking the same as me, her facial expression was somewhat like mine.

"He was cheating on me... with an older woman."

I don't think my eyes could have popped more out of my skull. "Are you serious?"

"Wish I wasn't," he replied quietly. "I guess even the people you least suspect can fuck you over."

I thought about how true that was... I was one of them.

"Josh, I'm so sorry. Do you want me to come over?"

"No, it's okay, I don't think it's sunk in properly yet... I just need to be by myself for a while and thought I'd let you know. I've tried Hazel but her phone's off..."

I looked at Hazel, she was still staring at my cell intently. "Well you know Hazel, she's probably too busy living her dream, right?" I told the phone as the lights turned green and we set off again.

"Oh right, I forgot Kat Von D is her new best friend now." The sarcasm in his words looked asthough they had really gotten to Hazel, but before I could disagree, Joshi said, "Hold on a sec, I've got a call waiting."

When it went silent, I glanced at Hazel and said, "He didn't mean that, he's just upset."

She just shook her head and shut her eyes tight. I don't think there was anything else Joshi could say that would make her feel worse.

"It was him," he said, "I just ignored it."

"Okay," I replied, "Are you sure you don't want me to come over? Because I can-"

"It's alright, babe, really," the younger man cut in. "I've done this once before, I'm sure I can do it again." His heavy sigh sounded through the car and it sounded asthough he had more to say, so I waited. "It's just..." he started, "It's just I feel like I need something to keep me going, you know? All this shit has gotten to me and I need something good to happen to me... Something I can look forward to."

That did it. That pushed Hazel over the edge and she let out a loud sob into her hand to muffle it, but Joshi heard it anyway.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Nothing, I, um, passed a dog pound. Josh, I'm gonna have to go," I answered quickly, "Let me know if you need anything, I'm just a phonecall away, alright?"

After we'd said our goodbyes and hung up, I pulled over on a side road and held my best friend as she cried.