Page 270 of Tell Me I'm Enough

I stare down, watching the blood continue to run down my legs, never stopping. I can’t even stand anymore. I just drop down to the floor of the shower, not even caring that I’m in a public shower right now. That thought would normally make me nauseous, but the pain in my lower stomach is already doing that. When the next wave hits, I genuinely think for a second that I might pass out, that this is not my period at all, and I’m going to die right here, alone on a shower floor.

I need help.

I reach right outside the shower stall to where my bag is and wipe my hand enough so I can grab my phone. I open the lock screen and hit Lani’s name, knowing she’s right down the hall and will probably be the calmest in this situation to help. It only rings twice before she thankfully answers.

“Hey? Where are you?” she asks, yawning.

“Lani,” I pant out, barely getting her name out.

“What’s wrong?”

I hear her tone instantly go into an alert, worried mode.

“I—” My voice cracks a little, still pushing through the pain. “I’m in the showers, in a lot of pain…I’m bleeding.”

“Are you hurt?” she asks.

“No—no. It’s just my period, a really bad one. Hurts like hell, but I just…I just need some help getting back to the dorm.”

“Okay,” she rushes out. “Stay right there, I’m coming.”

“Don’t freak out,” I tell her, knowing that’s exactly what she’ll do once she sees me.

“Simone,” she says in a serious tone. “Stop. I’m coming to help.”

When the call ends, I grab my towel, wrapping it around me and clenching it, trying not to look at the mess around me that I can do nothing about. It just keeps pooling around me. And I feel dizzier by the second.

I hear the door creak open, and then Lani’s voice fills the room. “Simone?”

“I’m over here,” I grit out.

She’s by my side instantly, crouching down beside me.

“Oh my gosh,” she gasps.

“It’s okay,” I rush out, not wanting her to make me freak out more by her freaking out.

Her eyes flick down to the blood and then back to me. “Sim—”

I try to wave her off, but another cramp hits, making me jerk my arm down and curl into myself.

“This isn’t normal,” she says quietly.

“It’s just a period, Lani. I’m fine.”

“You can’t even stand,” she points out.

“I just need to get back to the room,” I tell her, because being stuck here feels humiliating and too exposed. I just want to lie down in my bed.

Lani reaches out and touches my shoulder lightly. “Simone, look at me.”

I force myself to look up at her.

“Are you dizzy?” she asks.

I nod.

“Are you in pain?”