Abort
I feel moisture build-up on my brow bone as each heavy step takes me closer to the medical unit. My heart beats heavy and everything inside of me screams to turn around or run. Guard’s eyes lining the walls land on me. My chest clenches and I find it harder to breathe. I begin motions I have taken countless times. I stand in line until it's finally my turn. I reach my arm out until I hear the beep indicating the barcode was scanned. I am handed a key card by a woman behind the counter. I walk through the door and wait until the guard returns from around the corner where the last girl was escorted. He tightly grips my arm and my knees begin to feel shaky and weak. I change quickly into a thin cloth nightgown and sit on the bed waiting. I clench my eyes shut and hold back tears. Click. Click. Click. A pair of heels come closer to my room and all I can do is beg them to pass me and keep going down the hall. They don't. My teeth plant into the inside of my cheek and I don't stop until I taste blood. The woman comes in. Today she is wearing a long black skirt and heels. A blue button-down and her dark brown hair is pulled back in a tight bun. Her eyes scan over me and she pulls her attention to the clipboard. Following her into the room are two guards and four nurses. She pulls gloves over her hands and grabs my arm. She scans the barcode with her device and spends a few seconds staring at the screen. She looks up at my face. Her lips are pulled into a straight line. Her skin is pale and pasty and her nose is long and thin with a bump that’s visible when looking at her from the side. Her eyes are dark and lifeless. She glances at the nurses, “Let's begin.” A nurse walks forward and roughly plunges a needle into my arm. They inject a light blue substance and it feels like ice under my skin. My head feels woozy. The woman looks at the guards and nods. I open my mouth to protest but they are already on either side of me. I am dragged to the other room connected to this one. My legs go weak and fall behind me. They open the door to the long glass cylinder tube, reaching the ceiling. I am pushed inside and the door is sealed. The doctor passes gas masks around, standing behind computers. All eyes on me. I hear over the intercom “Place the mask on.” In a cold, sharp voice. I gulp and tears sting my face and with shaky hands unhook a gas mask from the wall and place it over my face. “No, please.” The words spill out of my mouth quietly as I see her hand read up and motion with two fingers. I hear air rush in before I feel it. Instantly my skin turns to a pit of hell. A scream explodes from deep inside of my chest. My legs give out and I hit the floor, dark yellow gas consumes me. I feel my stomach turn and I begin throwing up. I look at my arms as my curdling screams are drowned by vomit that has filled my mask. They are each growing with blisters. Some the size of my palm. The remaining skin is filled with a red, sinful rash. Stabbing agony devours me and the corners of my eyes go fuzzy before everything goes black.
