Chapter 26
Ava
I was peeing red.
I stared at the toilet paper, aghast. What was going on?
I’d been feeling off all day, my belly cramping like I’d eaten something bad.
And now this.
We were supposed to be on our way to Houston for Christmas Eve with my dad. We were spending the night there, then coming back on Christmas Day to have dinner with Gram and Big Harry. Maya was in Chicago visiting her nephew and his wife.
I wiped it up again, but more kept coming out. I wasn’t peeing anymore, but the red kept coming.
What in the world?
I pressed the toilet paper to my body as I scooted toward the counter to grab my phone. When I was safely seated again, I Googled, “Red urine.”
That was alarming. Urinary tract infection. Kidney infection. Kidney stones.
Except I didn’t have any of the other symptoms.
I tried a different search.
“Red coming out of body.”
That was worse. Anal fissures. Was it coming out of my butt?
I checked.
Nope.
But it was thicker now. Wait. Was this blood?
And it was coming out more toward the front. And some of it was stringy.
Another cramp seized me. What the hell?
I tried another Google.
“Stringy blood and cramps.”
I read only a few lines and realized this was a period. Of course, it was. Flo at the diner used to complain about them all the time, her situation made even worse because people sometimes called menstrual cycles “Aunt Flo.”
This should have been happening once a month. Why hadn’t it been? And why was it coming now?
I scanned more information. Pregnancy stopped cycles. But I hadn’t had one since my memory reset, even in the months before Tucker and I were back together.
I peered into the bowl. It wasn’t coming fast. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad.
I Googled what to do. Insert a tampon, a menstrual cup, or use a pad. I rolled up a pile of toilet paper and trapped it in my panties, then searched all the cabinets in the bathroom even though I was pretty sure I wouldn’t find any of those things.
And I was right. Nothing.
So, this hadn’t happened to me before? Not ever? Why not?
A knock on the door startled me. “Ava, are you okay?”
“Yes!” I called. God. I should tell Tucker.
But something about this embarrassed me deeply. Why? It was just a period. Maybe it was the way Flo had talked about it. Or the tone of the articles I’d read. This was something you kept to yourself. Something private.
I’d keep reading in the car. I could stop at a store on the way to Houston and buy what I needed.
After checking to make sure the toilet paper wad was handling the mess, I pulled up my black dress pants and washed my hands. Another cramp hit. Gah. Being female sucked.
Tucker waited in the hall, holding a laundry basket full of gifts. “Everything all right?”
“Yeah. Just bathroom stuff.”
I frantically studied my options in the car as we drove through town. Tampons sounded difficult and invasive. Menstrual cups, too. I decided that pads with wings would work for today until I had time to figure out how to handle the other things.
“Can we stop at that CVS?” I asked as we approached the freeway.
“Sure. You forget something?”
“Yeah.” I decided saying less was more.
He pulled into the parking lot.
“I’ll run in.” I lunged out of the car.
The glass door slid open as I passed through.
“We close in fifteen minutes for the holiday,” an employee called as I walked inside.
“Okay. Thanks.”
I’d better make this snappy.
I realized for the first time what the “feminine hygiene” aisle referred to. This. Periods. Bleeding. I’d passed it dozens of times and never bothered to look.
The shelves had too many options. But I found something for medium flow, with wings, and snatched it up.
Then I hesitated. I had to buy it first. But that put me by the front door. Then I’d have to go deep into the store to find a bathroom. That might be weird.
Shoot.
I was the only one here besides the lone cashier, who leaned on the checkout counter, staring out into the empty parking lot.
The bathroom sign hovered over a short hallway. I couldn’t take the box in there. She’d think I was stealing it.
What to do?
Finally, I opened the box, extracted one pad, and carried both to the hallway. I left the box on a shelf nearby and went inside.
At least this part was simple. I dropped the icky wad of toilet paper into the toilet and pulled the strip off the adhesive. It went inside my underwear easily.
That wasn’t so bad.
I flushed and washed my hands again, staring at myself in the overbright lights.
So, this was womanhood. Weird it was so delayed. Maybe because of my condition? Maybe this was my first time. I had no idea. There were no notes in my scrapbook about this.
Time was ticking. I hurried out of the bathroom. The open box waited on the shelf. I picked it up to take it to the front. On a whim, I grabbed a box of candy canes as I approached the counter.
The cashier checked out both items. “Eight ninety-five.”
I paid with a card while she dropped both things in a bag. Perfect. It wouldn’t be obvious.
Tucker waited in the car. “Got what you needed?”
I broke the plastic on the front of the candy cane box and pulled out a pair of them, passing him one. “For the road.”
“Nice.” He took the candy. “Let’s go be merry.”
I bit off a piece of mine while I continued to Google. Sure enough, seizures plus the medications for seizures could make periods erratic and delayed. Now I knew.
I was fine. I’d bring it up with my doctor when I went next time. In the meantime, pads would handle it for the next five to seven days.
I shut off the phone and cranked up “Jingle Bells” on the radio. I was relearning the common holiday songs. No need to dwell on bodily functions when it was my very first Christmas. I was glad it happened at home, and it was so easily handled.
Tucker and I sang the whole way.