Changes

"Exactly how long have been having these symptoms?" Aisha spoke to Jane through video chat as Jane sat in her living room clutching to her abdomen as she tried to breathe through the pain.

"The pain just started today," Jane answered as she inhaled sharply when another pang of pain rolled down to her lower regions. By the way Aisha raised her eyebrows, and her eyes embodied a look filled with pity, she could tell she was not going to like the news.

"When did the initial symptoms start Jane?" Aisha prompted once more. "How many weeks ago?"

Jane held her breath trying to ride through the wave of pain that wasn't going away. She had just fixed her hair when the pains hit hard; it was now a sweaty mess that had matted down against her cheeks and forehead.

"I'm almost there, Jane," her friend said through the phone screen. "Be ready."

In minutes, Jane heard her doorknob wiggle, followed by knocks. "Jane, I'm here. Open the door," she heard Aisha's sweet voice call out.

With tears in her eyes, doubled over in pain, Jane struggled to stand up straight.

Aisha kept pounding on the door. "Jane!"

With a series of whimpers, Jane continued to make her way to the door while dragging her steps.

"Jane! Please open the door now!" Aisha demanded, knocking one last time before silence filled Jane's apartment.

Her pain was now layered with fear at the thought that Aisha had left. Jane rushed as best she could, finally opening her front door before collapsing against the floor.

She felt a small sense of relief when she saw Aisha's leg step into her home.

"Oh my god, Jane!" Aisha exclaimed as she bent to down check on Jane.

"Emergency services," Jane heard am unfamiliar voice echo through her home, "What is the nature of your emergency?"

At that moment, Jane saw Aisha's transformation from friend to medical professional talking to the person on the phone; describing Jane by her age and gender and using medical terms she had never heard of before. After a moment, Aisha placed the phone on the floor next to Jane's head and the friend reemerged. Aisha began stroking her arm, reassuring that she would be okay because help was on the way.

When Jane tried to argue that she didn't need an ambulance, the nurse emerged once more. "You're past the point of urgent care, Jane. There is nothing in an urgent care clinic that can help you now," she said sternly.

That evening, Jane heard her name called. Her mouth felt dry from the inside out, and she felt disoriented. She tried to sit up but was met with pain in her abdominal region. She fell back.

"I wouldn't advise you try to sit up just yet," a thick, masculine voice in a serious tone spoke. "You have had a series of surgeries performed in your person," he spoke.

All Jane wanted to do was succumb to the promise of sleep that was calling to her, and she did.

When she next opened her eyes, the first person she saw was Lila sitting across from her in strange surroundings.

Her friend quickly stood, looking across the room, "Aisha, she's awake! She's awake!"

Jane smiled at Lila before her vision began to connect all the items in the room, from the sterile white walls, to the IV that was connected to her veins, and to the adjustable bed she was sleeping on with a call button built into the panel that she surmised she was in a hospital.

"I'm glad you're awake," Lila spoke softly.

Jane turned to look at her friend to tell her she missed her, but Lila tucked a strand of hair behind her heard and walked away.

As Jane looked at her retreating body with confusion, she felt a hand on her arm. She turned to the person next to her.

"Jane, why didn't you go to the doctor as soon as you started having symptoms?" Aisha asked in a stern, but gentle manner. "All of this could have been avoided."

Lila's departure filled Jane with regret and loneliness. She felt her eyes water and her nose threatened to run. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

Aisha turned toward the hospital bed table behind her. She slid open the plastic drawer underneath the surface and pulled sheets of paper out.

At that moment, a heavy-set older doctor stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. "I'm Dr. Mendelson. I'm afraid I have some bad news," he began as Aisha handed her the sheets of paper. As Jane began to read the contents of the sheets, she realized she was reading names of several sexually transmitted diseases.

Two months later, Jane taped the last box shut in her apartment. Her friends had forgotten her, her social life had taken a hard hit, and her future didn't look any brighter either. There was no reason to linger around anymore.

She was going to go back to her hometown that she never should have left.

Jane hoisted the box and propped it on her hip as she walked out of the apartment for the last time. She stopped by the property manager's apartment to drop off the keys before heading to the garage. All the way down, she lamented losing Lila's friendship most of all. Jane placed the box in the passenger seat next to her and started the engine, at that moment deciding she would make one detour before the long drive ahead.

Things needed to be said, and they needed to be said in person.

As she pulled up in front of Lila's street, she noticed pink signs on Lila's lawn that read, "Eric and Lila's Baby Shower" and "Congratulations".

Lila had nested a guy and Jane realized she felt surprisingly hurt she had not been told.

She looked through the windows of the house from her car and although she couldn't make out details from this distance, she thought she recognized a few of the silhouettes as they passed through the glass panels.

Surely Chloe and Aisha were there. They were probably throwing her the party. Although Lila was Jane's primary focus, she found it lucky that the two that completed their quartet were also there. She would say goodbye to all of them in one fell swoop.

Looking around, Jane found a parking space across the street. She alighted the vehicle immediately and began walking toward the one-story home. The closer she got to the home, she louder the jovial sounds of the gathering became. She stared down at the floor and crossed her arms over her chest when she began to feel nervous as she got closer to the front door.

Jane forced herself to suppress her feelings; one last goodbye and they would never have to see her again.

As she approached the steps in front of the door, Jane looked into the house, halting abruptly when she noticed Lila and that angry guy that hated her for nesting his brother. The were holding hands, talking to an older male with glasses.

She remained frozen.

She hadn't counted on being verbally abused on her way out of the city.

She was trying to conjure a way to get Lila away from the party when another familiar face came into view.

The brother himself.

This was the moment she had realized that perhaps a face-to-face goodbye was not in the cards.

She was about to walk away when she noticed something else on the guy that wasn't there the last time she saw him- something she had told him to get rid of. Something that would perhaps be a saving grace to her future after all.

Something that belonged to her.

Jane squared her shoulders and decided to crash the party to claim what was hers.