Page 36 of Not My Fault

“First of all, you’re only in here because I let you be. Don’t make me regret that. Second of all, we tested these responses with the team. They’re responses to get Emily’s career back on track,” Viv says angrily.

“I appreciate that, but I’m not going to fully change who I am just to keep my fans. They like me because I’m me,” I say firmly.

“You’re so naive.” Viv scoffs and leaves with a shake of her head.

“Do you have anything else to do tonight?” Gus asks.

“Not really, I just want to change and head home though. I’m sorry, I’m always exhausted after a show.” I sigh.

“No worries at all, I think my friends are going out, but I have work tomorrow.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow night then or?”

“Yeah, you have a show, right? I’ll be out of work by then.” They nod.

“Thank you for today.” I smile. “And thank you for telling me about…everything. It’s better there’s no surprises.”

Gus nods and they walk me back to the dressing room. They grab their stuff, and I head to the bathroom to pee. Those three water bottles I had went right through me. I sit and pee, but the second I stand, I start to feel dizzy. My face gets hot, starting with a small sweat that breaks out all over my body. Am I getting a fever or something? I splash some cool water on my face, but it doesn’t seem to help. I feel a sharp stab into my lower abdomen. It’s like someone stabbed me with a sharp knife and quickly took it out of me. I groan in pain; I wasn’t expecting that. What the hell is going on? What side is your appendix on? Uh, the right, I think. But this is from the left side. At least there is no chance I’m pregnant and didn’t know it or something. My heart starts beating faster and my vision gets blurrier. I grip the sides of the sink but then my vision gets smaller. It goes from just the corners of my eyes to everything going black.

The next thing I hear is Gus’s voice. “Em, it’s going to be alright.”

I open my eyes and see Gus sitting next to me in what looks like an ambulance. What happened? The last thing I remember is being in the bathroom, and things got blurry. I must’ve passed out. I register the oxygen mask on my face and move it to talk.

“Oh God Em, thank God.” Gus sounds so relieved.

“Did I pass out?” I ask hoarsely.

“Yes. Ma’am, do you remember what happened?” the EMT asks.

“I had a sharp pain on my left side. Like a stabbing, I overheated and then everything went blurry,” I say.

“Okay, has this ever happened before?” they ask.

“No.” I shake my head. I feel okay now; was I just dehydrated?

We get to the hospital, and they rush me to a private room. I’d cause too much commotion just being in the emergency room. A doctor and a nurse run a variety of tests, sending Gus tothe waiting room. I answer too many questions and while they wait for tests, I ask for Gus and my phone. Of course, no one grabbed that, so I ask Gus to borrow theirs.

“I already texted Georgie if that’s what you need. She’s on her way. I think she’s taking an Uber,” Gus says, and I freeze.

“You called Georgie?”

“Uh, yeah? I’m sorry, I sort of assumed that would be your emergency contact. I thought she’d want to know either way,” Gus says nervously.

“Thank you. That’s right, she is.” I smile. It’s nice that Gus thought of that.

“Okay, so we have the test results. Is it okay to talk in front of your…” the doctor says, eyeing Gus. Just as Gus goes to leave the room, I grab their hand tightly.

“My friend, you can talk,” I say.

“So you passed out due to the pain. It seems like you had an ovarian cyst. It’s very likely that the cyst burst and due to its size, you felt it. We gave you Tylenol for the pain. It says in your chart that you have PCOS; are you taking anything for that?” the doctor asks and I sigh a breath of relief. I’ve had cysts before, but I’ve never had burst before. I’m glad it wasn’t something else.

“I’m not. I was on birth control for a little while, but it raised my blood pressure. I did go gluten free for my symptoms, and it helps,” I explain.

“Got it,” the doctor says.

“There wasn’t any damage, right?” Gus asks.

“Nope, it will pass on its own. We think it’s due to your strenuous dancing on stage. It might’ve shaken your insides around. We recommend rest for the next few days, and if you feel any worse or pass out again, definitely come back,” the doctor says.

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