Page 50 of Confessions of a Virgin on a Dating App
I winced as another deep, throbbing ache stabbed at my pelvis.
“What are you doing?” I asked Devin through clenched teeth as I fought through the pain.
He stopped typing and looked up. “I’m calling an ambulance.”
“What? No! I’m oka—”
“Avery, you fainted! You’re clearly not okay!”
Devin’s sudden, sharp words made me snap my mouth shut. I wasn’t used to him yelling, but I could see the flickers of concern in his eyes.
He sighed, scratching the back of his neck. “Sorry. Pardon my tone. But healthy people don’t just pass out like that. Has this happened to you before?”
I hesitated before squeaking out a “yes.” My period had caused me to faint a few times over the years. It always ended the same way – those around me freaking out and calling 911 while I frantically reassured them that I was fine. I was even once forced by paramedics to sign a denial of carewaiver so they would pack up and leave.
I wasnotgoing to a hospital over a goddamn period.
Devin stood up straighter, crossing his arms over his chest. “Do you know keeps causing you to faint?”
Yes.
But there was no way I could tell him. Even though I’d escaped the clutches of my religious family five years earlier, discussing menstruation with others still made my insides churn.
Especially men.
“It’s nothing,” I huffed. I attempted to stand up, but Devin pressed his hands into my shoulders and forced me back down. “Just let me go home.”
Devin snorted and raised an eyebrow. “Have I ever told you that you’re the most stubborn person I know?”
I shrugged, in too much pain to fire back at Devin’s snarky tone.
“Alright.” Devin slid his phone into the back pocket of his jeans. “Here’s how this is going to go. You either tell me what’s going on, or I’m calling an ambulance.”
My eyebrows furrowed as anger bubbled in my stomach. I’d just been pathetically pining for this man twenty minutes ago, and now he was giving me ultimatums like I was a child.
I opened my mouth, ready to tell Devin whoIthought was stubborn, when a pang of sadness washed over my aching body. Devin wasn’t acting like this to be an ass. He was acting like this because he was worried. Because even though I’d callously rejected him a week earlier, he still viewed me as his friend. He still cared about me, and I’d just fainted right in front of him and refused to tell him what was wrong.
I needed to suck it up and tell him the truth.
Goddamn you, Dev.
Why must yoube so nice?
“It’s…” The words struggled to roll off my tongue. “It’s just my period.”
Devin’s narrowed eyebrows suddenly raised with confusion and concern. “It’s that bad?”
I nodded.
He gave a deep, heaving sigh as he pulled his phone back out. “Alright. No ambulance. But I still think you can see a doctor.”
“For aperiod?”
“Look, Avery…” Devin plopped down in the chair next to me. “I have three older sisters and an ex-wife. I know I’m a guy, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t supposed to hurt this much. And it’s certainly not supposed to make you pass out. Besides, can’t bad periods be a symptom of other health issues?”
Devin’s words sent a lightbulb snapping on in my mind. Maybe he was right. I’d never been able to sit through a full gynecology exam, so I had no idea if there was anything wrong with my reproductive system.
And the thought of there being a cure for these god-awful periods was enticing.
