Decide

Another random short story!

“Are you sure you’re alright, dear?” the woman asked her from across the room. Her seat behind the counter limited her view of the tiny woman, but she awkwardly craned her neck to get a look. “I don’t mind getting you some water.”

“I’m fine.” the woman answered back blankly. She obviously had a lot of emotions running through her mind.

The woman behind the counter clearly heard her answer, but decided that it wasn’t good enough. She stood up from her place behind the counter and made her way into the waiting room of the medical facility. As soon as she got a complete view of the young woman, she knew she had lied to her about being fine.

The petite brunette was in a state of complete turmoil, gripping her purse tightly with one hand her cell phone in the other. Her eyes were fixated on a plastic chair across the room from her, but her mind was fixated on the problem at hand.

“Miss,” Evelyn stated from the doorway. “I need to know. Are you sure you’re alright?”

The small woman looked over to the aged woman in her white medical uniform. She wanted to cry and spill the beans of her life to this woman, but she knew that that would be ridiculous.

“I’m fine, really.” she replied. She tried to fake a smile, but it turned into an awkward frown instead.

Evelyn was still not convinced. She took a few more steps towards the woman, afraid that she would protest in the nearness. Surprisingly, however, the woman did not stop her and Evelyn took the seat next to the her.

“You mind me asking why you’re here?” Evelyn asked sheepishly.

Christa looked over at the older woman and gave her a look of annoyance. “Really, what do you think?”

Evelyn shook her head. Of course she knew that this was an abortion center! “No, I mean, well, you don’t look like the type to get an abortion.”

Christa sighed at the question and found interest in the zipper of her purse. “To be honest, I didn’t think I was either.”

Evelyn looked down at her shoes, unsure of what to say. She was startled however when Christa continued.

“My husband, Jackson, and I, well, we’ve been trying to get pregnant for years now.” she paused and took a deep breath, unable to believe that she was spilling her guts to this stranger. “But that was before he lost his job.”

Evelyn reached out and rubbed her arm lightly. “I’m sorry, dear. This economy is rough on everybody.”

Christa shook her head. “No, it’s not just that. He felt like such a failure that he turned to alcohol. He’s never hurt me, I mean, but I won’t let my child be born to an alcoholic.”

Evelyn tried to comfort the poor woman. “I’m sure the joy of a baby would bring him out of that stupor he’s in.”

Christa just stood up suddenly and started pacing the room. “It won’t, I know it won’t. My mom thought that, too, when she had me and it obviously didn’t work.”

Evelyn looked up at Christa from her seat, confused by what she was saying. “Honey, I don’t understand.”

Christa looked at her with an annoyed expression again. “My father, he was an alcoholic. My mom thought that having me would stop him from drinking.” She looked down at the tiles. “But it didn’t and I never got to know him because of it.”

Evelyn sighed. This woman wasn’t dealing with just a pregnancy and an alcoholic husband, but her past as well. She gestured Christa to the seat beside her and waited for her to take a seat.

“Sweetheart, have you talked to your husband?” Evelyn asked as Christa got resettled in the chair. “I’m sure that communication might clear things up.”

Christa looked back up to the older woman with eyes wide. “Are you serious?” she looked from Evelyn to glance around at the room around her. “I-I-I- can’t do this!” she yelled as she jumped from her seat and started collecting her stuff. “I should have never told you any of that! Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk - that’s what everyone thinks is the solution to everything!” She began to head towards the door, but Evelyn stopped her by grabbing her shoulder.

“Honey,” Evelyn yelled out as she tried to get the woman’s attention. “I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to make the same mistake I did!”

Both Evelyn and Christa froze. Evelyn couldn’t believe she just admitted her life-long secret to a stranger and Christa was shocked of what she was hearing.

“What?” Christa asked as she turned around.

Evelyn sighed and laid her hands on the younger woman’s shoulders. “I know how you feel because I was in the same place, but I didn’t decide correctly. Not only did I destroy my life and my marriage, but I killed my child.”

Christa stared at the older woman, unable to understand what she was being told.

Evelyn continued. “You may end up having to leave Jackson one day. You may have to end up taking on two jobs to provide for yourself. You may have to live with family. It doesn’t matter. I’m telling you now - you better keep that baby.”

Christa shook her head, ready to protest, but Evelyn cut her off.

“When you finally hold that child, nothing else in the world is going to matter. You won’t care what you have to do to protect that baby, but you’ll do anything. All I can tell you is that if you kill that baby, you’re just killing yourself and it’s hard to find life after something like that.”

Christa continued to stare at the woman. She hated it, but everything that Evelyn had just said seemed so real and true. At the instance, she knew that she couldn’t give up that baby, no matter what. She smiled at Evelyn, assuring the woman that her speech had worked. After a few moments of composing herself, she finally had to ask a certain question.

“If you regret having an abortion so much, then why do you work at a center where you see hundreds of girls make that same decision?”

Evelyn just smiled and started to make her way back to her station. She called out behind her, ready for this woman to go get her life straight. “Why do you think this place is going out of business?”