My Final Approval
,<8»
Notes This is part two of a four part
Action story
I found myself dressing to go to
an abortion clinic to get rid of
something that I wasn’t ready for
and making a decision for some
one who wasn’t able to make it for
itself—my unborn child. Or was I
really going to follow through with
My mind wondered back to real
ity when I found myself crossing
the intersection and into an oncom
ing car’s lane. But once I was back
on track, they — the flashbacks —
made their way back into my mind.
But by this time those flashbacks
had taken me to the pregnancy
clinic where I found out I was with
child.
mere, 1 was entering me preg
nancy clinic in search of some con
crete answers so Anthony could
stop asking me if I was pregnant.
With confidence, I walked into the
clinic knowing that the results
would prove that I was not preg
nant.
I had been to the clinic once
before when I thought I was preg
nant from a previous relationship,
but this time things just didn’t seem
likethey were going for me. Ididn’t
have an appointment, so I really
wasn’t sure if I could take the test
right away anyway.
As I walked through the doors,
an old woman looked up at me as
two other young ladies awaited
their results.
“Yes, may I help you?" the old
woman said with a warm smile on
her face.
“Yes," I replied. “I was just in the
area — and I wanted to see if I
could have a pregnancy test done.
Now I don’t have an appointment,
but I was wondering If I could
come as a walk-in?"
“Sure. Go in the other room and
have a seat and I’ll be right with
you." 1
“OK. Thank you," I said as I
wandered into the next waiting
room and sat down.
“Excuse me," the woman said as
she walked into the room and as I
stood up. "Did you bring a urine
sample?"
"No. I thought that I could get a
cup from here and just go use your
restroom," I said.
“Well, we normally don’t have
any cups laying around, because
when you make an appointment,
we ask that you bring your sample
in. But I’ll see if we have one, OK?"
“OK," I said, sitting back down.
The woman came back into the
room and said she was unsuccess
ful in finding a cup.
uo you live rar irom nerer sne
said in a sympathetic voice. .
“No," I answered.
“Well, you can just go home and
get something to put your sample
in and bring itback this afternoon."
“Yes, I can do that," I said, head
ing for the door. "OK, I’ll see you
later—about 1 o’clock," die woman
replied.
I was on my way to my car but
decided to stop off at the front desk
to find out if they had any cups that
I could use to put my urine sample
in. Sure enough, they had some.
This made it a lot easier on me, I
thought, because I didn’t have to
go home, and once and for all, I
could verify what I had been trying
to tell Anthony all along — I was
not pregnant.
When I returned, with my urine
in the cup, the woman was sur
prised to see me back so soon. I
explained to her that I had gotten a
cup from the front desk and didn’t
have to make a trip home after all.
The woman then stuck the test
ing device into my urine sample.
“Have a seat, while we wait for
your results," she said.
I sat down in the chair opposite
her and we began a conversation.
"So, do you want to have a
child?" she asked with warmth in
James Mehsling/DN
her voice.
“No, I really don’t want a child at
this time," I answered. "Although I
lovechildren, I don’t think that I am
ready to have a child now."
Leaning over the desk and look
ing at me with true concern in her
eyes, the woman asked me what
would I do if I were pregnant.
“Well, I really don’t believe in '
having abortions, and if I were
pregnant and carried the baby the
whole nine months, I couldn’t even
see giving it up for adoption either,
so I guess I would just keep it."
I must have answered her ques
tion too quickly, because every
thing suddenly changed when the^
testing device result was positive^
Positively pregnant!
“Shanequa, well all the lines are
in the blue, so that would mean that
you are pregnant," the woman said.
All expression must have left my
face. I couldn’t remember anything
she said from that point on. I sud
denly became totally oblivious to
my surroundings.
Suddenly I remembered the
woman directing me to a back
room so we could talk.
The room was only steps away,
but my steps seemed to be slowly
reaching the room. It seemed like
ages before we entered the room.
“Well," the woman said, “do you
have any idea of what you are
going to do?"
“No. I really never thought of it,
because although I was nauseated
for weeks and hadn’t received a
visit from my Aunt Flow in a while,
pregnancy was the furthest thing
from my mind. I thought it was the
flu, or something," I said.
“How will your boyfriend feel?
Do you think ne wants a baby?" the
woman asked.
Linda Kay Maryan la a Junior broadcast
ing major and Diversions contributor.
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