House Plant
Once the shock loosened its grip and the ceiling faded back into view, Yara slowly lifted herself up from the cold tiles of her kitchen floor and made her way to the bathroom mirror. Her elbows and the side of her left thigh felt sore, but the pain became an afterthought when the light revealed an unrecognizable face staring back at her. There was a large, red ovular print that ran across from her brow to her lips. Her nose seemed crooked and blood strokes were painted around it. Yara gently lifted her fingers to her cheek, daring not to ruin the way every mark lay on her face. Even the way her tears had trickled their way down like a gentle stream seemed eerily beautiful in that moment. Everything fell still and silent as if time had frozen, but the microwave quickly reminded her it was 2:12 on a warm October morning, and Yara knew she should probably go to the emergency room.
She took one of her make-up remover wipes from the drawer and gently wiped away the blood under and around her nose. She grabbed her keys and wallet, threw her laptop into her purse in case the waiting room took too long, and walked to her car. The drive was oddly peaceful with its empty roads and synchronized, flashing yellow lights. She knew the hospital closest to her was always terrible with their service, so she decided to drive the extra twenty minutes to the one by her parents’ house where Yara was born 28 years ago. As she was driving, she picked up her phone and looked through her “favorites.”
“I should really call someone,” she said to herself.
Her finger hovered over her sister’s name, “Aleeah 📚💗🏖️,” who was four years younger than her. She would be the best person to call right now. She was always level-headed, understanding, and solution-oriented. When they still lived together, she knew where Yara would misplace her phone before Yara could even finish asking where it was. But she was probably asleep and Yara was ashamed of having to lean on her little sister for something this serious. The next name she saw was her youngest sister, Bailey. Bailey didn’t always know what to say but her presence always made Yara feel safe. However, they had been arguing a lot lately and again, Yara felt a tinge of shame for even considering calling her. She scrolled past some more names then eventually put her phone away. There was no point bothering someone so late for something she could take care of, especially because she would eventually have to explain how she got to this point. She didn’t want to worry anyone.
The bright, red “emergency room” sign on the hospital in the distance began drawing closer as Yara sped up to make the light for her final turn towards her destination. She parked the car, grabbed her purse, and walked through the automatic doors towards the front desk.
“Hello, I’m looking for the emergency room,” she said to the older gentleman standing at the desk. He had kind eyes and a well-ironed uniform that just made it over his midsection.
“Yes ma’am, sit right here for me,” he said as he brought out a wheelchair. “I will take you right there.”
The wheelchair seemed so unnecessary to Yara. She just wanted to get into a hospital room with as few people seeing her as possible. The man seemed eager to be helpful, though, so she complied with a smile and let him wheel her to a check-in room at the back of the hospital.
The room was divided into cubicles with curtains to conceal each section. Yara was wheeled into one of the cubicles at the end, where she was met by a young, Korean nurse with pin straight hair and bright blue Crocs.
“You take care of her now,” the man said to the nurse before he walked away to find the next patient he could share his gentle kindness with.
The nurse began checking Yara’s vitals as she asked her for her name and date of birth so the scribe could print her hospital band. Then she came to the question Yara was dreading answering.
“So tell me what happened.”
“Well…umm…my friend and I got into an argument and he gets mad sometimes when he drinks,” Yara said nervously. It didn’t even feel like she was talking about herself.
“I’m so sorry that happened,” the nurse responded. She spoke with empathy but with little inflection in her voice as if trying not to make this a big deal, which Yara appreciated. “Would you like for us to involve the police?”
Yara sat silently before responding. She didn’t want to involve the police. She didn’t want Aidan to get into more trouble than was necessary. She just wanted to make sure her nose wouldn’t be crooked forever and then get enough sleep to go to work tomorrow. These thoughts competed with another voice in her head reminding her that this wasn’t the first time something like this happened; it was just the first time she needed medical attention. Maybe involving the police would make her feel safer. But was she ready to deal with all that?
Yara shook her head, and the nurse kept wiping and dressing her wounds. After a few more minutes Yara was directed to the general waiting room, where she pulled out her computer to finish lesson planning for the Algebra 1 class she would be teaching in several hours.
Yara made sure to keep her head down so the other patients in the waiting room would not see her face. She felt silly coming to the hospital as she looked around at her companions in the room. One lady was moaning in pain as her daughter held her to calm her down. Another lady was hooked up to an oxygen tube, leaning against the wall trying to sleep. Yara’s injuries felt so minor compared to what other people had come to heal from. She had been waiting for 47 minutes now, and decided it would be the best use of her time to just go home and ice her face. Yara slipped away quietly back to the parking lot, started her car, and began driving back home to the sounds of flashbacks from the night cutting through the silence.
She remembered winding down for bed earlier that night, scrolling through her phone as the lights from the city glimmered through her apartment window. She was already asleep when a call from an unknown number woke her up. She ignored it and went back to sleep. The phone ran again.
Yara battled between frustration and worry, eventually permitting the latter to guide her to answering.
“Before you hang up, hear me out, please. I got you a surprise and I’m on my way to give it to you,” she heard Aidan say over the phone.
“Aidan, it's late. Please don’t come right now. I’m going to sleep,” Yara responded.
“You don’t even have to answer the door, I’m just going to leave it outside,” Aidan said before he hung up.
Yara laid back down but she was now wide awake. The fear-laced dopamine gripping her chest was all too familiar. Each second that passed felt like years until she heard a frantic knock at her door. Yara pretended to be asleep. Aidan knocked again, this time calling her name out. The sound of his voice prompted her to get out of bed before she even registered what she was doing.
Yara walked towards the door as the knocking and yelling continued. Worried her neighbors would file a complaint, she cracked the door open and peeked out at Aidan. He was grinning from ear to ear like a kid in a candy shop while holding a large potted plant.
“Girl, hurry and let me in! I just stole this for you from across the street and the security guy is looking for me!” Aidan exclaimed as he shoved his way through the door into Yara’s apartment.
He began telling the story of his escapade and setting up the plant in her living room, but his voice seemed to fade away as Yara stood watching him. Suddenly he turned to her and leaned in for a hug. Yara immediately put her hands up and jumped back.
“No. I need to sleep. I have work tomorrow,” Yara said sternly. Exhaustion started to kick in but Aidan looked hurt.
“But I saw this and thought of you, and went through all that trouble to get it for you,” he replied.
Yara felt guilty diminishing Aidan’s excitement, but she knew if she let Aidan stay longer she would be late to work again tomorrow.
“Aidan, please, you said you’d give me space, remember?” Yara looked up sheepishly as Aidan’s eyes shifted.
A cloud seemed to cast over his face as his fists clenched. What he said after was already a blur, but Yara remembered Aidan picking up her remote from the coffee table and throwing it across the room. He ran towards the kitchen island and began throwing her soap dispensers as well. Aidan then noticed her Google Home device and yelled,
“I’m taking this then since you’re so ungrateful for anything I do for you!”
“Take it then,” Yara yelled back, “I don’t care!”
Aidan’s anger built even more as he lunged at Yara and grabbed at her phone that was in her hand. Yara gripped onto it tightly and ran into her bedroom. Aidan chased after, finally grabbing a hold of her ankle. Yara tripped and fell forward as Aidan dragged her closer and pinned her to the ground, trying to take her phone again. Yara used every ounce of strength to slip out and ran back to the kitchen behind the island. Aidan followed and was able to catch up to her once again. He wrestled her back onto the ground and pinned her, face up, in a way Yara knew she would not be able to slip out again.
“I give up. I give up,” Yara pleaded.
She felt so powerless. Pathetic. Small. Aidan quickly stood up over Yara with a smirk of victory. He lifted his right leg, and with all the force he could muster, stomped on Yara’s face. Yara heard a crack as the whole world turned black and silent, and the shock froze her still. As her vision returned, she saw Aidan unplug her Google Home, stuff it in a plastic bag he grabbed from under the sink, and run out the door.
Yara finally arrived home from her drive and parked her car in the parking garage. She unlocked her apartment door to grab a Zip-Loc bag from her pantry. She filled it with ice as the last bits of energy left her body and plopped into her bed. As she iced her face and her body started to shed its adrenaline, she could feel every ache from the fight earlier creeping in. The entire night felt surreal, almost like it never happened. How am I going to introduce exponential functions in a fun way tomorrow? Yara thought to herself.
