Lustrate:Chapter 1: Oh, What a Beautiful Day

Inhale, exhale, pain…

I have never been more aware of my body then I am right now.



Inhale, exhale, pain…

I can tell you the exact circumference of my right pinkie toe and the depth of my left ear canal.



Inhale, exhale, pain…

I can feel it all; everything and what I feel is…



Inhale, exhale, pain…



I can hear hushed voices and struggle to open my eyes…or rather use my eyelashes to drag away the bricks someone has left sitting on my pupils.

This was a mistake.



Inhale, exhale, pain…

Now my eyeballs hurt as well.

The pain has erased my ability to focus. So I zoom in, zoom out, zoom in until like grandpa’s hunting binoculars the images get less fuzzy.

I hear the beeps and see the white coats.



Inhale, exhale, pain…

I think ‘hospital’. I must have thought it out loud because a taller white coat moved towards me and confirmed, “Yes Ms. Darwal, you are in a hospital.”

I ask, “Why?”

The coat begins again, “Well, I can tell you why you are here but now ‘why’ you are here.” He said ‘why’ differently each time.

“Any why.” I say.

“Simplest answer;” he states, “allergies.”



Inhale, exhale, pain…

“Hurts more than allergies.” I kinda gurgle out. The white coat chuckles. “funny?” I ask.

“No, not funny.” He apologizes, ”But you are becoming a medical legend Ms. Darwal. You are currently presenting symptoms of every non-lethal allergic reaction ever recorded by medicine. How you are not dead is, in itself, unfathomable. However, we do think that you are improving. You are no longer experiencing the projectile vomiting and diarrhea that you were earlier. The swelling of your eyes have lessened and the blisters on your palm and the bottoms of your feet have all stopped weeping.”

“Everything…all…pain” my voice is not much more than a grunting hiss at this point. I hoped he was able to hear the question through it all.

“yes, well…”he began as he flipped through the charts in his hand, “you do still currently have dry, oozing cracking skin and lesions covering about 97% of your body. So, yeah you might feel a little discomfort. So the less you move the better. Also there has been some hair loss as well I'm afraid.”

“Discomfort?” I ask. He begins to speak again, but all I know is…



Inhale, exhale, pain… …pass out.