Page 2 of Easy Reunion
Naked, with folds of fat falling over one another, I stand proudly for the room to see. This is the last time I’ll be like this—exposed, ready to be brutalized either by strength or words. When none come, I use the specialized step stool to climb onto the surgical table.
After getting me settled center on the narrow space, the anesthesiologist comes behind my head. I blink up at him hazily due to the drugs. “Kelsey, I’m going to put this mask on your face. When I do, I want you to tell me about the first thing you’re going to buy when you’re out of surgery.”
“Wait!” Everyone seems to pause in their frantic activity to listen. “Will you promise me something?” I feel tears I haven’t shed in years well in my eyes.
Dabbing at them with a tissue, he asks, “If I can.”
“Will you make me beautiful?” I choke out.
He shakes his head. “We don’t have to, because you already are. All we’re doing is enhancing what’s already there.” That’s sweet of him to say. I find myself relaxing. “Now, are you ready?”
I nod. The mask makes a hissing noise as it approaches my face.
“What’s the first thing you want to treat yourself to?” he reminds me to answer.
“Shoes,” I mumble, as lethargy settles over me. “Really expensive, super-sexy shoes. The kind I can’t fit…”
And as the medicine knocks me out, I know I’ll fit into a pair of store-bought shoes. Even if it’s to silently cheer in the face at every person who hurt me after I take on the world and conquer it.
Because from this moment on, there’s no looking back at the past.
