I told her that it hurt really bad and pointed to the spot on my lower right side. Rick glanced at me in the rearview mirror and asked if we were doing the appendicitis act now. I told him I didn’t know and that I just needed help.
He turned out of the school parking lot and told Meredith that my father used to do the exact same thing. Rick loved to bring up Harrison Fletcher whenever he felt like he had me cornered. He treated my biological father like a genetic flaw that I was failing to overcome.
He told a story about how my dad would get a small ache and act like the world was ending. My mother gave a small, cold laugh and agreed that Harrison was always very dramatic. I stared at the back of her head while my pulse thundered in my ears.
I told them that I needed to go to the hospital. Chloe groaned loudly and asked if I was serious. Meredith looked over her shoulder and warned me that I had better not be doing this for attention.
The words were so familiar that for a moment, I actually started to doubt myself. I wondered if I was just being weak or if I had actually overreacted to a minor injury. I questioned whether the pain was truly as bad as it felt in that moment.