A Dash of Flare
At my last trip to the Emergency Room, the doctors just attributed the merciless pain I’d been feeling for a week in my neck and down my arm as just a manifestation of stress and anxiety. They ruled out a heart attack, but no x-rays. Just a dose of Dilaudid and an escort to the waiting area for my ride to pick me up. I felt like my mental health must have become so weakened that I was making it up or exaggerating my symptoms. I was scared of the pain, but more terrified it was all a product of my mind. That I was making myself sick somehow.