Page 125 of The Recovery Coach
“No way,” Dylan said.
“Way.”
His eyes widened, and a flush climbed his neck.He turned his attention to his phone.
Connor joined them a few minutes later and asked, “Waiting on Cassie?”
“Yeah,” Dylan said, still engrossed in his phone.
They waited and waited.Ten minutes passed.Twenty.
“I’m going to check on her,” Olivia said.
The locker room seemed empty.Cassie’s gear had been loaded into her pink hockey bag.Olivia almost missed the sniffles coming from the farthest bathroom stall from the door.She panicked, unsure what to do until she asked herself: What would Christina do?She knocked lightly.
“Honey, are you okay?”
Silence stretched, and Olivia could almost hear the girl thinking.
“No,” she whispered.
“Anything I can help with?”she asked.
“I don’t know.”
Olivia chewed her lower lip.“What’s going on, hon?”She kept her voice soft and gentle.
Cassie hesitated again.
“I promise, whatever it is, we can fix it.It can be between you and me.”
“My stomach hurts so bad.It’s like stabbing.And I’m bleeding.”
“That sucks,” Olivia said.
Cassie let out a shaky laugh.“Yeah.”
“Is this the first time?”
“Yeah.”
“I can walk you through it.Has your mom explained your period to you?”She dug around in her purse for a pad, which she handed to Cassie under the door.
“No.I learned what it is in school.So I know I’m not like.Dying.But my mom isn’t around.”
“That’s okay.Do you want a nurse explanation or a mom explanation?”
Olivia had received a nurse explanation that made no sense at the time.
“A mom one, please,” Cassie whispered.
Olivia talked Cassie through how to use a pad and a tampon.She explained the medical aspect but laced it with love and care, how she would have liked to have been told.
When Cassie opened the door, she celebrated with her, “Yay!You’re alive!”
Cassie laughed and wiped snot on the back of her arm.“There’s blood on my shorts.”
“Oh, yeah, that happens.”
