Reading: "Orcales Mysterium" from the novel 'EVENFALL OF THE HELICAL' (A.Glass 2022)

 

“Those two pills are very quick in calming your nervous system, now Ms Adalyn, your blood test came back and there are two things I need to discuss with you rather than referring the test to your own Doctor, one, cocaine residue showed up in your blood.”

“Yeah, I'm a user,” Camila replies, looking at the Doctor, her expression calm.

“Are you a regular user?”

“Yes”

“Today?”

“I did a line, this afternoon after my boyfriend left me.”

“Cocaine, as you are aware is a stimulate and a very intense one, which will lead to an increase heart rate and panic attacks. The more you use over time the worst it will become. I can refer you to a user help group, but I would recommend that you discuss seeing a psychotherapist with your Doctor for the anxiety...”

“Maybe,” Camila replies, looking at the light above, which is flickering slightly.

“...The other issue with your blood test is that you are pregnant.”

Camila, points her head down, checking her fingernails, staring blankly at her hands.

“You weren't aware?” The Doctor says.

“Kinda,” Camila replies.

“Have you told your partner?”

“My last boyfriend, no, I don't think it was him, could have been the guy before that, the soldier.”

The Doctor studies Camila's responses, seeing that, despite the Diazepam pills calming her, there is indication of residual psychiatric issues.

Camila looks at the young emergency Doctor with a smile. “I'm better now,” she says, as the Doctor and her stand.

“I'll discharge you, with a letter for your own Doctor, however, I would like you to make an appointment with your physician as soon as possible.”

“Thank you. I will,” she replies.

“Please take a seat in the outpatients and the head nurse will have the letter and referral for you.”

Camila nods and makes her at to the main seating area of the hospital.

Later that afternoon, Camila sitting at a reading table within the Philosophical Research Society library in Los Feliz, looking around at the Nineteen Thirty Four Art Deco interior and the thousands of books that line its shelves, feeling relaxed, she looks down at a book that she has picked from the book shelf, titled: Synthesis and Magic. Emblems from the Seventeenth Century Renaissance of Medieval Occultism.

“Dad, used to take me here...” She says quietly to herself, whilst closing her eyes, inhaling the scent of the books surrounding her and for a moment she detects the cologne her father used to wear, the citrus and wood notes opening her eyes slightly and in a pleasant way she continues breathing in the scent through her nose, “...I can still smell him.” She looks down at the book, opening the front cover and in a childlike way studies the images, akin when she was a young girl and how she would sit for hours on her own, in a studious way analyzing the pictures of the books, studying all their layouts, while remembering every detailed line and image.

“I miss you so much,” she says to herself, yet she doesn't feel the sadness of loss, rather her attention remains solely focused on the images within the book.

___

Reading:  "Orcales Mysterium" from the novel 'EVENFALL OF THE HELICAL' (A.Glass 2022)