“You sure you’re okay?” he asked quietly. I glanced at him, and I could tell that he knew. He knew that I wasn’t okay, but it wasn’t from the physical fall. It was from a different kind of fall, the kind that was going to drain me dry. This feeling was the world’s longest blood draw. A needle sucking out my life force, after a nurse spent an agonizing amount of time poking and prodding, looking for a usable vein. I was bruised, sore, and weaker than ever, and I didn’t even get a consolation prize in the form of a cute Band-Aid to patch me up.
