Age 16 - Part 3

A few days later, Izzy was helping at Doc Porter’s office. She was stocking a cupboard when she suddenly bent over, clutching her side.

“Are you alright?” The doctor asked in a clinical tone.

“Yeah,” Izzy said dismissively. “I’ve just been getting stomach aches lately when I drink that tea.”

“What tea?” Doc Porter asked cautiously.

“You know - the one that prevents pregnancy,” Izzy explained, surprised that there could be any misunderstanding.

Doc Porter gave her a concerned-adult look. “Izzy, have you been drinking that tea regularly?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Izzy said. “Every month after circuit.”

Doc Porter put her hand to her head. “Izzy, no. No, no no! You can’t abuse medications like that. It will damage your insides - not just your female parts, but your other organs, too - your liver, kidneys. Never more than once a year, you understand me? Any time I ever give you a medicine, it’s temporary unless I say otherwise. Do you understand?”

Izzy became genuinely fearful. She had finally found a life without Dante and her former friends. She couldn’t bear to lose it, too. “But then how will I...? I don’t want to have a baby. But...?”

Doc Porter hugged her. “It’s okay to like sex,” she explained. “You’re supposed to like it. I can’t officially condone lying to the Council, but that’s none of my business. There are other steps you can take to avoid becoming pregnant. I’ll teach you.”