Harry sometimes wonders what life would be like without this ever-present, maddening itch that's worked its way underneath his skin; pricking like light touches of needles that he has to constantly scratch at until he bleeds before it lessens into something faintly more manageable. He's only allowed a minute or so of relief when the feeling will come rearing back and thrum through his body until he sets out on a new patch of pristine skin.
Wonders even now while he absentmindedly taps his caloused fingers against ugly, bright bruises that if he wasn't forced to trap himself in his bathroom, slumped against his tub in front of the mirror on the back of the door for hours on end due to this sickness that has claimed him it's victim...if he could ever know what normal feels like. He pulls sharply at his curly hair, only furthering it's disheveled and unruly appearance, as his breath becomes hitched and ragged; his wild green eyes train in on the blood welling up beneath his dull fingernails. The resulting streams staining his pale body and the white tiled floor a carmine red. He hisses as he rips at the unmarked skin near his left hip, stretched taut around the bone in a gruesome, noticeable way and lets out a pleasured sigh at the burn that spreads throughout the area. His teeth nip at his bottom lip and his fingers twitch at the reflection glaring back at him, all rough lines of old scars and blood caked over his stomach and thighs.
His eyes shut while he attempts to push himself up, hands leaving prints on every surface they touch, and grips so tightly to the counter that the soft pink color of his long fingers turn white while his shaky legs regain some of their strength. He grits his teeth and snuffles, waiting out the dizzine...
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...runching his face up in hopes of keeping the wetness gathering in his eyes from falling, he lets the voice in his head tell him that he deserves this, deserves to feel pain, deserves to feel helpless, suffering in his own demons and unable to tell anyone in his desire to be saved.
Glancing on last time, he makes his way to his shower and turns the hot water all the way up until it was scalding, as he always does, the water hot enough to burn at his skin in an unconscious attempt to wash everything away. It manages to make him feel somewhat lighter every time he got out of the shower, if only for a little while.
He steps in and sighs at the water hitting his muscles and flushing his skin pink; his head dropping forwards and shoulders slumping as it cascades down his back, turning pink as it runs across his skin and forms a little puddle before going down the drain.
The article, The Itch, by Atul Gawande follows a woman who has a constant itching feeling in her scalp. Her life started out normal but after a few unfortunate events she now has “the itch”. This itch has caused her to become partially paralyzed in the left side of her body. She has even scratched through her skull overnight because the sensation is too overpowering. The explanation of her itch follows
...sees is death around him. He begins to wonder how easy it would be to give up, but he doesn’t.
I stared into his face, feeling a sense of outrage. His left eye had collapsed, a line of raw redness showing where the lid refused to close, and his gaze had lost its command. I looked from his face to the glass, thinking he's disem...
The patient was more beautiful than she realized. If only she could see it for herself. The color from her dainty face had drained to a sickened green tint and her eyes widened in fear. The walls of the clinic exam room were ordained in calming colors, but offered the young woman no comfort. She continued to blink rapidly as if she would awaken from the nightmare; her long eyelashes could not fan the health worker’s words away. She thought it was harmless, just a night of fun. It made her feel valuable and attractive. Yet being desired now left her alone, crumpling to the floor screaming between sobs and desperately reaching to the empty air around her. She couldn’t grasp any security. Not only did that harmless night of fun result in her becoming
then watches, with an excitable evil in his eye, as his human pyres go up in
wheelchair as she walks down the steps. Morris closes his eyes, mouthing out a prayer.
“Please, sir, dip thy finger in water and quench my parched tongue. I am in agony in this fire,” The man cried out, clinging to Beatty like a lost child.
He starts to believe that what is happening to him is not what the “real” God would do. He starts to question why God is letting these terrible events happen to him, and even starts to question if God is even real. “For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent.
from his throat”, which tells us that he is fighting back emotion and maybe even a few tears
from under his feet,he starts to think of alternative ways in which he can be saved from
In complete horror, he swims hastily up to sea level, however, as soon as he submerges his airways were parched and immediately
This description of the English patient's body is gruesome and confronting; it addresses the theme of pain, the construction of identity, and of course the physical evidence of his tortured past, which the reader learns more about as this imagery develops. It is almost as if his body is a landscape; a war zone onto which all evidence of suffering is mapped.
The nerves are raging, mainly in his stomach as the butterflies flutter till no end. "Is everything ok? Will everything go as planned?" He couldn't stop thinking about what might happen. Images were racing wild as he thought about his teammates going to battle without him. He couldn't comprehend why he had to let them handle it on their own. He has played with them since they were in eighth grade, and when they need him the most, all he can do is sit and cheer. He hates this feeling of helplessness, but at the same time he knows he has to do what little he can do, well.
goes to wash up. The narrator suggests to the other guests that their host has been