EruditePark

  Opeyemi's Pain Management Short story Opeyemi winced as the needle pricked her skin, the cold metal pushing medicine deep into her veins. She had been dealing with chronic pain for years, a relentless throb that wrapped around her body like a heavy blanket. It started with a car accident when she was 25, a momentary distraction that left her with a crushed leg and a spine that never healed quite right. Since then, the pain had become her constant companion, an unwelcome shadow trailing her through every day. At first, she thought she could push through it. Painkillers, therapy, meditation—each method felt like a temporary quick-fix over a deep wound. Some days, the ache was dull, like a distant storm, muffled far enough away that she could almost ignore it. But on the bad days, it hit her like a freight train, paralyzing her with its intensity. Today was one of those bad days. She sat in the doctor's office, waiting for her pain management specialist to explain the next s