My knuckles had turned white from how tightly I was gripping the metal rail of the hospital bed. Tears streamed down my face as my best friend and a nurse held my legs apart, while another nurse carefully inserted gauze into my vagina in an attempt to stop the bleeding. The pain was sharp and overwhelming, but even stronger than the physical pain was the fear. I couldn’t understand how something that was supposed to be intimate, meaningful, maybe even a little awkward, had turned into a full-blown medical emergency. Everyone always says you’ll remember the first time you have...
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