The needle broke skin.

She remembers

There was a time before needles

a time when she was a princess, a good home, good family.

She presses on the plunger

The needle drops to the floor, mixing with other discarded trash. She feels more stable and in-control more there.

She looks around the house she grew up in, abandoned after her father's heart attack and death.

She picks up the discarded needle, places it in her insulin bag before leaving.

She remembers

How her dad was bigger than life, how he chased monsters from the closet. It was him and her against the world.

She remembers and regrets nothing