Love Me Through The Pain

1: The Beginning

"There!" Elena exclaimed as Mark walked into their bedroom. "I finally unpacked the last box! We are officially moved in!" She beamed, turning towards Mark.
"Oh, baby, that's great!" He smiled widely and picked up Elena, kissing her all over her face. "It looks amazing!" He spoke as he laid her on their bed.

Elena and Mark has finally moved in together after almost two years of dating. Everything was going great for them - they had their own place, a dog named Bonnie and a cat named Nala. Elena had finally got accepted into nursing school, and Mark was starting up his senior year in business school. Everything seemed to be working in favor of them, and life couldn't be better.

Elena was a petite girl, although she did have a curvy frame. She had light brown / dirty blonde mid-back length hair. She had hazel eyes with brown spots near her pupil - something that Mark simply adored. She had light ivory skin - something she hated.

Mark was a tall, muscular man with an athletic build. His skin was the color of caramel, his eyes the color of milky hot chocolate. He had black hair, cut very short on the sides but left long on top.

"How are you feeling about senior year?" Elena asked Mark as they sprawled over the bed.
Mark simply sighed in response. "Nervous, honestly," He finally said after a minute of silence. "What if I can't find work after? What if all this is for nothing?" He frowned worriedly at Elena.
"Hey," Elena sat up, placing her hand gently on his chest. "This will not be for nothing. Most people don't find work right after graduating, but I bet you will!" She beamed down at him.
"You are so good to me," mark smiled up to Elena. "I don't know what I did to deserve you," he whispered as he kissed her hand.
"I am pretty amazing," she smirked.

Then everything started to spin.

Elena closed her eyes for a moment, trying to make the room stay still. She felt a pain in her lower left abdomen, again.

She had been dealing with painful periods for about ten years now, but lately they had become more heavy, prolonged - we're talking periods lasting 14 days or longer, bloating that makes her look 5 months pregnant when she had a flat tummy when she's not bloated, awful pelvic pain that radiated into her back and down her thighs and legs, bleeding when she's not on her period, pelvic pain when she's not on her period, and so much more that's probably a bit TMI. she had gone to so many doctors, but they all tell her the same thing. She's crazy. She has PMS. It's just a bad period. She has dysmenorrhea (painful periods). Irregular periods. Anxiety. Stress. Depression. They have all thrown countless birth controls at her over the past ten years, none of them helping. She didn't know what else to do. No one seemed to listen to her, or want to even help her.

Mark noticed when she tended up and closed her eyes. "Elena? Baby?" He spoke softly, his voiced laced with concern.