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She sighs heavily. Her head spun a bit at the thoughts overwhelming her head. She had stayed a little later than usual at school, trying to grade a few last-minute essays when Duke walked in. Fresh takeout from the diner down the street in his hands.
The smell wafted into the room before he did. Meatloaf or something if her olfactory senses were correct.
She stood up abruptly as the scent hit her, stomach rebelling. Putting a hand over her mouth she runs to the door where a wastebasket lay and she throws up stomach bile. She really hadn't been eating. Almost everything causes her discomfort, and she ends up in the trash bin or the toilet.
Duke puts the boxes on the desk. "That's it, Melody, we have to take you to the clinic; you throw up all the time and are obviously losing weight. Does anything else hurt you?"
He holds her hair back while she retches. Handing her paper towels from the takeout. She sits with her back against the wall, all sweaty and gross, unable to speak.
Duke brushes her hair back away from her face. “Come on, let's get you to the doctor, okay?”
She lets him lead her away from the classroom and into his truck. Her eyes drift shut as the movement lulls her to sleep. Startled awake, she realizes that Duke has carried her inside. "Jesus Christ Duke, put me down, I can walk."
He tucks her into a corner seat and goes to the front desk to check her in. It did feel nice to be taken care of— not having to think, and things just getting done.
"Okay, Melly, they are gonna take you back to ask you some questions. Do you want me to go with you?" Did she? Did she want him to go with her? As much as she may want him to take over, she can't.
"It's okay, Duke, don't worry. I’ll be fine answering questions on my own."
"Alright, I'm going to go back to school to throw away those take-out boxes and lock up. I'll be right back for you, though, ok? Don't leave without me." He implores.
"Thank you, Duke, I really appreciate it." She says genuinely.
The nurse asks her a series of questions. Routine stuff like medical history, family history, what her symptoms are, and for how long. Easy stuff.
Things got slightly more complicated when the nurse asked Melody about her menstrual cycle. Checking the cycle tracker on her phone, she noticed she hadn’t logged it for last month.
Her eyes go wide as she stares right through the nurse.
"I skipped last month.” The words rush out in a choked strangle. “My period, I skipped a month."
Her brain is going a million miles an hour. She can feel all the blood rush out of her face. This is not happening. This cannot be happening.
The room starts to fade, static taking over her vision as she feels the nurse stand up quickly, bringing a very sharp smelling wet wipe up to her nose. Her breathing returns to normal, sounds filtering in first, then her vision begins to clear.
"Do I have to ask if there is a possibility that you could be pregnant?" The nurse asks.
"No, you don’t have to ask. There is a definite possibility." Melody pulls her sweater closer around her body, willing herself to be swallowed up by the garment.
"When was the date of your last menstrual cycle? When was the last date you last had unprotected sexual intercourse?" The nurse sounds so mechanical in her questioning, as if the answers to these questions aren't going to alter her life completely.
She doesn't need the damn test to tell her.
Her dumbass is pregnant.
She goes through the motions in a daze. Urine test first. Surprise, surprise, it’s a baby. Blood test next, results in a week, but she doesn't need the results, it's pretty fucking obvious now.
The doctor gives her a prescription for prenatal vitamins and a rundown of her options. Duke walks up to her, having smooth-talked the nurse to let him in.
"Congratulations, Daddy!" Calls the nurse, a huge smile on her face. So much for patient confidentiality.
"What?" His wild gaze shoots across the room. Melody jumps up from her current position on the stupid plastic bed. She pulls him out of the clinic by the arm.
"I'll tell you in the car."
Melody
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