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Laura closed her eyes, getting ready to try again. When she opened them again a kind-faced young woman was there with a wheelchair.
“Come on, ma’am. We’ll take this back.”
She felt Rafe’s hand on her elbow helping her stand and she tried to give him a smile, but it turned out more like a grimace. Rafe leaned in and whispered, “It’s alright, Freckles. Let the doctors take care of you. I’ll be right here.”
She wanted to beg him to come with her but decided that was probably too much like something a boyfriend would do. Not a…what? Fuck buddy? She cringed at that though. Co-worker? Employee?
Ugh, yes. All of those things. Yeah, probably better if he just waited there.
In the back a nurse helped her to the bathroom and then onto an examination table. First, they took her blood pressure and temperature.
“High fever, one hundred and two point three.”
That explained the body aches.
They kept going, explaining every step as they went. It was still awful from the swab up her nose to the poke in her arm for blood.
All Laura wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep. Finally, it might have been minutes or hours later, a doctor came in and sat next to her.
“Good morning, Ms. Collins. I’m sorry to hear that you’re not feeling well. We’ve run a few tests, and it looks like you have the flu. Don’t worry, though. As long as you stay hydrated and rest, it shouldn’t hurt the baby.”
It took several seconds longer for his words to process. Her eyes popped open. “What baby?”
The doctor’s face would have been comical if she wasn’t so terrified of what he was going to say next.
“You’re pregnant, Ms. Collins. I’m so sorry. Didn’t you know?”
The shock seemed to have temporarily numbed her pain. “How far along?” she asked, even though she knew there could only be one answer.
“We would need to do an internal ultrasound to know for sure, but based on the bloodwork numbers I would say somewhere between six and eight weeks.”
Laura’s stomach rolled and if she’d had anything in it, she would have thrown up. As it was, she just heaved bile into the small basin the doctor held out for her.
“Have you been taking a prenatal vitamin?”
“No. I got the shot though. How can I be pregnant?”
The doctor frowned. “Unfortunately, no birth control is one hundred percent effective. Did you want to do the ultrasound today?”
“No,” she said, probably too fast, but she couldn’t deal with this right now. “What do I do for the flu?”
“Well, you can only take Tylenol. Other than that, rest and hydrate. It will take anywhere from three to seven days.”
This could not be happening. Eli was going to fire her before she really even got started. And now she was pregnant. Her first thought was maybe she shouldn’t keep the baby, but right now probably wasn’t the time to try to make that decision.
“Alright.”
“Do you want me to get your husband for you?”
Laura frowned. “I don’t have a husband.”
Surprise flashed across his face. “I’m sorry. I just assumed that…” He trailed off.
“Oh. Rafe. No, he’s just my…friend.” That seemed the safest way to describe him for now.
“Ok. Do you want me to go get him?”
“No. I’ll make it, thank you.”
