AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Oh God.My heart felt like it might beat out of my chest.
I left the pharmacy the second I paid. Once I was outside, the salty air calmed me down. I stood against the wall of the building, closing my eyes. The bag’s paper handles cut into my palm.
I took in deep breaths, inhaling slowly and exhaling even slower. This type of breathwork calmed the nervous system. I often made use of it when I tried to reassure my patients. I’d hold the animal as close as possible and practice it for a few minutes. The animal, sensing the change in my system, calmed down as well.
Opening my eyes, I rejoiced at the fact that I wasn’t light-headed anymore. I felt brave enough to head directly to Alan’s cart.
“Bonnie, it’s good to see you," he greeted me. "You seemed upset this morning.”
“I wasn’t feeling well. I was nauseous, and the smell of food made it worse. But now I’m great. Can I have something that could count as lunch?”
He winked at me. “I’ve been experimenting today. Made some mini quiches. I’ve had some requests for lunch food, and I make a mean quiche. Today I have two types: with cheese or spinach.”
“I’ll take one with spinach, please.”
He put it on a paper plate, carefully handing it over the counter. I realized just how starved I was when I bit into it.
“How is it?” Al asked.
“It’s really good.” It was delicious. On the plus side, it wasn’t making me sick. In fact, I felt much better once I finished it.
Alan beamed at me proudly.
That was all this was—I just hadn't eaten today. Of course I wasn’t feeling well.
Stop lying to yourself, a small voice said at the back of my mind as I stepped inside the clinic.
But I insisted on doing just that, lying to myself until my workday was over. I didn't dare take the pregnancy test while at work. I wasn't sure I’d find the courage to do it at all.
"Are you okay? You look a bit pale," Dante asked as we closed the clinic in the evening.
"Oh, I don't know. It's been a weird week," I admitted.
"You do seem a bit out of it. But I guess at least the weekend is coming, so you'll be able to rest."
"Yeah, true," I said. I was not looking forward to the weekend. I'd have far too much time with my thoughts.
I knew I'd procrastinate about the pregnancy test, but I wasn’t going to let that happen—I was going to do it tonight and rip off the Band-Aid. But I couldn't do it on my own. I simply couldn't.
My first instinct was to call my mom and ask her if she felt she was pregnant with me before any test told her, but I knew better than that. I doubted she even remembered. Instead, I texted my best friend, Ashley. I was proud that I’d finally convinced her to keep any profit the Airbnb made while I was away. It was a lot of work to welcome guests and to organize cleaning after they left.
Bonnie: Can we catch up this evening?
She answered right away.
Ashley: I thought you'd never ask.
Bonnie: Okay, talk to you in ten minutes.
I didn't want to call her in the middle of the sidewalk, and I still needed a moment to pluck up the courage to tell her what was going on. I walked home with my bag over my shoulder, clutching the paper bag with the medicine and the test to my chest. My thoughts flew to Travis. Despite having my number, he hadn't texted me since he left.
He seemed to mean it when he said he wanted to keep in touch, but this wasn’t the first time a man let me down. Mostly, I’d tried not to think about it. But to be fair, we’d had a one-week fling. I couldn’t complain.
As I stepped inside my bungalow, I put the bag with the medicine on my kitchen table, then called Ashley.
"Hi! Shall I pop open the bottle of chardonnay?" she asked.
I chuckled, as we'd done that a couple times—caught up on each other’s week while drinking the same wine.
