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“Because you pestered me for an hour to get them for you.” Hawke laughs from the other room.
Groaning my protest, another wave of nausea hits, becoming the first sign that the vomiting won’t be too far behind.
“Do you want the ice cubes?” I hear him ask, his voice now louder.
Turning slightly, I can see Hawke leaning against the door jam.
“Yes, please.” I groan.
It’s as though this tiny little human growing inside me is picking and choosing the foods he or she likes and dislikes. This morning our little blob is rejecting the combination of pickles and chocolate ice cream I consumed last night. I knew it would come back to haunt me, yet I did it anyway.
Handing me the ice cubes, Hawke then turns to leave. It’s been the same morning routine since we returned home two weeks ago. My doctor is concerned the morning sickness may turn intohyperemesis gravidarum, so he suggested I chew on ice. I need to ensure I don’t dehydrate, but it’s been hard with the constant vomiting I’ve been suffering night and day. I’m hoping doc is correct and it only lasts a few more weeks. I don’t think I can do this every day for the next seven and a half months.
“I have to head into the office, darlin’. Will you be okay?” Hawke calls from whatever room he is currently occupying.
“I’ll be fine; just go,” I reply.
“Love you, Em,” I hear him say as he leaves.
Regardless of how I’m feeling, I never tire of hearing him say those two little words.
“Okay,bebe; it’s time for your momma to get dressed.”
* * *
“Miss Emily, you look absolutely radiant this morning.” Mary greets me as I enter my office.
Surely, she is just trying to make me feel better as I feel like I’ve just been pulled from the pits of hell.
“You’re just saying that Mary, but thank you,” I reply.
“You look a little pale, but other than that, you look stunning,” she comments. “Are you still finding it hard to stay hydrated?” I hear her ask.
“Yes,” I solemnly confirm.
Sitting on the edge of Mary’s desk, I tell her that I’m eating ice chips, but it feels like I’m losing more fluid than I’m consuming.
“Have you considered trying to eat small amounts of fruit during the day?” She inquires.
Shaking my head, I tell her that I haven’t.
In her motherly voice, Mary tells me that most of the fruits we consume are as rich in water as they are in natural sugar, and maybe they would help keep me hydrated. I’d never considered introducing more into my diet, but I’m happy to give anything a go at this stage. Thanking my amazing receptionist for her motherly advice, I enter my office to prepare for my first patient of the day.
Grabbing the file Mary has placed on my desk, I review the notes on Erika Nowak. Erika is a twenty-year-old girl who was brutally raped at a college frat party and now suffers from a dissociative identity disorder. It’s been a long time since I’ve treated anyone so young, and I’ll admit I was hesitant, but she was referred to me by a colleague, and I couldn’t say no. Today will be her initial consultation with me, which has been fast-tracked due to her father and her case's severity.
The notes in Erika’s file state that her father is a Polish diplomat based at the Polish Embassy in Los Angeles. The file is thicker than I’d normally receive, but it’s no surprise seeing as my colleague from LA completed all the observations noted. From what I could gather at our meeting last week, she’d done the initial treatment when Erika was first admitted to the hospital as a personal favor to her father. They’d believed she would be relocated to LA upon her release, but Erika refused to leave Virginia until she finishes studying, which is why the case has been referred to me.
Continuing through the notes, I learn that Erika had been seeking anonymity while here in the US. She wanted to study Public Relations but didn’t want the stress of living in the public eye, so her father granted her permission to look at West Virginia University. From what I can see in her file, she has been living on campus for the last two years, and everything went well up until three months ago.
As I flick through the police report, it reads like a novel. Erika and two college dormitory friends were invited to a party at one of the fraternities on campus. One of the girls was dating a frat brother, and the three girls had regularly attended their parties.
Nothing unusual so far.
Erika states that the three of them had just arrived at the party when her friend’s boyfriend handed them each a beer. Her memories become foggy after that, and she has no recollection of how the night ended. According to the boyfriend, once he’d given the girls their drink, he took his girlfriend to his room for sex, and they were gone for at least an hour.
The second friend stated that she and Erika talked with some cheerleaders for a while until she was asked to dance. She asked Erika if she was okay, to which Erika told her to go as she’d stay with the girls they’d been talking to. It would be a while later when she saw Erika talking to one of the other frat brothers. It wouldn’t be until the following morning, when Erika hadn’t returned to their dorm, that her two friends became worried and contacted campus police. Erika’s naked body was found three hours later, hidden in bushes not far from the fraternity they’d been at the previous night.
Guilt was what drew an admission from one of the cheerleaders after she’d learned of what happened to Erika on that fateful night. As told by the guilty party, what transpired was that Erika’s attack had been premeditated and fueled by jealousy. One of the other cheerleaders had discovered the boy she had her sights on was planning on asking Erika to be his girlfriend.
