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When I come to, I’m laying on Thenzi’s couch, my feet propped up with a throw pillow. The girls are hovering over me, looking at me with wide and anxious eyes.
“You passed out,” Meg says. “Are you alright?”
“M’fine,” I say, trying to sit up. But the world is still swimming around me and I’m forced to lay back down from how dizzy I grow.
“You need to go home,” Lizzie insists. “You’re not feeling good and we can’t have you getting sick here.”
“Or worse,” Beth adds. “Falling from the wings of the stage.” I almost laugh at Beth’s sour expression and the ridiculous worry on her face but hold back when I see the anxiety in Cyra’s face.
“Don’t rush it,” Cyra says. “Here,” she gives me a glass of water, which I sip slowly and then sit up. The dizziness has passed, thankfully.
“Go home,” she says. “Maybe see a healer. Then come back when you’re feeling better?”
She’s probably right. I don’t want to miss work but if I see a healer, I can be back for Ris’ shift tomorrow.
I don’t want to miss seeing him.
Decision made, I get up slowly, with help from the other girls and head out. Lizzie tells me she’ll explain to the manager what happened and Cyra tells me to drink more water when I get home.
I take my time, letting my body rest as I make my way to the local healer’s shop. “Hello?” I call out, pushing the door open and letting the bells tinkle to signal my presence.
“Come in,” Healer Darla calls from the back. She pops her head from around the corner and smiles. I’ve been to her a few times before but not since I caught a cold last year.
“Hi,” I say, sitting down on a soft leather chair. “I need an appointment.”
“I’m with a patient but I’ll be done in a moment,” she says. I look down and gaze at the selection of reading materials on the table. There’s a few books and one pamphlet about ear care for elves.
Picking up the ear care pamphlet, I open it and read the detailed diagram on elven ears while I wait.
A young woman slips past me and Darla comes out from the back, wiping her hands on her apron. “Come, come,” she ushers me back with her.
I sit on her exam table and she asks why I’ve come in.
“I’ve been feeling a bit low lately,” I tell her as she begins to poke and prod at me, trying to figure out what might be wrong.
“So, what was the last thing you had to eat?” she asks.
“A few bites of dry bread this morning,” I tell her. “And an egg yesterday afternoon that I threw up.”
“Hmm,” she continues to examine me, listening to my heart with a little horn. “And what have you been drinking?”
“A few sips of water earlier, when I fainted. And yesterday I had a cocktail at work but I couldn’t keep that down either.”
“I see,” she nods absently.
“And I guess that’s it,” I tell her. What could possibly be wrong with me, I wonder. Why is it lingering like this? And what do I do to fix it?
She asks me a few more strange questions about my cycle and whether or not it’s regular – it’s never been completely regular – and how often I’ve felt sick or faint over the last few weeks – a half dozen times maybe? – before she sits on a stool and draws it closer to the table.
“Alright, I believe I know what’s going on,” Darla says. “I can’t be certain but I have a pretty decent idea. You’re pregnant, Sienna. And I think you might be about twelve weeks along. Much farther than I expected. I think your cycle being irregular is what threw either of us off.”
I gape at her, trying to process what she said. Pregnant? As in...with child? As in...pregnant?
“That also explains why you’ve been so sick lately too. Your morning sickness has been keeping you from eating or drinking normally. You’re a little malnourished and dehydrated, which is making everything worse. That’s probably why you fainted,” Darla explains.
I’m still stuck on what she just told me. Pregnant? My eyes must be huge right now because Darla places a hand on my shoulder. “You go home and rest tonight. I strongly recommend sipping water and sucking on these herbal drops. They’ll help with the nausea so you can get more food down. Take it easy the next few days.”
She hands me a little bag with what looks like candy pieces inside. When I take one out, instead of making me feel sick, it actually smells nice—a little bit like rirzed and gankoya root.
