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“Dehydration,” her doctor, a middle-aged woman with dark hair and nice smile lines, had told us once she was admitted. “I’m pretty sure it’s as easy as that. Happens in her line of work a lot. I do want to run a couple of tests, though, just in case.”
We’ve been waiting for these tests for a while, relegated to the waiting room to let Stella rest and stay out of the way of the doctors.
“Mr. Banks?”
Colin and I both flip around to face the source of the voice, a spritely little nurse with a pixie cut.
“Not me –” I say and then point at Colin. “Him.”
“Gotta go,” Colin mutters into his phone and then hangs up. “Yeah, me, I’m Mr. Banks.”
“Then you must be the daddy!” she says with a giggle and a big grin.
I blink at her. I’m not even sure I understood the string of words that came out of her mouth. “What?”
The nurse’s eyes widen. “Wait, you didn’t know? I thought you already knew!” She puts her hands against her cheeks in shock. “I’m so sorry, I –”
“I need to sit down,” Colin says, his voice cracking.
Then you must be the daddy…is Stella pregnant?
I glance back at my friend, who has his head between his knees. He might be the next one to pass out. Then I look at the nurse. “She’s pregnant?”
“Kathy!” Stella’s doctor rushes out from around the corner. “You did it again, didn’t you?”
“I’m sorry, Frances sent me to get them, I didn’t know – I thought they were worried about the baby, I thought it was –”
Their argument fades into the background as I stand there and let the news sink in.
Stella’s having a baby. My baby. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Whatever the reaction is, it’s one from a place of joy. Joy I can’t quite understand or comprehend right this second. Not as long as I don’t know where Stella and I stand.
“I’m sorry, she never should have said anything. There’s patient confidentiality, you understand, and –” the doctor says to me hurriedly.
“Can I see her?” I ask. I don’t care how I found out. That’s not important anymore. All that matters is getting back to Stella.
She sighs. “Room five-thirty-two.”
I nod back at Colin. “Could you keep an eye on him?”
“Oh God, he doesn’t look good,” the doctor mutters, already gravitating toward her next patient.
I wind through the halls to room five-thirty-two. The door is ajar. I stand there for a moment, trying to steady my breath.
My whole life might be about to change. Terrifying and… exciting.
I knock softly.
“Come in,” Stella answers in a small voice.
I push the door open and poke my head in. “Hey.”
Stella’s eyes widen. “Oh, I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I can go if you –”
“No, don’t. Please.” She gestures toward the lone chair beside her bed. “Come sit. If you want.”
I walk over to the chair and sit down, immediately groaning. “Man, they keep making these things more and more uncomfortable, huh?”
