“Just here,” she pointed to the shelf next to the sink, and Lilia plopped it down. While Lilia was busy washing her hands, Jess took out a dipstick, lowered it into the pot, and waited, counting to sixty in her head. She’d done this so many times with so many women, it usually just confirmed what she already knew.
As expected, two tiny lines appeared.
Lilia finished drying her hands as Jess dropped the dipstick in the wastepaper basket, rinsed the urine pot, then washed her own hands.
“Let’s go back to the writers’ room and sit down. You look like you need to,” she said, guiding Lilia back out of the bathroom with a hand on her back.
When they reached the writer’s room, she was relieved to see it still empty, everyone at lunch. Lilia returned to her seat at the table, looking exhausted, and Jess took the one next to her.
“Lilia, I did the test because I don’t think you’ve got a stomach bug.” She’d told dozens of women they’re pregnant, but most of them already suspected it. Or hoped they were. She’d had all sorts of responses to that little line in the test. Some women cried because they were finally getting the dream they’d longed for. Some cried because their fears had been confirmed. She’d never had to tell someone quite the news she was about to tell Lilia.
“The test shows you’re pregnant, Lilia.”
“What? No. Those tests can be wrong, though. False positive?”
“Well, it’s not just the test. I can hear…you’re probably about 25 weeks along or more.” Jess suspected closer to 27 or 28 weeks, but she didn’t want to freak Lilia out too much. “And your baby’s heart-beat is strong, but—”
“Wait, what the…? The heart beat of my baby?” Lilia flopped her head forward onto her arms on the table in front of her again. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she mumbled.
“Lilia, I hate to have to tell you this, but there’s more. We need to get you to a hospital. You’ve got all the symptoms of preeclampsia. There’s protein in your urine and your blood pressure is really high. That’s why you’re not feeling good.”
Lilia swore quietly, her face still up against the table.
“How is this…How did I?” she sat up now and stared at Jess. “I’m 25 weeks pregnant and I didn’t even know? How is that even possible?”
Jess wondered that herself. When she placed the stethoscope on Lilia’s stomach, she could feel the baby moving, so she had no idea how Lilia had ignored that, but she knew it happened.
“It’s called a cryptic pregnancy. It’s rare. I’ve never come across it before myself, but I’ve heard of a few. Did you notice that you’d missed your periods?”
Jess tried to read Lilia’s face to see if a baby was good or bad news for her and Dan, but she stared into the distance, wide-eyed and pale. Completely stunned, which was fair enough. That would be Jess’s reaction if she’d found out she was over halfway through a pregnancy. Her next reaction would be freaking out over who the father might be. Thankfully, this was Lilia’s predicament, not hers.
“My periods are so irregular and I’ve been so flat out with the show, I just assumed it was stress…” Lilia fell silent and Jess patted her hand, comforting her.
“It’ll be okay. Do you mind if I talk to Laney and we’ll get you to the hospital, okay?”
Lilia shook her head, still wide-eyed. “I don’t want to tell Laney, yet.” she said. “It’ll stress her out. She’s already had a messy day today.”
Jess blushed. Messy partly because of her. But she’d have to tell someone. They couldn’t both just disappear. Laney expected them on set this afternoon, but she also needed to make sure Lilia was safe. Preeclampsia could be dangerous for both mum and bub, and wasn’t something to take lightly. Nate was a doctor, so he’d know to keep things confidential.
“I’ll be back soon.” Jess left Lilia resting and headed for Nate, still waiting in the hallway.
She hadn’t told Nate’s secret to anyone yet and would prefer not to, but now might be the time for Nate to reveal the real doctor behind the T.V. one. Terrified she might be replacing herself, she remembered Laney mentioning several times how important the next scene was. She’d helped with Sarah’s role, Nate might just have to help out with hers.
She crossed her fingers and hoped she’d have a role to return to when she got back.
14
WHEN JESS ASKED HIMto fill in for her on set as a consulting medical professional, Nate almost spat out a blunt refusal, but with a preeclampsia situation, he knew he had no choice. Lilia was lucky Jess was so good at her job. It could have been a dangerous situation otherwise.
Still, revealing his secret made him apprehensive. If he let it be known he wasn’t just playing a doctor, it left him wide open to a barrage of questions.
The crew were a friendly bunch. He enjoyed their company, but they also favoured gossip, and he was the new guy. He’d already dodged most questions about his background, which he knew they’d put down to his reserved English nature. But this would give them fresh material to speculate on. A successful career in medicine and a fancy London apartment? Why would he leave that behind? This wasn’t exactly a Hollywood gig.
He could keep playing it cool, playing the shy guy card, or open up and talk about the real reason he was in New Zealand, running away from his life. Was he ready for that? Not really. It was another reason he wanted the cottage to himself so badly; it helped him avoid excess conversation about his break-up and his failed life plans.
But Jess had helped him out, both with the scene and with being flexible about the cottage; the least he could do was return the favour.
It might feel good to be honest with everyone. Lying kept him at a distance and, in many ways, it had been hard to keep up the false pretences. He’d already made mistakes a few times in conversation, letting it slip that he’d worked in a hospital or talking about some medical detail with too much knowledge. He was constantly overthinking and watching what he said.
