“You hit your head on the floor when you fainted.That’s what gave you a concussion.You were out for a few minutes.We gave you an MRI, and everything looks fine.”
“Do I have to stay here?”I don’t like hospitals; they make me nervous.Especially given my recent experiences.
“No, you don’t have to stay.You can go home today, but you’ll need a family member or friend to take you home.They also need to check on you for the next…forty-eight hours.”
“Okay,” I say, relieved I don’t have to spend the night in this place.A nurse comes in and hands him a chart.He thanks her and closes the door.
“Your other tests came back and everything is good; you’re perfectly healthy.”He pauses and looks at the papers he’s flipping over.“I see here you’re pregnant,” he says, looking at me for confirmation.I stare back at him.
“No, I’m not,” I tell him calmly.He needs to look again.
“Yes, you are,” he says again like it’s the truth.
I have to sing it to him so he can understand.“Nooo.”I point to the papers in his hands.“That’s a mistake, you need to run that test again.”
He closes the chart, and with a charming, unassuming smile says, “I guess this pregnancy is a surprise?”
There’s that word again!
“You are now with child.Congratulations.”
What the hell!!!
One minute I’m at work, the next I wake up in the hospital pregnant.Crazy.Unbelievable.Alone.What am I going to do?I’m pregnant.And I’m surprisingly calm.I gave the nurse the only name I could think of in this situation.Not Matt—it should have been him since we’ve been seeing a lot of each other lately.Oh, God.The nurse said she would come back with a prescription for me, and I should lie back and relax.
The door opens.I sit up, thinking it’s her.
“If you wanted to see me, all you had to do was call.I would have come, you didn’t have to go through such elaborate lengths.The hospital?It’s a bit much.”
There he is, well-dressed personified masculinity.
“Get over yourself,” I say, feeling a little awkward and self-conscious, seeing as we haven’t spoken a single word to each other since I told him I was done with his ass over two months ago.We smile at each other for a minute before he walks fully into the room.He drops into the bedside chair, His legs close to where mine are dangling off the bed.We’re silent for a while, not looking at each other.
“You all right?”
“I will be.”
“You scared the shit out of me.I was in the middle of a very important, albeit boring, meeting when I got a call saying you were in here with a concussion.”
“I’m sorry you had to leave your meeting for me.I shouldn’t have called.”
“Yes, you should have, you’re more important to me than any meeting.They’ll be fine without me.I was surprised I was the person you chose to call, though.”
“I would have called Ava, but she won’t be back from Nashville for weeks.I haven’t spoken to my family in months, except for Chris.You were next on my list.”
“Glad you called me.Hell, I’m happy I even made it on the list.The last time we were together was pretty heated.”
“I remember.It was a major blow out.I can’t recall us ever having one that bad,” I say, fidgeting with my gown as he clears his throat.
“I called you.I don’t know if—”
“I got every single one of your messages.Beyond my better judgment, I listened to one or two.”
“I was wrong for a few things I said—no, I was wrong for way more than afewthings.I let my anger and jealousy get the better of me, and I apologize.I know I was selfish, and I had no right, after all the shit you put up with and had to go through with me.You deserve better than what I was offering and bringing to the table for you to accept…I’m truly sorry.Please, is my apology accepted?”
“If you really mean it, I accept,” I tell him, watching what I would consider relief of some sort cross his face as he bites down on his bottom lip and nods his head.“But make no mistake, I was angry and beyond upset with the words you chose to throw at me.Since then I’ve had some time to think and I’ve cooled down some.”Besides, he wasn’t the only one throwing around words; I said some stuff I knew would set him off.An unexpected pregnancy puts things in perspective.If I wasn’t pregnant, I wouldn’t have called him, but I am, and that changes things.My feelings for him haven’t completely changed; I can’t shut those off overnight.We’ve always been friends, and he’s still the boy who fell in the mud with me.Who made me fall head over heels in love, and gave me my first kiss at thirteen.It was messy and real, just like us.
“I know I can’t take any of it back, but give me time.Time to show you I can change, I can be a better man.I can be the friend that you deserve.”
