He nods. “You feeling okay enough to keep going?”
“Yeah,” I say, taking another sip of water. “Let’s go.”
The rest of the drive is quiet. All I can think about is what Alonso said. The chances of me being pregnant are slim. Innursing school, they always said it can take up to six months for your body to regulate after going off birth control, and I’ve only been off it for barely two. I stopped taking it after that conversation in the diner about baby names, after Mateo blurted them out. And before anyone thinks I didn’t tell him, I did. We both agreed it would probably take months before anything happened.
We pull into the hospital garage. Alonso finally breaks the silence. “I’ll hang out in the lobby for a bit, then hang out in the car.”
We get out. As we walk toward the ER, he glances at me. “Listen, Ness, if you need anything, you tell me. Okay?”
“I’m fine,” I say, even though I don’t feel it. I catch the nervous look on his face. “I promise I’ll let you know if something happens.”
“Okay.”
He heads to the waiting area while I go to the lockers. After I stash my things, I make my way to the desk where Lauren is sitting.
She swivels in her chair. “Hey, Vanessa. You okay? You don’t look great.”
“Yeah. I’m okay.”
“Is Mateo still on that trip?” she asks, and I know she’s trying to get me to open up. I want to, but I don’t know how much I should say.
“Yeah, he is.”
“Is that why that guy who looks like a model is in the waiting room?” She points toward Alonso.
“Yep.”
“Vanessa,” she says gently, “what’s going on?”
“Nothing. I just haven’t been feeling great the last couple days.”
“You’re that lovesick?” she snorts.
“No. But no one has heard from him in three days, soit’s probably nerves and stress. Or maybe just a badly timed stomach bug. But the model out there thinks I might be pregnant. And his name is Alonso, by the way.”
Lauren freezes. “Oh shit. Have you taken a test?”
“Test for what?” Tanner cuts in, walking up with a stack of charts.
Lauren mouthssorry.I take a breath and just say it. “I think I might be pregnant.”
“Oh,” Tanner says. “Well… do you want to find out?”
“I probably should.”
“I’ll get a test.” Lauren is already heading to the supply room. She comes back fast and presses it into my hand. “Here. And whatever it says, it’ll be okay. I’ve been there.”
“I know.”
I walk down the hall to the bathroom and lock the door. Sitting on the toilet, I stare at the test for a long second. “Might as well get it over with,” I whisper. I take it, set it on the sink, and wait the longest three minutes of my life.
Oh shit.
Oh fuck.
Two pink lines. Two bright, undeniable pink lines.
Holy shit, what do I do?
