Which meant she could be pregnant.
“I think you need to sit down.” Kiefer took hold of her shoulders and moved her onto her chair. “You’ve gone horribly pale. But you’ve looked pale all week. Do you think you’ve got a bug?”
He was going into mother hen mode. And it was actually welcomed for once.
“No. Just… do you think you could make me a cup of tea?” She thought for a moment. “Decaffeinated.”
“Decaff? I don’t think we’ve got any…”
“I’ll nip out and get some.” And go to the pharmacy. Because she needed to know. A million profanities swam through her head, intertwined with memories of her and Scott on that fucking dentist’s chair, or rather fucking on that dentist’s chair. She checked her phone again, aware that Kiefer was still watching her concerned.
Period.
When was her last period? Even when she had the implant, she’d had a light regular bleed.
Why hadn’t she remembered to get it replaced? Why hadn’t she thought? But time blurred and what happened with Scott had been so out of the blue.
She hadn’t had a period for seven weeks. If the implant had run out – and she was trying to kid herself thinking it hadn’t – than the dentist’s chair incident and that weekend after was when she’d been more fertile.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Kiefer looked pale himself now.
“Maybe I have got a bit of a bug. I’ll go grab some decaff tea and coffee and go to the pharmacy.” She needed to be on her own for half an hour, a chance to pull herself together; fortunately, she had a late lunch break – chance to get some fresh air and visit the pharmacy. “I’ll be fifteen minutes. Do you want anything?”
Kiefer shifted his mouth from side to side. “There’s plenty I want, I’m just not sure you can buy it in Severton. A bar of milk chocolate. Thank you.”
“No probs.”
Keren headed to the post office first, picking up the tea and chocolate and the latest gossip, most of it around the graffiti and the men who had tried to pull Lois, Lena’s sister, into the car. She half listened to the latest theories and suspect list, wondering at which point the Coven would construct Severton’s Most Wanted on their wall.
The pharmacy was generally busy, and today was no exception. It was owned and run by Hattie McNamara, although she was more than likely to be found on a cruise ship nowadays, so Beth, her daughter now oversaw everything that needed overseeing - which hopefully included the two pregnancy tests she was going to have to buy.
“Hey Keren!” Beth’s greeting was automatic as she walked in. A couple of pale looking Severton residents were there and Keren tried to stay to the other side of the shop because if she was pregnant she was not getting sick. This baby would be healthy.
Holy shit.
She felt herself pale, just not through illness.
“You okay?” Beth gave her a wide smile.
Keren nodded. “Can I have a word?” There was a partitioned room that could be used for private conversations. Beth would never disclose anything that was said, but it wasn’t just the walls that had ears in Severton: every piece of furniture did.
“Take a seat in the consult room. I’ll be there in five.”
Keren went in, closing the door securely behind her. She heard the buzz of chatter outside but it was her thoughts that were the noisiest. If she was pregnant, that meant in less than nine months she’d be on maternity leave. She’d need another dentist. If it was positive, Scott would be a father. She had no idea how he was going to react to that, especially because he knew she wanted kids and sooner rather than later. Was he going to think she’d trapped him? That she’d lied to him about her contraception?
“What’s the matter?”
“I need to take a pregnancy test.” All those questions might be irrelevant if she wasn’t actually pregnant, so first there was only one thing to find out.
“Do you want to do it here?” Beth’s tone was gentle, but there was an element of practicality to it. They had a bond: two females working in areas that were more male orientated. They were also both part of the Severton and Surrounding Areas Medical Committee and would often find a bottle of wine or several after those meetings.
“Yes.”
Beth nodded. “You know it’s going to be fine either way.”
Keren stared at the floor. “This just isn’t how I imagined it starting.”
“I don’t think it ever happens the way we imagine it. Two seconds.”
