“Hey, Jessie. Sorry about that wait. What brings you in today?” Dr. Jake Rahni sat on the stool next to her and rolled towards his laptop.
“I’ve just been feeling awful this last week. Really tired. A bit dizzy. I don’t want to be serving at the diner if I’ve caught something. But I don’t have a fever or a cough.”
“Alright. Let me listen to your lungs and heart, and we’ll go from there.”
Jake stood, his stethoscope sliding off his neck.
“So, how are things at thediner?” he asked.
“Good. Busy. My mom is trying to pull back on the hours she works. So I’m trying to step up as much as I can.”’
“That’s got to be stressful.”
She just shrugged. “It’s not like things aren’t usually stressful. I’ve got diner duties, I’m taking business classes at night, and helping Lachlan with his shop. I make dinner on Saturday nights for Colt so I can make sure he isn’t falling back into the depression he dealt with after his divorce, and don’t even get me started on ranch duties. Now that my dad is wanting to turn the reins over to Beau, they need me to step up even more. I can’t afford to be sick. I’m hoping you’ll be able to prescribe me something that’ll get me back on my feet quickly.”
“I’m sure every member of your family would want you to rest, and to feel better.” Jake moved his hand to her back. “Tell me about the symptoms. All day? Coming in waves?”
Jessie shuddered, remembering the pure tidal wave of nausea that nearly knocked her over in the alleyway. “Waves. But they’re frequent. I’m not the best about staying hydrated. When the dizziness kicked in, I thought maybe it was an inner ear thing that was getting worse because I keep throwing up.”
He stepped back from the exam table, turning to type something she couldn’t see into his laptop.
“Well, we already have some answers for you, and I think I may know what’s going on.”
“Oh, good. Do you think a z-pak will take care of it? I can’t be on amoxicillin. I’m allergic.”
“I saw that in your chart. But, no. I won’t be prescribing antibiotics today.” Oh, so it wasn’t an infection. Or, Jake didn’t think it was. “You’re pregnant, Jessie.”
All of the air left the room. Her eyes burned as her brain seemed to completely forget how to blink. Because… no. No. She’d done everything right. Her IUD was good for another three years. She hadn’t messed up… Had she?
“Sorry?” God, she could hear the panic laced in her voice. “I was thinking about why you wouldn’t be prescribing antibiotics for my symptoms and I… I must have misheard you. Could you…”
The condom broke.
Jake nodded. “The urinalysis we performed showed a positive result for pregnancy.”
The IUD failed.
“Oh god. I’m a big cliche aren’t I?” she groaned.
“What do you mean?”
“I have an IUD. I don’t sleep around. I swear, I don’t. The one time I let myself… The condom broke but I-I thought that…” God, why was it so hard to freaking breathe?
Why? Why had she thought she could have her cake and eat it too? Why did her cake have to be a six foot five, tattooed, hulking viking of a man who was so fucking sweet to her that she felt like the most precious treasure in the world? And why the fuck did all the birth control in the world have to fail!!
“You don’t have to explain anything to me. This is a judgment-free room.” Jake was still typing into the computer while her whole world came to a screeching halt. “Jessie, I feel like the answer is pretty clear from the information you just shared, but is it correct to say that this pregnancy wasn’t planned?”
“Planned?” Her shriek was completely mortifying, but she couldn’t feel anything other than the wave of dizziness that washed over her body in a bolt of electric heat.
“Okay. Here,” Jake grabbed her elbow and placed his other hand on her shoulder, pressing back. “You’re going to lie down for a second.”
Panic clawed at her throat. “Why? Is something wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s going to be okay. I just think you could use a minute to wrap your mind around what I told you, and to take a couple deep breaths.”
Deep breaths. Right. Breathing. It wasn’t just about her getting oxygen. It was important for the baby.Oh hell in a hand basket. Her baby. Her babywith Hawk. His worried face floated through her mind as she laid back, closing her eyes and willing herself to wake up in her bed, leaving that whole day to start over again.
Letting one eye pop open, she groaned. Still at the clinic. Still pregnant. Fear spiked through her as her hand brushed over the tender spot on her hip.
