Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“Rumor.” He said my name just above a whisper. That was odd and not helping my growing anxiety.
“Yes?” I replied, wishing he would stop with this strange behavior.
I wanted the door back open. Maeme should be in here. I didn’t know Dr. Drew that well after all. Nurses were normally in the room with doctors.
“You’re pregnant.”
I sat there, staring at him. All other thoughts suddenly snatched from my head.
“What?” I asked, my voice cracking as those two words slowly sank in.
“The urine sample. You’re pregnant,” he repeated. “I don’t know how far along, and I don’t have the equipment here to do an ultrasound.” He ran a hand over his head and sighed. “I should have tested you before the X-rays on your ribs. You said you were on the shot, so I assumed you were safe. It’s rare that someone can get pregnant taking the Depo-Provera shot. We will need to run tests. See how far along you are. Do you remember the last time you had sex with, uh”—he paused—“your former husband?”
I couldn’t speak. I had no words. I just sat there, not knowing what I felt.
“I know this is a lot to take in, and I am sorry. Perhaps an examination would be the best way to start this. I can get an idea of how far along you are by checking for changes in your uterus and cervix. It isn’t accurate, but it will give us a ballpark. If you could tell me the last time you had sex, then that, too, would help.”
I blinked as I looked back at him. That was a very easy answer. However, the last time I’d had sex with Hill, I didn’t know. Sex with him had become something rare toward the end.
“Sex? Or … sex with Hill?” I asked, too numb to even be embarrassed by this question.
His eyes widened slightly. “You’ve had sex since you left your … Hill?”
I nodded.
“I need to know when.”
I dropped my gaze to my lap. “Last night.”
He was silent for a moment, and I began to twist the gown I was wearing in my hands.
“Was that the first time?”
I shook my head, not looking up at him.
“When was?”
I swallowed hard, feeling nausea slowly creep in. “Five … almost six weeks ago.”
“Were there other times in between?”
I nodded.
He let out a heavy sigh. “King.”
I nodded again.
“I see. This puts a spin on things. Let’s put that aside right now and have you lie back.”
I took a deep breath as a cold sweat broke out over my body and my hands began to feel clammy. I did as he’d instructed and closed my eyes tightly as he put my feet in the stirrups and moved my gown up to my thighs.
How was this happening? I knew that I hadn’t been positive about the date of my last shot, but I’d been close.
This wasn’t Hill’s baby. That much I knew. It had been over two, maybe even three, months since we’d had sex, and even then, he hadn’t come inside me. He had thought it was messy and didn’t like it.
But … what would King say … what would he do when he found out?
I’d told him I was on birth control. He’d made sure of it. He had asked me. I was still in danger from a gang. I couldn’t be pregnant. What kind of life would I be bringing my baby into?
My baby.
Those two words hit me like a sledgehammer, and I covered my mouth to keep from letting out a sob. I had a baby growing inside me. A life that was a part of me. That I had helped create.
“Easy. Relax,” Dr. Drew said as I felt him reach inside me and probe around.
I sucked in a breath as a tear squeezed out of the corner of my eye and rolled down the side of my face.
“It’s very early,” he said. “I’d say six weeks, at the most.”
My eyes flew open. “How? I didn’t have sex six weeks ago. I said it was almost six weeks. Closer to five.”
He nodded and removed his fingers from inside of me. “Yes, but in pregnancy, we count from the last menstrual cycle, which you didn’t have since you were on the shot. Technically, the embryo started growing around three weeks ago. Meaning it was fertilized shortly before. Even if you had incorrectly guessed how long it had been since your last shot, it’s not one hundred percent effective.”
He reached for my gown and pulled it back down, then took my hand and helped me sit back up. When his eyes met mine, I could see the concern in them, and I felt my own start to water up again. I seemed to be doing a lot of that today.
“I understand that by law, I can’t tell anyone, but you have to understand that your situation … my situation is different. I don’t fear the government the way I do lying to anyone in the family. They are the only law that exists for those of us involved with them. That means me … and now you.”