One
Her heart was racing like she had run a marathon. She was trying to catch her breath, to stop the spinning in her head. Luckily this time she'd been sitting down when the dizziness came on.
"Beth, are you alright?" Mo asked.
"Yeah fine…just…must be coming down a head cold," Beth answered. Mo shook her head but walked away. Beth slowly got to her feet and went for a drink of water. She'd been feeling this way for the last few weeks. She had figured it was just stress from the job. But now she was beginning think something might be wrong with her.
She stuck it out the rest of the morning but decided to call the doctor to make an appointment as soon as possible.
"Beth Turner…yes…no I'd like to make an appointment as soon as I can," she said, growing frustrated with the receptionist.
"Do you have anything today?" Beth asked.
"We have one for three fifteen," the receptionist replied.
"I'll take it," she said and hung up. She looked down at her phone and knew she should call Josh and tell him what was going on. But she didn't want to worry him. He was busy preparing for a case and he couldn't afford to be distracted.
Three fifteen rolled around and Beth found herself sitting in the waiting room, staring down at her hands anxiously. She hoped the doctor could figure out what was wrong with her and provide a remedy quickly. It wasn't doing her career any good to be continually passing out during broadcasts.
"Beth Turner," the nurse called. Beth followed the woman down a short hallway and took a seat in the last room on the left.
"Now, what brings you in today?" the nurse asked.
"Uh…I've been kind of light headed lately. Like uh dizzy spells," Beth answered.
"Anything else?" the nurse asked.
"Not that I can think of," Beth answered.
"Alright, well I'm going to check your heart rate and your blood pressure before the doctor comes in," the woman said and pulled out a stethoscope. She pressed it to Beth's chest and Beth inhaled deeply as best she could.
"Another breath," the nurse instructed. Beth took another breath and then another.
"Ok. Your heart rate is a little elevated. Let's check your blood pressure," she said. She wrapped the cuff around Beth's upper arm and began to tighten the cuff. Her eyes were locked on the gauge as the needle moved.
"And your pressure is low…actually quite low," the nurse mumbled.
"What does that mean?" Beth asked.
"The doctor will explain everything when he comes in," the nurse said, leaving Beth to brood over the odd results. It felt like hours to Beth until the doctor came in. She nearly jumped out of her seat when the door opened.
"Well Beth, it seems like we have a situation here," he said, pulling a seat up across from her.
"What's going on? Am I ok?" she asked.
"Well I'd like to find out why your blood pressure is so low and your heart rate is so elevated. I would like to take a blood sample and send it to the lab," he said.
"Ok…is that all you can do?" she asked.
"Until we get your blood work back, all I can suggest is stay away from strenuous activity and just take it easy. Don't do flights of stairs too quickly," he said. She nodded and offered her arm up. As he prepped the syringe, she couldn't help but think of what Mick's teeth felt like sinking into her flesh. It had been such a strange feeling. It was scary certainly but there had been some kind of pleasure in it too.
"This is going to pinch a little," he said before sticking the needle in. Beth didn't even flinch. Her eyes followed the blood as it filled the vial.
"Just going to take one more," he said and filled a second vial. He pulled the needle point out and placed a piece of gauze over the prick. Beth dabbed at the spot until the blood stopped flowing.
"I'll get these to the lab today and give you a call in a day or two when I have the results back," he said.
"Thanks," she said and stood up. He escorted her back to the waiting area so she could pay for the appointment.
On the drive home she felt a little guilty about not telling Josh. There was another reason she had decided against calling him. She knew he didn't like her spending time with Mick. But he didn't understand, she and Mick had this connection. He had saved her as a child. He was her guardian angel. Of course she couldn't tell Josh any of this because that would prompt him to ask how Mick could have saved her when he would have only been six or seven at the time. She couldn't explain that Mick was a vampire. She had promised to keep that secret.
The next few days passed by painfully slow for Beth. She managed not to faint during work and was glad to be home when the phone rang. She picked it up.
"Hello?" she said.
"Ms. Turner, your blood work is back. The doctor would like to schedule a meeting to go over them with you," the receptionist responded.
"Uh ok…when is he free?' Beth asked.
"He has an opening today at four," she said after a brief pause.
"I'll be there," she said and hung up. She checked the clock. She'd gotten off work early but she only had twenty minutes to get to the office. She grabbed her keys and purse and sprinted down to her car. She had to stop for a minute to catch her balance.
"Stairs," she muttered to herself as she climbed into the driver's seat. In record time she pulled into the parking lot and walked as quickly as her body would allow up to the second floor and into the waiting room. She stopped at the reception desk and was told to go right back to the room she'd been in before. She sat down and took several deep breaths. She needed to get her head to stop spinning before the doctor came in.
"How are you feeling today?" he asked when he did finally walk in.
"Uh…I've been better," she answered. He just nodded and pulled out a few pieces of paper.
"So what did the blood work say?" she prompted. He took a deep breath.
"Well your body is working awfully hard right now," he began. She looked at him in confusion. She already knew that.
"Why?" she asked. He cleared his throat and handed her the results. She looked at them. She had seen blood work right ups before but wasn't all that well versed in what they meant.
"You see these lines here," he said, pointing to a couple of colored spikes. She nodded her head and looked up.
"What do they mean?" she asked.
"These are elevated progesterone, estrogen and b-hCG levels," he explained.
"In English please," she said.
"It means you're pregnant, Beth," he said. She stared at him in shock. She couldn't be pregnant…could she?
"You're about six weeks along," he said.
"How do you know that?" Beth demanded.
"Well your hCG levels are fairly strong. That's the hormone that the placenta produces. It is detectible one to two days after implantation," he said. Beth just shook her head.
"So what do I do? I mean…about the heart rate and blood pressure?" she asked.
"I want you to take some prenatal vitamins and schedule an ultrasound as soon as you can. I can recommend an OBGYN if you need one. I just want to make sure the fetus is growing properly and isn't being affected by the low blood pressure," he said. Beth swallowed a couple times to try and calm herself down. She didn't need to pass out now.
"Ok…" she mumbled. He scribbled down the name of a OBGYN and handed it to her. She had a regular OBGYN but she was scared to go there. They had Josh's number and they could call him and tell him before she could.
"Get some rest, hon. That baby needs it as much as you do," the doctor said. Beth stood up and went out to her car. She climbed in but didn't go anywhere. She just let herself succumb to the tears she'd been fighting since the minute the doctor had said 'pregnant'.
She was beginning to put things together, even though it didn't make any sense all. She knew she needed to figure this out quickly. With a deep breath she stuck the key in the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot. In about fifteen minutes she was walking towards the elevator. There was no way she was going to make it up the stairs on her own. The elevator dinged and she stepped on, hitting the button for the third floor. It slowly took her up and deposited her right across from the door. She took the few steps to reach it and knocked lightly. She heard footsteps inside and waited.