A/N: Hello everyone! Thanks to the tremendous amount of love and support I got for "Of Beating Hearts and Beating Minds", I decided to continue Jupiter's story with more suspense, more thrill, and more obsession. I love you all!
Please enjoy.
"Put me through hell again
I miss the fire"
"Bitter and Sick", One Two
Excruciating cramps assault Jupiter's stomach. They don't let up no matter what position she tosses and turns in to ease them. Finally, she jumps out of bed and rushes to the bathroom to expel the contents of her stomach.
She's kneeling on the floor, head still perched over the toilet, vision swimming and stomach still cramping menacingly when she hears the bed creak.
"I'm sorry I woke you up," she whispers, wiping her mouth.
"Don't be ridiculous, Jupiter. I'm more concerned about you." His hand brushes through her long, wild hair.
"I don't know, I think I ate some bad pizza or something," she mumbles.
"Do you want me to call in for you tomorrow? Do you need anything now? Some Tylenol? Water?" he asks, gently scratching her scalp with his fingers. "A doctor?"
She shakes her head and the motion makes her throw up again. "I'm fine. Go back to bed, okay? I don't want you being late tomorrow."
She's not surprised he hasn't budged. He always puts her first, it's the sweetest most annoying thing she's ever had to go through with a guy.
He leans in to kiss her clammy forehead. "I'm not going anywhere until I'm sure you're alright."
Jupiter doesn't have the strength to argue with him. "I guess that water won't hurt," she says, attempting a smile.
He rises and heads toward the kitchen. She watches his retreating form, happy that her eyes no longer feel like they're dancing in her skull.
Silently, she hopes this is just a passing bug. She can't afford to miss work. It'll throw off her whole routine and the doctors warned her against that.
Dammit, she thinks. Why couldn't this have happened over the weekend?
She flushes the toilet and goes to the sink to wash her face. There's no use beating myself up about it, really, it has to pass some time.
John returns with the water and she gulps it down. It helps, calming the violent storm in her stomach and giving her reprieve from the unsettling nausea.
He wraps an arm around her waist and gently pulls her back to bed. "Come rest," he says authoritatively but he softens the command with a quick peck to her lips.
She wraps herself in the covers and tries to focus on the blank ceiling above. Exhaustion lingers on the horizon of her consciousness and her eyelids get heavy as it takes over.
John isn't there when she awakens. On the bedside table is some Pepto and a note explaining that he had to go in early. After puking one more time, she downs the Pepto, hops in the shower and dresses for work.
Amber, her assistant, takes in her hellish state. "What happened, Jupiter? You look like Death."
Jupiter puts her bag away and slips on her lab coat. "Bad night," she mumbles.
Amber's brows pull together. "If you want to leave early, I can handle things here. Luckily, today we're not so crowded."
Jupiter smiles, hoping she doesn't look too scary. "I'm fine. I appreciate it, Amber. I'll tell you what, if I start feeling any worse, I'll go home."
Amber nods, and gives Jupiter a warm smile.
The day goes by the way it usually does, full of animals and their worried owners. Jupiter starts to relax, nursing her stomach with seltzer water and lemon wedges. She turns down Amber's suggestion to eat something heavier.
"Do you believe you could be...you know, pregnant?" Amber asks during lunch, twirling a spoonful of ramen noodles.
And Jupiter freezes, squeezing a lemon wedge too hard. It bursts and sour juice wets the table. If I were pregnant, I'd be-no, no, no. Shit! She mentally counts the days. I am late.
Amber hands her a napkin, watching her carefully. "Are you alright?"
She shakes her head. "I can't be...preg—that. We've been using protection." Well, as far as she remembers. The first few nights after she was released from the asylum are a blur. She was adjusting to having Michael's voice be nothing but a muted whisper and also having her total freedom back. It was a lot to take in. She clung to John like he was her lifeline. In some way, he was.
Then, there was the harrowing fact that Adam had disappeared. After she saw him in the patient's bathroom back in Arkham, she never saw him again.
She only had the Joker Card to remember him by…
"Jupiter? Jupiter?" Amber's voice breaks through her reverie. "I didn't mean to make you worry. I'm sorry." Her blue eyes are filled with regret as they stare pleadingly at Jupiter for forgiveness.
"No," Jupiter murmurs. "It's okay. I—I spaced out. It's not your fault."
Amber nods, her smile warming up. "I'm on the last season of The Office," she says, casually changing the subject.
Jupiter throws herself into the conversation with more passion than she normally would, attempting to distract herself by focusing on something less...haunting than her first few months back in Gotham and thoughts of being pr-expecting a child.
By the time, lunch is over, she's feeling better than she was this morning.
Their apartment is warm and welcoming when Jupiter returns. Yet for some reason unknown to her, it doesn't fully feel like home unless John's here with her.
She puts the brown paper grocery bag on top of the kitchen counter and pours herself a glass of water. Hurriedly, she gulps down the cool liquid, her eyes never leaving the brown bag.
Taking a deep breath and gathering her courage, she opens the bag and takes out the pregnancy test. All I have to do is pee on the stick, she coaches herself. But this is all unnecessary, I'm sure it's just a virus. I should have gotten some more Pepto...or seen Dr. Firenze.
Still muttering to herself, she takes the box with her to the bathroom.
The next five minutes are the slowest, most torturous five minutes of her entire life. Many times the thought of throwing the test in the garbage and never looking at it, tempts her. Frankly, moving on with her life, occurs to her, but she talks herself out of it. No use dying from the suspense...
After an eternity, the results appear. She panics briefly, before assuming she picked up a defective test. Promptly, she wraps it in tissue and tosses it in the trash. She'll make an appointment with the doctor as soon as possible. Hopefully, there's nothing to worry about. This is all just a fluke.
Dr. Firenze's office is cold, with stark white walls and a harsh, sterile smell. Jupiter never likes coming here, especially since it brings up so many bad memories. If she had a choice, she'd never see a doctor again. Unfortunately, as she has learned, life just doesn't work that way.
She's sitting there in the too soft chair, waiting for the doctor to come in with her results. Her heart refuses to stop trying to escape her chest. Her fingers drum anxiously against her thighs. She attempts to focus on breathing, but it doesn't do much to calm her nerves.
When Dr. Firenze enters her office, her kind eyes are filled with excitement. Jupiter tries not to cringe and prepares herself for what's to come.
"Miss Harlow, I have good news for you," the doctor states, smiling sweetly.
Jupiter allows herself to hope that maybe she's got a curable illness or something, anything other than what she fears.
Then Dr. Firenze says the frightening words and the tears immediately escape Jupiter's eyes. "Please, there must be some sort of mistake," she protests.
Dr. Firenze leans back in her chair, a look of bewilderment on her face. "What do you mean? I assure you there's no mistake, our tests produce the most accurate results 98% of the time."
"Then maybe I'm in the 2%." The tears keep coming. Jupiter tries vainly to wipe at them. Dr. Firenze hands her a box of tissues. "I can't be pregnant. It's too soon," Jupiter chokes.
The doctor nods, her expression sympathetic. "Are you afraid? There are other options, Miss Harlow. And you don't have to do this alone."
John's face appears in her mind, his expression soft with understanding. "I-I should tell my boyfriend."
Dr. Firenze nods. "I recommend that. Of course, you should tell him when you're ready."
Jupiter nods. "I will."
That same night, she asks John to meet her at their favorite park. Jupiter's so nervous she can barely stand. What if he decides he doesn't want me anymore? What if this is too much for him? What would I do? I might as well tell him now. Get it over with...
Luckily, she doesn't have to wait too long for him. The cruiser pulls up and soon he's walking towards her. The park is near empty, the night growing darker. In his cop uniform, John approaches.
His chestnut brown eyes are dark with worry. "Jupiter, you sounded upset on the phone. Is everything alright?"
She shakes her head and her eyes fall to the ground. "I don't know how to tell you this...You may not want to hear it."
"Please tell me. Is it about Arkham? Did you run out of medication?" The more questions he asks, the heavier the dread weighs down her stomach.
Finally, Jupiter takes his palms in hers, stopping his hysterical chatter, and meets his anxious gaze. "We're going to have a baby."
A/N: More to come soon! Thanks for reading!