Chapter 4

Reality

Sora walked down the crowded streets of Paris. She found an apartment in the 14e arrondissement that was a doable price. The owner had said she could move in immediately as well. So far, she hasn't had any trouble with anything in Paris. She knew basic conversational French and has been learning more each day.

Today, she was on her way to work. She was accepted by the traveling Paris circus. They roam all across Europe and she was now one of their stars.

She's been getting to see a new side of traveling circuses ever since she started with the troupe. There's a stereotype that circus people are freaks; however, they were some of the nicest people she has ever met. Of course, Sora was always one to be positive, so even if they were weird she wouldn't think so.

As she walked into the enclosed tent, she was greeted by her fellow performers.

"Bonjour Sora!"

"Hello Sora."

"Salut Sora!"

Everyone knew her there. She greeted them all back, calling each of them by name. Pierre, Anne, Lea, and Jean-Paul all smiled back. These four all had great talent. Pierre was the juggler for the circus. He could juggle almost anything including people.

Lea and Jean-Paul were a comedy act and they helped out with the little kids. Anne was a fellow trapeze artist. She was really good at doing flips and twirls. Anne also did the balance beam, bars, and floor.

They all met up and discussed the performance for tonight. Sora and Anne made up a special routine that showcased all of their skills. Pierre was practicing for his juggling act, in which he said he was going to use machetes, and Lea and Jean-Paul said they were working on their comedy act.

So far, they were all ready for the show. As their boss, M. Baldon, entered the room, they all looked up from what they were doing.

"How are you guys doing?" he asked as he walked closer to their practice area.

"We're doing fine, Monsieur Baldon." Sora cheerfully replied.

They were all set for the show that was going to happen at six o'clock.

"That's what I like to hear! The show is sold out tonight, so make sure you are all ready and energized."

Everyone was shocked. They had never had a sold out show before.

"Good luck." he said as he exited.

000

Sora had to rest. Lately, she had been feeling tired. She assumed it was due to the time difference, though she had more than enough time to adjust. Her eyes could no longer stay open and she drifted into a deep sleep before the show.

When she woke up, Sora noticed that it was around four and she had to be there at 4:30. She quickly rushed to get herself dressed and made her way to the circus tent.

She quickly walked down the road. It was about a half a mile walk to get back. The day was still in full motion as people around her started to become blurry. All of a sudden, she felt light-headed and soon after, she found her vision going black.

When Sora finally awoke, she found herself at the hospital with IV tubes stuck in her arms. She slowly opened her eyes to see the rest of the circus cast and M. Baldon. She checked the time and it was the middle of the night. Realization sunk in.

"Wait a minute. What about the show! What are we going to do?! There's a bunch of people out there waiting for us. Oh no. I'm so sorry you guys." Sora started babbling on and on with 'I'm sorry' or 'what about the audience.'

M. Baldon stopped her. "It's been cancelled. We refunded all of them or we gave them a ticket to another show with a better seat."

Sora was calm now. "Okay, but really I'm sorry."

They all sighed; she had only said that for the millionth time since she woke up.

The nurse entered the room. "Visiting hours are over. I'm afraid you guys must leave. Sora will stay here to recover for a little while longer. She hit her head on the cement as she fainted."

They all nodded and walked out of the room. Sora nodded as well, waving good-bye to them and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Dr. Allagnon stepped into Sora's room as she was sleeping. He wanted to run some tests to see if there was anything that caused her to faint and also to see if she had gotten a concussion when she hit her head.

He performed several tests using the blood they had collected before Sora drifted off. Before she had fallen asleep, the nurse had mentioned to her that they would be running a couple of tests on her blood.

He wasn't sure what the results might add up to. It may have been from over exposure to sunlight for all he knew, but he had to find out in order for her to get better.

Most of the tests would have results by the morning or later that night; however, Dr. Allagnon wanted to run one more test. He recalled Sora stating her symptoms earlier and was curious to see if his assumption was correct.

He walked out of the room and allowed the nurse to perform the test.

"It's positive." She stated.

"I thought so." Dr. Allagnon replied.

000

Sora woke up. She hadn't slept like that for awhile. As she sat up in bed, she could feel pain in her stomach. Dr. Allagnon and the nurse she saw yesterday had just walked in the room.

"Bonjour, Sora." he greeted her, then paused. "We have some news for you."

Sora's eyes widened. "Good or bad?" She could still feel the pain.

"Well, it depends." the nurse answered.

Dr. Allagnon continued. "Sora, as you know, we ran several tests yesterday."

"Yes, I remember. Did you find out what caused me to suddenly faint?"

"We did a comprehensive work up, making sure to touch all bases. With that, I asked the nurse to run a pregnancy test as well," Dr. Allagnon cautiously spoke.

Sora nodded her head for awhile, not absorbing anything he had said. It was all a blur; she was in her own head. She snapped out of it though as she caught his last statement. Sense knocked her in the head. Her eyes widened with realization as she heard his last words, "Sora, you're pregnant."

Sora didn't know what to do or how to feel. Was she happy? Afraid? In shock? All she could muster up was, "You're not joking..are you?" She half whispered the statement as she exhaled.

"No, we're not. Do you need to contact the father?" Dr. Allagnon answered, calm and collected.

Sora wanted to tell Leon, but she didn't know how he would react nor did she know if she was ready to face him. Kids had never been mentioned between them; she had never seen Leon as the type to want a child though. Now that they weren't together, she didn't know if it was even worth telling him.

She sighed. "No, it's okay."