Chapter 35: The truth sinks in

A/N: First, I apologize for not uploading anything. For a while I just didn't have the motivation to keep going, and on top of that, I was stuck on how to continue. Then, once I got back into the mood, my PC bit the dust, taking everything I had with it. Of course, before it did, I managed to get a copy of this chapter and now that I have access to a laptop again, I can start writing and hopefully finish this. I don't know if this laptop has any writing software aside from the notepad so I may be reduced to that, but it's better than nothing at all. Of course, once again, I won't be able to write when I want since it's not mine but, again, it's better than not having one to do any at all. For now, I hope this will tide you all over until I can get the next chapter up. Apologies for this one being so short, but again, I wanted to get something up since everyone's been real patient with me between uploads. See you guys next time.

The cab pulled onto Wilson and Sally breathed a sigh of relief. "Pull over here." Sally said to the driver as they approached her car. He pulled up behind it, parked, then turned back toward her. "That'll be $21.90."

Finally. She thought as she opened her purse to get her wallet. The driver had been the talkative type, asking her question after question trying to strike up a conversation, but she was in less than a talkative mood thanks to the good news she got at the hospital. He was friendly enough but she gave him short, general answers, trying to drop the hint that she wasn't in the mood to talk. On top of that, she was still arguing with herself whether she was really pregnant or not.

Part of her believed the small blob on the ultrasound Dr. Anderson pointed out was her baby had more resemblance to an ink blot more than a fetus, which reinforced her belief that the tests were wrong. But on the other, they had run the tests three times and Dr. Anderson had shown her the results of all three. All the numbers matched up which couldn't be just a mere a coincidence.

Sally reached into her wallet and handed him two twenties. "Keep the change." she said, closing her wallet. "Thanks!" he said enthusiastically and deposited it into a glass jar hanging from the cab's dashboard. "Have a good day."

"Same to you." she said as she climbed out and walked up to her car. The cab pulled forward and they exchanged a wave as he drove off. Wasting no time, she unlocked the door and climbed in, started it up and headed back to Station Square.

Later

There's got to be a mistake somewhere here. Sally thought as she sat in the parking lot of the pharmacy in Station Square and poured over the papers Dr. Anderson had given her at the hospital; among them to her surprise, were the results of her blood tests. They were easy to understand, listing the results in one column and what were considered normal levels in another. As she looked them over with a fine toothed comb, she checked one set of numbers, then compared them to what the normal levels were, followed by the second and third set. The tests that were marked 'Panel' all matched in all three tests and were higher than what was supposed to be normal levels; her vitamin levels were at the same levels over all three and lower than what was considered normal and the one's marked Inhibin and Esterol had the same levels across all three tests and were higher than what was marked as normal. "No..." Sally said out loud in disbelief. "This can't be right!"

Desperately she began looking over every number carefully, looking for any inconsistencies. C'mon... Sally thought, hoping against hope until she reached the final set of numbers. It was for something labled 'Alpha-retoprotein screen'. As she looked over the numbers for it, she began to read them off. "1.1... normal range is... 0.9."

"Second test... 1.1. Normal is... 0.9." Sally closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her chest shaking as she exhaled. Please God. she thought and turned the page to the third set. "Third... 0.9- 0.9?!" she yelled, her eyes wide as she looked at the numbers again, double-checking them. "There the same..." Sally trailed off as she slowly looked up from the papers, a smile on her face. "There the same." *heh* she laughed as she laid them in the passenger seat. It was only a slight variance in the results but that was all it took to convince her they were wrong.

As she got out, she laughed again as she went into the pharmacy. *heh* Those tests are screwed up. Can't be pregnant if the results are screwy. Sally thought as she walked through the doors. In the back of the store, she caught a glance at the pharmacy counter and saw it was still open and reached into her purse and pulled out the prescription Dr. Anderson wrote for her. Might as well get this filled out. Couldn't hurt to have something on hand in case my stomach starts to act up again.

There was no line and Sally walked right up to the counter and handed the pharmacist working the slip of paper. He read it and typed it into the computer. "We can have this ready around... two tomorrow afternoon."

"That'll be fine. Can I pay for it now?" Sally asked, placing a hand on her wallet.

"Of course. That'll be... $31.86." he said.

Sally pulled out her debit card and swiped it; he tore the receipt off and gave it to her. "We'll see you tomorrow." he said with a smile.

"Thank you." Sally said, turning around and heading for the front of the store. As she walked down the aisles, she passed by various pharmacy items, deodorant, soap, toothpaste; as she rounded the end of the isle, she passed by a locked display that were marked as specialty, i.e. condoms, lubricants and in it's own little section, pregnancy tests; Sally started at them for a few seconds. I should get one, just for a laugh. she thought. *heh* Yeah. her head nodded slightly. What the hell. Those hospital tests were messed up; might be fun to see what these say. Probably say I'm carrying triplets. *heh* she thought with a laugh and headed back to the pharmacy counter. "Excuse me." she said to the pharmacist.

"Yes?" he replied, looking up at her from the computer.

"Can you open the cabinet over there for me?" she asked, pointing to it.

"Of course." he said and grabbed a small ring of keys from a peg board behind him and walked around to the other side.

When they reached the cabinet, he stuck the key in and slid the clear plastic door open and Sally reached in and grabbed one of the pregnancy tests. "Thank you." she said with a nod of her head and headed for the front counter.

Reaching the register, she set it on the counter along with a 1 liter lemon-lime soda and a granola bar she grabbed on impulse from a nearby refrigerator case and display; Sally swiped her card again and paid, then headed out for her car and climbed in, cracking the soda open and taking a long drink, followed by a large bite from the granola bar. Within a few seconds, she had the entire bar eaten and a quarter of the soda gone. *huh* she exhailed, slightly out of breath. the bubbles from the soda tickling the back of her throat. That's better. she thought, a smile on her face as she stuck the key in the ignition and finally headed for home.

As she turned into the driveway, she yawned as a wave of exhaustion washed over her. It had been a tiring day and with all the excitement, she hadn't even realized just how tired she was. Shutting the engine off and climbing out of the car one final time, she activated the car's alarm and headed inside. "Ugh!" she muttered as a wave of hot air hit her as soon as she opened the front door. Setting the bag with the test and her purse down, she went over and turned the AC on. "Damn thermostat." Sally muttered as she looked at the LCD display of the thermostat. It was set for 88 degrees instead of the 75 she normally had it set to turn on when she wasn't at home.

*AAAAAAAAHHHHH* Another yawn escaped her mouth as sleep began to rear it's head. She still needed to eat as well as get a quick shower in but decided to eat and forgo the shower until morning. Wandering into the kitchen, she surveyed the fridge. "Hmm..." she murmured, looking over the contents. "Guess I should've went to the store to." she said to herself as she shut the door. "Guess I'll do that tomorrow too." she said with a sigh; she looked through the cabinets as well but she didn't feel like cooking and decided to skip dinner altogether. It wasn't much of a problem anyway. She did eat that granola bar from the pharmacy and decided to just go to bed.

Shutting the lights off, Sally went over to the living room closet and grabbed her pillow and tossed it on the couch, forgoing any blanket or sheet since it was an unusually warm night for mid-spring. Making sure the door was locked and the curtain was closed, she stripped down to her bra and panties, laying her clothes over the back of the couch and laid down. *Nnnngh* she grunted as she stretched and reached for the remote to the TV; that was the last thing she remembered before she fell asleep.

The next morning

*HUUUUUUUUUUUGH* Sally moaned as her stomach lurched, her hands clutching the bowl of the toilet as hard as they could. *HUUUUGH* she moaned as she gagged. "Oh God, o-" *BLLLLGGGGGHH* she gagged yet again as another dry heave episode ripped through her. She was sweating and shaking as she waited for another round but after a few minutes of nothing happening, she reached over and tore off a few sheets of TP and wiped her mouth, tossing it into the bowl and flushed. *ugh* she muttered as she slowly stood up and went over to the sink for a mouth cleansing cup of water.

It was a hell of a way to start the day. The last thing she remembered was turning the TV on the night before and the next thing she knew, her stomach felt like it was going to come out and say "Hi". She filled the glass and took as much as she could in her mouth, swishing it around and spitting it out. She did that a couple more times, followed by a once over with a good helping of mouthwash.

Good thing I got that prescription filled last night. she thought as she quickly brushed her teeth then walked out of the bathroom. "Oh!" Sally yelped as she suddenly became light headed, reaching out at the last second at the doorway of the bathroom; on top of that her stomach was still doing flips and she felt like it could start again at any second. Sticking close to the wall, she managed to make it to the couch and sit down, closing her eyes and leaning her head back to try to calm her stomach and head. That's the last time I'm eating granola. She thought as her stomach settled down slightly.

It was just a little after eight and she decided to lay back down, hoping that would help ease her nausea. She fluffed the pillow back up and as soon as she went prone, anything that was left in her felt like it wanted to come up; she bolted upright quickly in response, which did wonders for her light-headedness. "Ugh..." she moaned, closing her eyes and leaning back against the couch, riding it out as best she could. Just need to make it 'til two. Then I can get th- her stomach lurched and she quickly stood up and ran to the bathroom. Flinging the door open, she turned and held her head over the sink just in time as she let out a long *blugh* and hurled. Moans of *Nnnnnngh* and *uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh-guh* filled the silence of the house as she entered the dry-heave stage of whatever it was she had, lasting a minute, then mercifully, stopped. "Oh sh..." she whispered, out of breath and sweating as she leaned back against the wall.

Later

"Oh, thank God." Sally said, breathing a sigh of as she pulled into the driveway of the house. She was completely drained after what had happened earlier that morning, but it was worth it as she finally had something to combat the vomiting and nausea if either decided to come back again. Along with the medication, she also swung by the store and picked up a 12 pack of lemon-lime soda which usually helped when she had an upset stomach, a box of those fizzy seltzer tablets as well as a few other groceries she needed. Grabbing the bag off the passenger seat, she got out and went inside, setting those down, then heading back out to the car and grabbing another two bags of food from the trunk. *aaaaahhh* she yawned as she closed the trunk and went back inside, setting those bags next to the others from the pharmacy and began to put everything away.

The bags held various fruits, vegetables and a few packages of meat, most of which were on the list of foods Dr. Anderson had given her. She gave it a look over and at first decided to ignore it since it was primarily for pregnant women, but it also said those foods would give her an energy boost which at the moment she needed. She laughed as she put the last of it away and leaned against the counter, the faux marble surface cool against her skin. I might not be pregnant. she thought as she reached for a banana from the now replenished fruit bowl on the bar, but if any of this stuff'll give me some energy, I'll take it.

Sally peeled the skin of the banana and took a bite then went over to the fridge and grabbed a small bottle of water, cracking that open and taking a drink. Maybe I should have one of those steaks for dinner. she thought as she took another bite and swallowed. Steak and mushrooms with garlic. Another bite. Or I could have... *Urp*. A small belch emanated from her stomach and as she went to put her hand up to her mouth, she felt her throat quickly fill up and knew what was coming next. Quickly tossing the banana on the breakfast bar, she whirled around and stepped toward the sink as she began to vomit for the sixth time that day.

What little she had in the past few minutes came up, followed by the violent, dry heaving spells. "Huuuuuuugh!" she moaned as her stomach constricted, trying to force out something that wasn't there. "Huugh... guuuuuuu... huuuh!" They continued for several minutes and by the time it was over, she was shaking and sweating. She leaned over the sink, turning the faucet on and washing everything away as she tried to catch her breath.

When she had managed to compose herself, she stepped back over to the breakfast bar and reached for the medication she had filled and pulled out the bottle of pink bismuth, cracked it open and swallowed a good mouthful, not even bothering to measure it. She ignored the chalky, peppermint taste and re-capped it, then grabbed the bottle of Cloratine and read the label.

"Take one..." she stopped, pausing to take a breath, "capsule daily at bedtime to prevent nausea and vomiting." Sally opened the bottle, the smell of what could be described as old vitamins and sawdust wafting to her nose, causing her to gag just slightly. The pills themselves were the fast-release type, the center of each pill having a series of small holes punched into them allowing the medication to work much faster; the capsules themselves were bright red and clear.

She debated whether or not to take it since she felt her stomach might not accept anything else at the moment. After all, she had just ate a few bites of the banana and a couple swallows of water and her stomach rejected that little bit rather quickly, but decided to hell with it and popped it in her mouth, taking in just enough water to wash them down.

If they come up I'll just take a couple more. She capped the bottle of water once again and set it back in the fridge. Sally looked around the contents of the fridge for something more to eat than just a banana, but fearing nothing she ate would stay down, she closed the door and decided to try her luck later. Walking around to the other side of the breakfast bar, she saw the bag from the pharmacy lying on the bar where she'd left it. Sally stared at it for a few seconds, then grabbed it and pulled the test out of the bag.

Why did I even bother buying you? she asked herself. I don't even have a use for you. *heh* Maybe I should use it; just for a laugh. God knows I need one. she thought. Hell, it be pretty funny if you said I wasn't pregnant; a 99 cent piece of plastic vs. those expensive blood tests that are never wrong. *ha ha ha ha ha* "Oh what the hell." she said through dying laughter as she took the test and headed to the bathroom.

A few minutes later

"That should do it." she thought as she headed back to the bathroom to check the results. Sally stepped through the door and saw the small hunk of plastic sitting on the counter and a wave of nervousness washed over her. She reached out for it, but her hand hesitated, heart suddenly beating rapidly. Suddenly, she was more nervous than she had ever been in her life. C'mon, you can do this. Eyes closed, she grabbed the test and held it in front of her face; she exhaled, her chest shaking. Sally slowly opened her eyes and looked at the results window.

It showed a double purple stripe and she immediately grabbed the box and scanned the test result key. Double stripe, positive- Sally's jaw dropped, along with the test and the box, both hitting the ground. "Oh God..." she mumbled quietly as tears began to fall from her eyes, her bottom lip quivering.