Chapter 14: Appointment
He waited until the last minute to drag himself out of his apartment and downtown to the doctor's office Lucy had texted him the address to. When he found himself parked outside of a small, brick building with the name Dr. Denise Cloyd painted on a pretty white sign. Daryl felt a wave of nausea hit him, and he had to bite back against the burn in the back of his throat. His muscles were tense, and his heart was racing, and the last thing he wanted to do was walk through those doors. But he had to get it over with.
He took a deep breath and opened the door, stepping into a bright office decorated with flowers and smelling like a candle store. He coughed and cleared his throat, and the receptionist looked his way with a nervous smile.
"Can I help you, sir?" Daryl closed the door and stepped up to the window after he looked around to see no sign of Lucy.
"Yeah, my, uh…I'm here for Lucy Morgan."
"Oh, of course. You must be the daddy," she chirped cheerfully. Daryl said nothing. He cleared his throat, and the woman motioned a nurse over. "He's here for Lucy Morgan."
"Oh, sure," she said with a smile, stepping over to open the door that lead to the back of the doctor's office. "You can come with me." Daryl followed the woman down a hallway past three empty exam rooms. At the end of the hall, she knocked on the door. "Ms. Morgan? Someone's here for you." When Daryl stepped in, Lucy sat up a little on the table. She was dressed but reclining with her hands folded on her belly, and her eyes were wide when she saw the bruising on Daryl's face. The nurse closed the door, and Lucy started to get off the table. Daryl held his hand up.
"Daryl, are you ok?"
"It looks worse than it feels," he muttered.
"God, I'm so sorry, I…"
"Look, I don't wanna talk. I just wanna get this over with." Lucy swallowed back the next remark she was going to make, and she nodded.
"Okay. I understand." She cleared her throat. "You missed the heartbeat. It's good. Strong. 130 beats per minute. I read online that could mean it's a boy."
"I don't wanna do this, Lucy. M'sorry. I just…I don't wanna talk." Thankfully, a knock at the door interrupted whatever Lucy was going to say next, and Daryl looked up when the doctor came in. She nudged her glasses up her nose and offered a smile.
"You must be Daryl. I'm Dr. Cloyd." She reached out to shake his hand, and he accepted it numbly. "So, Lucy tells me you're interested in getting a paternity test." She looked to Lucy and then to Daryl.
"That's right."
"Okay, well, we have a couple of options. If you're wanting results as soon as possible, I'd recommend a non-invasive paternity test that's of absolutely no risk to the pregnancy. We can do it here in the office today, and you'll have results in a few days."
"Sure," Daryl said with a nod. "Let's do that." He didn't look at Lucy, but he could see her shift uncomfortably on the table.
"Well, before we start signing consent forms, I have to warn you that the test is pretty pricey."
"What's pricey?" Daryl asked, narrowing his eyes at her.
"It runs somewhere in the ballpark of $1500 to $2000."
"You're joking."
"I'm afraid I'm not." Daryl glanced at Lucy, and she shook he head. A dry laugh escaped her lips, and Daryl looked at Dr. Cloyd.
"What's our other option?"
"Later in the pregnancy, we could perform an amniocentesis. They're generally done to check for genetic defects or other issues, but paternity can be determined from that. It's going to be costly, too, plus the cost of the test is pretty high. Insurance will cover most of it, but you're still going to be paying a chunk out of pocket. At least $600. Pricey, but not as bad."
"Jesus," he muttered.
"I don't want that," Lucy said sharply, sitting up on the table.
"What?" Daryl asked.
"I don't want an amnio, Daryl. Dr. Cloyd, you said yourself everything's fine."
"Well, so far, it is," the doctor said with a nod. "I know some parents with histories of illness in their families prefer to have…"
"I don't. I don't want it. I know the risks."
"The risks of miscarriage are very slim with amnios, and—"
"I don't care," Lucy snapped. "I don't want it." She looked at Daryl. "And if you think I'm paying two grand for a test that you want, you're fucking stupid." The doctor's brow raised high, and she took a step back, feeling as if she was intruding on a moment. She cleared her throat.
"I'll leave you two to talk about your options. Just remember, you can always duke it out in court and have a court ordered test." She raised her hands up and turned to leave the room. Daryl moved toward the door, and Lucy got up off the table.
"What are you doing this?" she asked. Daryl turned toward her.
"What?"
"Why are you doing this? This is your baby, Daryl. If you want to call me a whore, that's fine, but that doesn't change that this is your kid."
"I ain't callin' you a whore," Daryl spat. "You always gave me shit, accusin' me of cheatin'. You were the one going out and fucking some car salesman. You expect me to believe this kid's mine? Give me a good reason, Lucy." Lucy sighed in frustration and ran her fingers through her hair.
"Look, if you don't want this kid, that's fine. I can do this on my own. You'd probably turn out to be a shitty fucking dad just like your own did. You want out, you just say the fucking word. Negan can give this baby a better life than you ever could."
"You stringing him along? Huh? You tellin' him it's his kid, too?"
"He knows it's not."
"Does he?" Daryl narrowed his eyes at her. Lucy scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"What's wrong with you? You've changed." She folded her arms across her chest.
"I'm tryin'," he agreed. "Tryin' not to let your poison' fill my head anymore. That's what you are, Lucy. Fucking poison. Every minute with you felt like a fucking elephant was sittin' on my goddamn chest. Couldn't breathe, couldn't think, 'cause all I did was wait for you to go off the deep end. And you? You lived for it. You waited 'til I was at the end of my fuckin' rope, and then you tried to reel me back in. I'm done."
"Stop," she choked out, tears brimming in her eyes. "I get that you're mad. I was a shitty girlfriend, but I'm going to be a good mom, and…and nothing changes the fact that you're the dad. So if you want a fucking paternity test, you're going to have to scrape the money up yourself, because I'm not going to help you throw your money away when we both know what the results are gonna say." She grabbed her purse and started for the door.
"Lucy."
"What?" She turned and glared at him.
"Look, if the kid turns out to be mine, I'm gonna be the dad. But that's it. You and me? The last thing we need together is a kid. But we might have that. Look, I don't want this with you. I don't want you in my life. But if it's my kid? My kid's gonna know me. Ain't nothin' gonna stop me from bein' there. But I'm there for the baby. And that's it. I need to know you get that."
She turned away from him then and reached for the door knob. But before she stepped out, she looked over her shoulder at him and took a deep breath.
"You must really hate me," she said quietly. "I'm fucked up. I know it. I get jealous and out of control. I loved you more than anything, but you look at me like I'm a monster. Maybe this is what it takes for me to get my head back on straight. Maybe this is how we make things right between us."
"A baby ain't a bandage. It ain't a cure all. But it's coming, and whatever happens next, we ain't never gonna be the same. I don't know much, but I know any kid of mine is gonna know what a good dad is. I'll make sure of it." Lucy took a shaky breath and nodded her head. And then she turned and left the room, leaving Daryl reeling from his own outburst. He imagined the doctor already had him pegged as a prick. What kind of man yells at the woman who is presumably carrying his child? Hell, he even felt like a prick. But he'd been holding it in for so long. He'd been holding so much back from Lucy out of fear of what she might do. And to actually say those things out loud and just let the tension slowly leave his muscles felt better than he ever thought it could.
Still, he was left with a big question mark looming over his head. He was no closer to knowing if the baby was really his, and for the time being, it looked like he was going to have to wait to save up enough money or wait for the kid to be born, whichever came first. The sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach was back, and he was pretty sure it wasn't going to go away until he had answers. Even then, he wasn't sure he'd ever shake it. Either the kid was his, and he'd have to put up with Lucy in his life for the next eighteen years, or the kid wasn't his, and he had to move on with his life knowing some poor kid was going to need a lot of therapy to get through the scars of its childhood.
Then again, Daryl thought, maybe Lucy was right. Maybe she had it in her to be a good mom. Maybe she could turn her life around and get help for the sake of her child. He hoped like hell he was right, because if anybody knew what it was like to grow up with selfish, fucked up parents, he did. He didn't wish that fate on anybody, especially an unborn baby.
Author's Note: Thanks everyone for your feedback on the last chapter! Please let me know what you think! Feedback is always appreciated!
