Dallas, Texas

"…you see, I was in Paris for a week, so I skipped the placebo pills for convenience, but I've been back almost a week now and nothing's happened and surely it should have and every day that passes now worries me a little more". Sitting stiffly on the edge of the bed in the familiar examination room, Pam felt sick to her stomach as she explained her concerns to her doctor. She'd sat in the same spot many times before but this was the first time she'd had any real anxiety about the experience, this time, she had an idea of what was going on and as nice as the news might be one day, it wasn't news she wanted to hear right now.

"Well, firstly, I'd like you to take a deep breath try to relax, the stress you're describing could be exacerbating the situation", nodding and giving her an encouraging smile, Doctor Miller, a middle-aged woman she'd always found kind and straightforward, gave her exactly the response she expected, empathetic to her concerns in tone, but undramatic in language.

"What situation is that?" completely aware of what they were both referring to, she wasn't exactly thrilled by the confirmation that something was going on. It would have been nice to know that a late period and gaining a couple of pounds that she couldn't seem to shake were just normal side effects of hormonal contraception, but she couldn't be entirely sure and nothing she was hearing was exactly confirming that.

"I can't say yet, but we'll find out, in the meantime, stress is not going to help you right now", confirming nothing, she reiterated that worrying about the situation wasn't helping, though neither were her comments.

"What if I'm pregnant?" addressing the question straight on, the sick feeling in her stomach only increased when she verbalised her concerns. She had a terrible feeling it wasn't a question of 'what if' any longer and more a fact, something she knew, something she felt.

"Would you like to be pregnant?" turning the question around, Doctor Miller's tone suggested she had an idea of what her answer was, but she couldn't in good faith tell her it was all going to be fine, or it was a disaster. She was a doctor, her job was to medically assist with the situation, whatever that was, not judge the circumstances under which it had happened or the emotional toll the news would take on her.

"I'm just recently married…" skirting around the question, she was cautious about outright saying she didn't want to have a baby yet because although she didn't believe that what had happened to Sue Ellen had been anything but an unfortunate accident, she did believe the guilt Sue Ellen had about her thoughts and feelings prior to the accident were real. Even without detailing her empathetic feelings she was quite sure that Doctor Miller could understand where she was coming from in relation to her marriage though, they'd known each other for a few years, she'd written out prescriptions that some said unmarried women shouldn't have access to, a prescription she hadn't stopped taking on her wedding night. She didn't want a baby right now, but she was afraid to say those exact words.

"I think you may be getting ahead of yourself, you very well could be pregnant, but from the brief summary you've given me it could also be nothing more than a shift in hormone levels. We won't know until we run some tests", noting her level of discomfort, Doctor Miller did her best to offer an alternative explanation for how she was feeling, though she couldn't honestly say one way or the other without looking into it, which she made sure to reassure her they were about to do.

Nodding, she was quiet in her murmured response, "ok". She had come to the doctor for a test to give her answers but now that she was here and they were making plans to do that she was scared, she had to though, she had to know whether what she strongly suspected was true or not.

"Good, now, are you currently taking the placebo pills?" looking through her patient notes, Doctor Miller returned to the medical rather than emotional side of their conversation, trying her best to get an idea of where they stood without having any recent results at her fingertips.

"Yes, but I only have a couple left", able to visualise the exact pack sitting in the drawer in the bathroom she shared with Bobby at Southfork, she told Doctor Miller one of the things she was absolutely sure of.

"I see, and prior to this vacation do you recall experiencing any issues with regularity?" asking her directly, the doctor flipped through her notes at the same time, looking for any previous mentions of a similar issue.

"I don't think so", shaking her head, she answered as best she could. Give or take a few days, counting the way her aunt Maggie had taught her to years ago had always worked well enough for her, as had the change in pill colour for a week of the month, until now.

"You don't think so?" looking up from the folder in her hands, Doctor Miller sounded surprised by her ambiguity.

"If you're asking historically then no, but more recently April was a chaotic time, so I skipped the placebo pills then too, therefore it's been a while since anything happened, so I'm not sure", doing her best to answer the question, her thoughts were summarised in the latter part of her sentence, she just wasn't sure.

Listening quietly, Doctor Miller didn't seem concerned by her admission that she was getting into the habit of running her packs of pills together, all she really wanted to know was, "when you say 'a while', how far back are we talking?"

Leaning down, she pulled a neatly folded piece of paper out of her purse, unfolding it to read through the dates she'd copied down from her calendar, able to give the doctor the answer she'd asked for, "March 12th".

"March 12th…" noting the tone of Doctor Miller's words, she was suddenly very sure of her intuition, test or no test.

To be continued…