Chapter 12

Bad News

Little did I know that with the next statement, coming from the doctor that had just removed my breathing tube, my life would be changed forever. The four of us stayed in our little trance for a good while until he pushed the door open. I could see Sandy and Kirsten behind him.

"Summer," Kirsten came into the room and took my hand. "I'm so happy that you're okay."

"Thank you," I was able to whisper.

"Come on you guys," Sandy said nodding his head out of the door. "The doctor would like some privacy with Summer for a couple of minutes."

"Can't I stay?" Seth was quick to ask.

"No son. Privacy," Sandy repeated and motioned for him to follow.

"I'll be back Summer. Okay? I won't leave you," Seth was eager to make sure I understood before following Sandy and Kirsten out of the door.

"He seems to care a lot about you," the doctor said once we were alone. I wondered why he needed to talk to me in private. And I wondered what he had to tell me that wouldn't permit Cohen to be at my side.

"He's sweet," I agreed, my voice still raspy. I knew it was serious when the doctor sat down in a chair next to me. His face looked grave as he tapped his fingers distractedly on his clipboard. I braced myself for the worst.

"We did X-rays, Summer, before we were able to go inside and fix what had been damaged." I weakly nodded my head realizing that he wasn't just going to come right out and say what he was going to.

"We saw that your blood pressure was rather high and we wanted to make sure that you were alright. In other words, rule out all dangerous possibilities. In the X-rays we made a discovery that made us suspicious and permitted us to perform a pregnancy test," the doctor waited for my reaction. I was speechless. Had I heard him right? They were permitted to perform a pregnancy test? Without my permission?

"And?" I asked irritably. I knew it wasn't true. It couldn't be true! Seth and I had been so careful.

"It came up positive. Were you aware that you were pregnant Ms. Roberts?" he asked. My mind went completely blank and I felt like I was going to pass out.

"It's not true!" I cried as loud as I could, which wasn't much above a whisper. "I was always careful!"

"We can help you determine who the father is by doing a simple DNA test once the baby is born," the doctor said gently reaching for my hand.

"I know damn well who the father is. I'm not some whore!" I snapped pulling away my hand. I didn't want him anywhere near me. This wasn't right! He wasn't telling me the truth. There must have been some sick mistake. Some big mistake!

"Are you sure?" I asked tears welling up in my eyes. "Are you sure that I'm pregnant." The doctor nodded his head slowly.

"Your about 3 months along. You would have discovered that you were pregnant in a matter of weeks when you started showing," he said.

"Is my baby alright?" I asked fearing that all this trauma I had been through had hurt the baby. I rested my hand on my belly and took a deep breath, trying to clear my head.

"Very healthy. Weighs a little less then what I would like to see. You need to make sure your eating regularly. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner," he said naming them off on his fingers. I sighed in relief that my baby was alright.

"That boys the father is he not?" the doctor asked. I felt like I needed to snap at him that it was none of his damn business but I nodded my head yes.

"Let him know when you feel most comfortable. Until then this conversation will be confidential," he assured me. "I will give you care tips as well. You know you'll also have to decided if your going to keep the baby or not but I suggest you talk with your partner first. Would you like me to send someone in?" He got up to leave.

"Coop," I said my head hardly in the conversation.

"Pardon?" he asked.

"Marissa Cooper," I replied snapping quickly back in to reality.

"Ms. Cooper? Ms. Roberts would like to speak with you," the doctor stuck his head out into the hallway.

"Is she okay?" I heard Cohen wanting to know about me.

"She's absolutely fine," the doctor replied. It came out as a lie in my mind. Marissa came in and closed the door behind her.

"You okay sweetie?" Marissa asked standing at the edge of the bed.

"I screwed up big this time Coop," I moaned getting hysterical. Tears fell freely down my face.

"Baby," Marissa crawled up next to me and took me into her arms. I winced at her choice of wording.

"Baby's right," I cried. "I'm pregnant."

"You're pregnant?" she repeated clutching me tighter.

"How is this possible? Cohen and I were so careful Coop!" I tried not to scream. In fear of Seth hearing me and in fear of my throat giving out on me completely. She ran her fingers gently through my hair. "The doctor told me I needed to decide if I was going to keep it."

"How far along did he say you were?" she questioned softly.

"3 months. What am I going to do Coop? I'm not going to give up my baby," I cried. "How could I ever do that? What if Seth rejects me? What about my dad? What if he comes back?" I bombarded Marissa with questions.

"Were going to take this one step at a time Sum," she murmured. "You have to tell Seth."

"Be here with me when I tell him," I moaned letting out another sob and giving out a painful cough.

"Do you want to tell him now?" she asked timidly. I guess it would be better to hurry and get it out in the open. I couldn't lose my teddy bear. There was no way I was going to lose Cohen without a fight. He's the only one I had ever loved. Marissa got up off of the bed and poked her head out into the hallway. I barely heard her say Seth's name. He was in the room in a heartbeat.

"Stay there babe. I'll be back," I heard her whisper to Ryan.

"Are you okay Summer?" he asked immediately panicked by my tear streaked face.

"I love you!" I blurted tugging him down next to me. I sobbed into his shirt. Marissa came up next to me for back up. I think she had been preparing for me to have a major break down.

"I love you too," he murmured, hugging me tightly to him. I inhaled his scent and gently pushed him away. It was now or never. His reaction would be his reaction and that was it.

"I'm…I'm pregnant," I stumbled over my words.

"You're what?" Cohen asked, his eyes growing large. I knew it was too much for him to register.

"I'm sorry Seth!" I cried pulling him back down to me again. His arms still took a strong grip around me.

"We…we were so careful," he whispered.

"I know. I know," I moaned. "But there must have been a time that we weren't careful enough! There must have been a time when we didn't use protection!" It looked like Seth was trying to think back. Everything seemed like a lifetime ago.

"There was never a time where we didn't use protection. We wouldn't have ever done that," he said kissing me and holding my body closer to his. Marissa gasped and covered her mouth with her hand as if coming to some conclusion in your head.

"Your dad Summer," she choked.

"What about him?" I felt like I was hyperventilating.

"There are other forms of abuse honey," Marissa pulled me into her arms and started to cry.

"What the hell are you insinuating Coop?" I pushed her away from me and tried to focus on her through the cloudy wall of tears blurring my vision.

"Did he…did he ever force you to have sex with him?" she asked. I felt like I was going to throw up again.

"No!" I was quick to answer. "He…there wasn't ever a time when he could have…Coop!" I sobbed harder. What if she was right? What if there had been a time…while I was asleep…horrible visions came into my mind.

"No!" I screamed again. "There must have been a time when we weren't careful Cohen!" I turned to Seth who only attempted to pull me closer to him.

"We would have never had sex without protecting ourselves Summer," he said gently trying as hard as he could to get me to understand what could be the sad truth.

"Condoms. There not 100 effective you know," I said trying to hang on to the last bit of denial I could. I sobbed into Seth as I realized that I could very well be pregnant with my father's child.

OK...I hope nobody is too pissed off right now! But look on the bright side...more drama! OK maybe it's not such a bright side. I don't know how correct this chapter is but oh well. I think doctors would probably be sued if they could do random pregnancy tests but I just figured what the hell. So just stick around 2 C what happens next!

Dru

PS. Is it just me or do Thursday nights seem to take FOREVER to get here?