CHAPTER 75- THE DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT

Elizabeth awoke with a start.

For a brief moment she was disoriented until she remembered that she was lying on the thin mattress on the floor of their quarters. Without needing to turn her head to look around, she knew that Jack was peacefully sleeping next to her. She had initially fallen asleep in his arms. At some point during the last three hours, they had sleepily untangled their naked bodies but she could feel that he was still just a few inches away.

She also knew that Aaron Daniel was peacefully sleeping in the berth to her right. She could hear the little noises he made as he sucked on one of his thumbs.

If it wasn't Jack or Aaron that had made me wake up in a panic, what was it?

Crap. Crap. Crap. CRAP! Elizabeth thought as the events of a few hours ago came to mind.

What did we do?!

What did we do?!

WE HAD SEX WITHOUT BIRTH CONTROL!

IN SPACE!

CRAP!

What were we thinking?!

Lying still so as not to disturb her husband or her son, Elizabeth imagined how Jack would react in the morning. Her devoted Jack. Her perfect match in every way. Mentally. Emotionally. Physically. He was perfect for her. He teased her. He energized her. He supported her.

She adored everything about him. His hair with its adorable cowlick. His eyes, which changed with the lighting and his mood and were the color of pools of blue green water. Or grey skies on a stormy day. His hands were strong and nurturing. His face could make her smile with just a wink or a look. He was everything she wanted in a husband.

How would he react if she had gotten pregnant? In space. Again.

His schedule. His perfect schedule. We ignored it. And it was my fault. I'm the one who woke him up last night.

Jack had planned everything, and now Elizabeth was messing up her perfect husband's life.

A fretful Elizabeth finally fell back asleep when her brain was too exhausted to think anymore. She drifted off just as Earth's daytime was being simulated on the transporter. The lights in the corridors getting brighter. The night-shift workers finishing their shifts. The day-workers waking up.

Hours later, now fully awake, Elizabeth used one hand to wipe tears from her eyes before the small drops of moisture fell onto Aaron's face as the boy nursed.

She couldn't stop crying so she simply stayed on the mattress in a pit of despair.

She had thought that she and Jack would discuss the 'situation' when they both woke up. But he had left before she was even fully awake. Placing their son in her arms for nursing, he had quietly told her he was going running.

And that was it. That was the extent of their morning conversation. That and Jack's brief mention that he was going to ask the laundry to drop off more sheets.

She wondered if he was running on the treadmill or around the levels of the ship going up and down the stairwells. He ran for exercise. He ran to think. He ran to relieve stress. This morning's run was no doubt to relieve stress.

As she held the baby against her breast, she cried with worry about the idea of being pregnant. Then cried with happiness at the possibility. Then cried with worry. Then cried with happiness. Back and forth went her emotions. The tears silently falling down her cheeks every few minutes.

Elizabeth contemplated what would happen if she was indeed pregnant after last night's encounter. She'd need to transfer to another transporter heading back towards Earth. Jack would need to continue his voyage to Coal Valley or resign from the Force. Aaron would stay with Jack or they'd have to petition to have him de-classified as a research subject. Jack's career would be over. The pregnancy and the new baby's health would be in jeopardy due to space. Their lives would be in turmoil.

Their lives would be wonderful. A new baby. A sister or brother for Aaron. They'd be a family of four. Living back on Earth in their adorable home in Liskow and surrounded by loving relatives. They'd turn the extra bedroom into a nursery with a cute mural or wallpaper of little pandas or sheep or maybe horses. On warm summer days, they'd lay a soft blanket on the backyard grass and have picnics; Aaron and the new baby would crawl on top of a proud Jack while Elizabeth smiled in happiness.

But Jack would be unemployed, and unable to find a job in law enforcement due to leaving the Force abruptly and without proper notification. He'd be pressured to work for Mr. Thatcher. He'd hate an office job. He'd begin to resent Elizabeth. Their marriage would be full of tension. There'd be no happy picnics in the backyard. The nasty squirrels would bite the baby and they'd all have to get rabies shots.

Back and Forth, Elizabeth's mind went.

Why?! Why were we together last night?! she moaned to herself.

Elizabeth sniffled. Not wearing a shirt, and not wanting to get up while holding the baby, she had nothing to use to blow her nose. Looking around in despair, she finally just blew her wet nose into the bed-sheets.

Her life was a mess and she looked it. Her cheeks were blotchy and streaked with mascara which she hadn't bothered to take off last night. Her hair was a tousled heap that resembled a mouse nest rather than the luxurious locks of Rapunzel.

She didn't think she could cry any more, and then Aaron changed from eating to teething. He bit down on her breast causing her to wince and start crying all over again.

How am I going to handle a pregnancy and a baby?!

"Hey, you're awake," Jack said as he walked in the room and saw her sitting on the mattress stacking blocks with Aaron.

Elizabeth had a headache – which she assumed was due to her crying jag – and didn't have the energy to get up. Luckily, Aaron was content playing next to her and intermittently chewing on a teething toy that the crew member had dropped off yesterday. Elizabeth had no idea where someone had managed to find a teething toy on the transporter, but she didn't care. It kept her son happy.

"Yeah. I just woke up a bit ago. I'm still tired though," Elizabeth looked expectantly at Jack. Hoping he was in a good mood after his run. Hoping he was understanding about last night.

"I'm going to hop in the shower. Here, I brought you this." He placed a bottle of water on a nearby shelf. "You look awful," he noted casually as he grabbed hold of his tee-shirt and pulled it over his head. He tossed it into a corner. "Worse than usual."

A stunned Elizabeth wiped her eyes again and contemplated how puffy her face must be from her crying, but before she could say anything, Jack was talking again. "I ran into Marisol and we're going to take Aaron swimming. Can you put him in his swim trunks? And I saw Becca too. We're signed up for the racquetball league."

"Racquetball?" Elizabeth uttered but Jack barely noticed.

He took off his shorts and threw them on top of his sweaty tee-shirt. "We think we have a good chance at winning. You should see some of the other passengers. Mostly nerdy scientists," he chuckled as he walked into the shower-room.

"Jack? Do you want to talk? About last night?" she called out, but Jack didn't respond and a second later, Elizabeth heard the sound of the shower water.

That's it?!

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed in irritation and she glared at the shower-room door.

He walks in, brings me a bottle of water, and goes to take a shower?!

No 'I love you'?

No 'hey sweetie, I'm sorry I got carried away last night but you are so desirable and I love you so much that I couldn't stop myself'?

No 'whatever happens, I'll be happy because I love you'?!

That's it?! He's going to take a shower and then leave again?!

Of course, I look awful. Why shouldn't I? I'm married to a jerk!

Doesn't he care about me?! About last night?

Maybe he wants me to get pregnant so he can get rid of me? She wondered with a furious tightening of her jaw.

Ship the pregnant little wifey home to Earth and be a playboy!

I look worse than usual?! I just woke up! Am I supposed to look like a cover girl after sleeping on the floor?!

Men!

They're horrid! I'm married to a horrid man! I'm too good for him!

When Jack came out of the shower-room two minute later, wrapped in a towel, and humming a tune, Elizabeth was still on the mattress of the floor and had refused to change Aaron into his swim trunks. If Jack wanted to take the boy for a swim date with the gorgeous Marisol, he could change the boy himself, she had thought angrily.

"You should get up," he encouraged her. He smiled at Aaron and made a silly face for the boy. "Maybe go for a jog", he suggested pleasantly to Elizabeth.

"I don't want to go for a jog!" she said indignantly.

Jack cringed at his wife's outburst. "Okay," he said. "Forget a jog. Sorry. I just thought it might help."

"Why would a jog help?" she scrunched her face in a nasty retort.

"I just thought it might," Jack replied with a shrug. "You know, exercise."

Elizabeth looked at him in disgust. "A jog?"

"Then a shower," he offered nonchalantly as he combed his hair.

"A shower? You think a shower is going to make a difference? Jack, I may be pregnant. Have you even thought about that? Remember last night? Did you forget what we did last night?" she asked loathingly. "Do you even care that I may have gotten pregnant and what that means? You ran out of here before we could even talk about it."

"There's nothing to talk about. You're not pregnant," Jack announced dismissively

He pulled out a pair of swim trucks from his locker and slipped into them. After casually tied the strings on his trunks, he retrieved Aaron from the floor. "Hello, my little boy. We're going swimming. That will be fun, won't it? You like swimming."

"I may be!" she said hotly. Her head was pounding and she didn't feel like fighting but she refused to allow Jack to treat her poorly and ignore the possibility that last night's activities had led to a pregnancy.

"I admit I was worried when I first woke up, but you're not, so we dodged a bullet. But we need to be more careful."

"How do you know that I'm not pregnant?" Elizabeth demanded. She watched Jack's loving interaction with Aaron, and wondered how he could be so awful to her.

"Have you been out of bed this morning? Off that mattress?" he asked curiously.

"No," she answered hotly. "I don't feel like it."

Jack gave her a knowing look which didn't tell her anything other than she was confused by it.

"Why? What does that matter?" she finally ventured angrily.

"You got your period."

"What are you talking about? I did not." Elizabeth scrunched up her eyebrows and stared at him in puzzlement before quickly jerking up the sheet and looking at the fitted sheet underneath her.

Oh, my goodness, he's right!

"Course you did," Jack told her. "I noticed it on the sheets this morning. I told you I was getting the laundry to bring us some more," he reminded her as he began changing Aaron's outfit.

That's what he was talking about! I thought he was just into housekeeping.

"I brought you ibuprofen," he added with a nod to the shelf where he had placed the water bottle. "You didn't take them yet? You always get a headache the first day of your period. I stopped by the infirmary after my run and picked them up for you."

"Oh, right," she said meekly. He went and got me ibuprofen! Because he knows how I get headaches.

"And I got you the water because you always feel gross and dehydrated and say water helps."

"I do," she said weakly. Her eyes began filling with tears.

That's why he said I looked awful. He wasn't being critical, he was being sympathetic! Thinking that its worse for me this month because we're in space and I'm in this cramped room sleeping on the floor.

"And you always get emotional, and confrontational and hot-tempered" Jack said with a smile and shake of his head. "C'mon, Acorn. We're going to leave Mommy alone for a bit. It always takes her an hour or two, ibuprofen, and a hot shower before she feels like herself."

"Thank you." Elizabeth called out as the men left the Thornton quarters.

He really is the most perfect husband, she thought as she swallowed the pills and headed to the shower-room.

"Mrs. Thornton", the doctor's voice rang out in the hallway from the doorway of the infirmary.

Elizabeth was on the way to collect Aaron from Abigail, who was undoubtedly spoiling the boy with attention. She stopped walking and turned around when she heard her name being called. After swim lessons, Jack had left Aaron with Abigail so he could do his rounds and Elizabeth could rest until her headache had gone away. Now, feeling much better, Elizabeth's thoughts about how wonderful Jack was as a husband, were interrupted by the doctor's professional voice.

The three Thorntons, like all passengers and crew, were required to have periodic physical evaluations while on the transporter and again while in Coal Valley. The scheduling, either by earth citizen number of alphabetically, usually meant that Jack and Elizabeth were towards the end of the schedule, and this voyage was no different. They wouldn't be seen until more than week after lift-off; all three of their appointments were for tomorrow.

"Mrs. Thornton, your initial evaluation isn't until tomorrow, but I've got an opening now. I don't like to waste time. Are you available?" the doctor asked as he thought how lucky it was to find someone to fill the empty time-slot.

The infirmary was even more sterile than the rest of the transporter if that was even possible. Elizabeth had sent a quick message to Abigail letting her know that she would be delayed, and now found herself sitting shoe-Less on the edge of an examination table with a blood pressure cuff inflating on her upper right arm.

"How's Aaron Daniel doing?" the doctor asked. "I'll see him for his appointment tomorrow but you can let me know now if you have any concerns."

"No concerns. He's fine."

"Any problems lactating now that you're on the BCHD?" He removed the cuff from her arm, wound the cord around it, and put it back in one of the metal drawers that lined a wall. His question about birth control was ordinary and routine, but Elizabeth immediately became nervous.

"Um. About that-" Elizabeth began hesitantly.

A minute later, Elizabeth was feeling hysterical relief.

For eight days, she and Jack had been worried for no reason. Her lapse in getting birth control before boarding the transporter had been unfortunate but as the doctor explained, it wasn't life altering – just an inconvenience which he could help them with. She couldn't believe that she and Jack hadn't thought to ask the man earlier.

" . . . I feel so silly not telling you earlier but . . . .

. . . . . we were so worried about getting pregnant in space again . . .

" . . . . we just knew that on our last voyage, there wasn't anything,' she explained again with a smile. "Because it wasn't thought necessary. And I thought I'd get in trouble. Maybe get sent back to Earth."

The doctor chuckled. "Still such a crazy story. The three of you. Who would have thought someone would get pregnant in space with all the precautions we have? But you did last year and my brother still talks about having you as a patient. But like I said, not to worry this time. You're not pregnant so let's keep it that way for the next two years. That's why we have the Thornton contingency on every flight."

"The Thornton contingency?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Didn't I mention? That's what we all call it. No disrespect intended."

"Um. Okay," Elizabeth answered hesitantly. Now that the doctor, who had initially been affronted by her neglect of getting an implant, had told her that he had birth control on board, she really wasn't about to complain about the nickname for the supplies even if it was slightly demeaning.

"It's just a few extra supplies. An extra BCHD in case one goes bad – much like yours did before, and some condoms," he explained. "I assume you'd like the BCHD?"

"Yes, please." Elizabeth unbuttoned her waistband and lowered her pants for the injection of the device into her hip. "You want me to lay down for it?"

"Doc?" she asked when he didn't respond but instead continued to look through a nearby drawer and then open another and shuffle through the contents.

"That's odd. I don't see it here. One of the medics should have stocked it," he said pensively. "Let me check the computer."

Elizabeth dangled her feet from the edge of the examination table. Casually at first, and then with more nervous energy as she waited for the doctor to give her his attention. The paper sheet underneath her crinkled and then tore when she shifted her body for the fourth time.

The doctor's sigh seemed to echo through the otherwise quiet room. "Well, that's unfortunate. Let me pull up the Report of Survey."

"Report of Survey?" Elizabeth's voice cracked at bit. She knew about Reports of Survey. She had been interviewed for many of them after her first voyage when an irrational passenger had damaged a considerable amount of the ship and Elizabeth had been locked in a mini-transporter set to jettison. Reports of survey were completed for one reason only. To document the loss and damage of equipment.

The doctor sighed again as he read from his computer screen. "I hate when medical equipment is destroyed. It looks like the device – the only one we had onboard – had to be destroyed due to damage."

"Damage? Who damages a BCHD?"

"It says here that it was A. Thornton."

Elizabeth looked baffled. "A Thornton? What do you mean a Thornton destroyed it? Me or Jack? Why would we destroy a BCHD? We didn't even know that there was one on-board!"

"Not a Thornton. A. Thornton."

"A Thornton?" she repeated in confusion.

"Aaron Thornton, I assume. It appears that Ensign Sooner was delivering it from storage on the lower level to the infirmary after inventory and he bumped into you in a hallway?"

"So?" Elizabeth had no idea where this conversation was going. She felt like she had stumbled into the middle of a story and didn't understand the plot. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"According to the report, he dropped the device, which was contained in an envelope, and your son picked it up and chewed on it. Crumpling and wetting the envelope through to the inside. The device – as you know- is very fragile. Ensign Sooner couldn't guarantee that it hadn't been damaged so he felt it was prudent to destroy it rather than have someone rely on it."

Elizabeth looked stunned.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Thornton, but your son was responsible for the destruction of the only BCHD we had on-board."

UP NEXT: Hmmm. I haven't come up with a title for it yet, but I've got the idea. 😊