Chapter 7:

Ria woke up slightly disoriented. This was neither her apartment nor Dupree's. It was not the research room so where on earth could she have slept? She wanted to get up, but sat right back down again feeling dizzy and a major headache. Her eyes felt puffy, as if she had been crying hard and long. Then the memories came back to her. She had been crying hard and long in Gillian Foster's office. Then she also remembered why she was crying. There was a high possibility she was pregnant and that not even from her boyfriend but her co-worker and one night stand, Eli Loker. At that moment she wanted to cry again.

Suddenly the doors of the office opened and the warm hearted Gillian came inside, with a cup of tea in her hand. She set the tea down on the coffee table and soothingly patted Ria's hand. "You must be feeling awful. Now you can't take any aspirin so I made you a tea with calming herbs in it. You should wait a minute, it is still very hot. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Ria looked into those warm pools of blue eyes and shook her head. She still had to process all that has happened today. There were a lot of unresolved emotions in her that she had to sort out. After a few minutes of silence and a few sips of the tea Ria asked "Dr. Foster did you get a hold of the doctor you recommended me?" Ria did not dare to look up from her cup. "Oh Ria, please call me Gillian. No need for formalities. In fact I did and was able to schedule an appointment for tomorrow. I think you should take the rest of the day off. I can pick you up and drive you to the office. It is kind of tricky to get there." She put a hand on Rias shoulder as she was giving her a big smile. Ria smiled back and mumbled a quite thank you before losing herself into her thoughts.

Ria thought about a lot things at the same time. If the case would be that she would be pregnant, then Eli would be the only one that could be the father. How would she break the news to Dupree if she were pregnant? How would he react? Leave her? Stay with her? Could she stay with him? How should she tell Eli? Should she tell him at all? If he was the father he had the right to know about this baby. And it would be really obvious that the baby would not be from Dupree. It would have to have a much darker skin color. What would be with her job? Does she need to quit? Can she keep working? If she had to quit, should she keep the baby? Should she get an abortion? Or give it up for adoption? She was making good money for her alone, but having a baby and getting unemployed is nothing she could afford. The more she thought about it the more depressed she became. There was a whole bunch of problems that would arise if she was pregnant.

She did not feel up to dealing with all that right now. Not now not ever. She had a pretty good plan about her live. Get a good job, get a nice husband, move into a house, have a baby. Not have baby, get unemployed and single and live in the slums. It was the environment she was raised and she did not want to put another child through the horrors of poverty.

Gillians voice tore her out of her thoughts "Come on Ria. I will drive you home." Ria just nodded and slowly got up. She felt a lot better, the tea worked wonders. She followed Gillian to her car and got in. As they were driving Gillian started "You know Eli was really worried about you." Ria just gave a casual "hm" as Gillian went on "He followed Dupree to the Garage. Blamed him, for you being depressed. He even punched him." This time Ria's reaction was a bit livelier. "He did what?" Ria asked in disbelieve. "Yes, punched him. He really picked a fight with Dupree. Dupree defended himself and landed some punches himself. That must have been some brawl. Well in the end Eli had some injuries so Lightman drove him to the ER" Ria could not believe what she was hearing. It must be a bad joke. "Is it serious?" she did not care if every single muscle in her face and every single word would reveal her concern about Eli. "I don't think so. Probably a concussion and a bruised hand. Maybe a few bruised ribs. Nothing life threatening. But it is not typical for Eli to act so irrational." Ria was by then back in her mind thinking about Eli and his fear of hospitals. He has never mentioned it to her but she is a natural rookie in her job so she knew how uncomfortable he was in hospitals and around doctors.

Gillian drove up the apartment complex Ria was living in and asked a last time if she needed anything. Ria just shook her head and told her that she would see Gillian tomorrow and made her way up to her apartment. All Ria wanted was time alone. She needed to think things through eat a whole cup of ice cream and sit on her couch wrapped in her favorite blanket. She opened her door and as she saw the pair of shoes that were standing right there in the entry, she knew that her plans for tonight were not going to be working.

She walked into the living room and saw Dupree sitting on the couch watching a sports game. As he noticed Ria he jumped up from his position and went over to her, taking her in a big hug.

Right after their hug he started to ask her all kinds of questions about today, Eli and herself. Ria was in no mood at all for talking so she kept her answers short and unemotional. Dupree notices the strange mood his girlfriend was in and asked "Baby, what's wrong?" Ria looked him in the eye and said "I just need some time alone." Dupree understood everything that Ria wanted to tell with that answer and stood up, got his things and left her. But not without giving her a kiss on the forehead.

AN: Here because all of you people that have been supporting me by commenting or adding my story to the alert or favorite list, I put up another chapter just for you.

Here a big fat THANK YOU! To all my readers 3 3 3 :D You are GREAT!