Thanks to Phish Tacko for beta'ing this. Go read her stuff!
Ch. 38
Two weeks in to his new job on the ship, Anthony was having a terrible time. First, he'd been forced to tell the captain that he was pregnant, and the captain had not been too happy about it. He'd said something along the lines of 'I wouldn't have hired you if I'd known this'.
On top of that, he was sick all morning, dry heaving even after he'd emptied his stomach of all the food in it.
Then, he'd made a few calls home, first to talk to Johanna, then to Sweeney. The older man seemed quite disappointed when he picked up.
"Anthony, how are you?" He asked flatly.
"Fine. We've just docked in India. How are you?"
"Great. Happy to finally hear from my best friend and all." Anthony could sense the sarcasm in Sweeney's voice.
"Are you upset about something?" Anthony asked. He wasn't in the mood for this.
"Just that my best friend didn't bother to tell me that he'd be gone at sea for four months. Nothing big." Again, more sarcasm.
Anthony sighed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Todd. I was just stressed out. We've got so much going on, what with expecting the baby and Johanna's new job and they wanted me on the ship so quickly..."
"Right."
"It really wasn't anything personal. I'm sorry," Anthony repeated.
Now it was Sweeney's turn to sigh. "Yeah, alright, it's fine. How are you holding up with the morning sickness?"
"It's terrible," Anthony answered. "I'm sick for hours each day. I've lost about half a stone. Don't tell Johanna that, I don't want her to worry, but I can't keep anything down."
"That's not good, Anthony," Sweeney replied. "Maybe drinking some tea would help."
"Maybe. It's making me so tired, and I'm already too thin as it is. But anyway… How are you holding up? You must be close to two months now."
"Almost. Seven weeks. I've been sick in the mornings, but some days are better than others. Mrs. Lovett's been helping a lot. She takes care of me when I'm sick and has been making sure that I get enough to eat."
"That's good. She cares about you, Mr. Todd. I'm glad you have someone to help you out."
"Me too."
"I've got to go soon, but I'm glad you're doing okay," Anthony said. "I'll call you next week if you're around."
"Sure. Keep truckin', Anthony. Don't go dying on me."
"I'm not going to die, Mr. Todd. Have a baby, yes, but not die."
"Alright. Good. Talk to you later, Anthony."
"Talk to you soon, Mr. Todd."
Anthony hung up the phone. He was about to make another phone call, since he still had a few minutes left, but suddenly his stomach lurched.
"Not again," He sighed, clutching at his stomach. It felt like he'd been kicked there several times, his muscles were so sore. He could feel the bile rising in his throat. He hadn't eaten today, so he had no idea how it was that he had to throw up. He urged his body to stop, to keep down whatever it was that wanted to come up, but it was to no avail. Anthony didn't even make it to the side of the ship this time. Instead, he grabbed a nearby wastebasket and threw up into it.