Chapter 17: Oops

Charon had allowed himself to rest for the time being. His chest rose under my head and his slow heartbeat was like a lullaby. His arms pressed me against him and for once, I felt like I belonged.

I belonged in this metro, in this spot, in his arms. I belonged with him. Despite terrifying the shit out of me just half an hour ago, he truly cared for me. And I cared for him.

My eyelids grew heavier with every passing second. I couldn't sleep in this condition though. Sleep seemed like such a comfort now. I forced my eyes open and pressed the heels of my palms into my eyes.

"Is everything alright, Eleanor?" Charon asked sleepily.

"I'm really tired. I know, I know, I can't sleep."

"We should get moving then if you need to."

"I really don't want to, though. I want to stay right her with you." I yawned.

"As appealing as that sounds, health comes before happiness."

I slid off his lap and stretched with a groan. "Sure."

He stood up and dusted his pants off.

"Oh come on. I know I'm a filthy slut but I didn't think I was that filthy." I grinned.

"That's not funny. That's still an issue that you need to work on."

"Yeah, I know. Come on. I want to go to Megaton. We'll just have to do Jefferson Memorial some other day."

"What about your father?"

"Fuck him. He left me there in that fucking vault so he could go fuck Dr. Li or some shit. I guess I know where his loyalties lie."

"Eleanor, you don't mean that."

"I don't. I'm just still really pissed off at him." I slung my bag over my shoulder and followed him down the tunnels.

Once back in the concourse, I felt a wave of nausea hit me. I doubled over the railing.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I feel really sick suddenly." I held my hair up and jerked forward as I gagged.

Charon took my hair and I grabbed the rails for support. After my stomach was empty, I wiped my mouth with a cough.

"Damn, smoothskin." Charon used his sleeve to wipe my tears away.

"I feel like shit."

"You need to eat now." He dug into my bag and produced a box of Dandy Boy Apples.

I smiled and thanked him. I ripped the box open and shoveled the dried fruit into my mouth greedily. I slouched over again and proceeded to vomit up the apples.

"This isn't fucking fair!" I kicked a can.

"There is something wrong. We should go to Underworld and get you checked out by Barrows." Charon patted my back lightly.

"Okay," I mumbled under my breath.

The walk was very uneventful. The raiders had been cleared out weeks ago and nothing seemed to want to inhabit it. The gates screeched and Charon held it open for me.

"Chivalry isn't dead. It was just a ghoul." I smiled and poked him in the side.

He flinched from the poke. "Don't do that."

My brow lifted. "Do what? This?" I poked his side again.

He snorted but stood up quickly with a stern expression. "Stop."

I smiled mischievously and threw my hands at both of his sides and squeezed my fingers.

He jerked violently, laughing and snorting. "Fucking stop!"

I halted and threw my arms around his waist. I buried my face into his chest.

"Fuck you, Eleanor." He wrapped his arms around me protectively and squeezed me. He leaned into my ear. "I'm so going to get you when you aren't expecting."

"Alright, Charon." I nuzzled into his chest and inhaled his scent. He smelled of copper and leather.

"What are you doing?"

"At the risk of sounding creepy, I think you smell good."

"That's a first. Anyway, we need you to go get checked out." He let go of me and rested his hand on the small of my back, leading me into Underworld and ignoring Willow's stares.

He pushed past anyone stupid enough to get in the way. He opened the door quietly and we slipped into the clinic. Barrows looked up from his clipboard and his eyes widened.

"Eleanor, it's nice to see you again. Charon is taking good care of you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm here to be seen actually. I think I might be sick."

"Ah, yes. Take a seat."

I sat down on the gurney and clasped my hands together.

"Alright, Eleanor. What is going on here today?"

"Well, Charon and I were in Anacostia when I got really nauseous. I threw up and then Charon gave me some apples to eat and I immediately threw those up too."

"And you say it was very sudden?"

"Yeah, there wasn't any radiation there either. I haven't eaten anything questionable since I got out of the vault."

"Have you been around anyone that was sick?"

"Not that I know of."

He bit his pen and wrote something down. "I'm going to ask you some other questions. Personal stuff. If you feel uncomfortable with sharing that information directly to me, I can have Graves ask you them. Charon doesn't have to be in here either."

Charon glared at him. "I'm staying."

He cleared his throat. "I believe it's all in Eleanor's comfort."

"He can stay. And you can ask the questions."

"Alright. Here we go, first question is" he paused, "are you sexually active?"

"Hell yeah. Next question."

Charon was glaring daggers at him.

"Well, do you use any form of protection?"

My face heated in shame. "No. I don't even know where to look for it."

"You might want to start looking from now on." He wrote on his clipboard. "Next question: would you feel comfortable enough to tell me how many times you've had unprotected sex since you've been out of the vault?"

My head drooped down and I started counting off on my fingers. Charon seemed to get angrier with every finger lifted. I glanced at him and his anger visibly melted into pity. I mouthed 'I'm so sorry.'

"If I can remember correctly, I would have to say around twelve times." I mumbled.

"Same person?" He asked with concern.

"All different guys." I bit my lip and looked away in shame.

"It's okay, Eleanor. No one here is judging you." He scribbled something on the clipboard.

"Last question: when was the first day of your last period?"

"I think it was the eighth of last month." I looked at my pipboy to check the date. "Oh fuck."

"I think I would need to run some blood work before I can give you any definite answers."

"But what do you think is wrong with me? Why do you need blood samples?"

"I'm not going to say anything until I know for sure. I'm not going to get you panicked in case it happens to be something else."

"Oh my god." I whispered. I threw my head into my hands.

"Barrows, can we have a word outside?" Charon asked through gritted teeth.

"As you wish." He opened the door and he and Charon stepped out.

The room was silent except for my quiet sobs. Graves sat in the uncomfortable silence.

"I'm sorry you're in this situation, smoothskin. How old are you?"

"Nineteen!" I choked out loudly.

She jumped from my tone. "Oh god. This is going to be hard for you. You do understand that there are...other options, yes?"

I looked up from my hands. "I'm not going to do that. I would never be able to live with myself."

Graves pulled out a rag and handed it to me. "You should use this."

I took it gratefully. "Thank you, Graves."

"It's the least I could do right now."

Charon opened the door and avoided my eyes. Barrows slid into the room behind him with his clipboard broken.

"We should take the samples now. The sooner, the better." Barrows pulled out a needle.

"Charon, hold my hand. I don't like needles." He took my hand gently.

Barrows wrapped a belt around my arm and stuck the needle in. My face twisted and I squeezed Charon's hand tightly. After several seconds of pain, the needle was gone and replaced with a bandage.

I stood up from the gurney and fell into Charon's arms. He lifted me back up to my feet.

"I need rest. Please bring me to Carol's." I begged.

Charon nodded and looked over to Barrows.

"I should have the results by tomorrow afternoon." Barrows said sadly.

"Okay. Let's go, Elle." Charon held the door for me and I stumbled out of the clinic.

"I'm so scared, Charon." I said barely above a whisper.

"I know you are, smoothskin. I am too."