Beth wiped the sick off of her chin before letting her hair fall back over her shoulder. Rick was right, she must have been getting sick. She had tried some of the ginseng, she tried ginger, she tried raspberry leaf tea, but to no avail. Every time she thought the nausea was beginning to pass, it came back in full force. It had taken her three days, but she had finally decided to go down to the pantry and see if they had any dimenhydrinate, or at least any acetaminophen for the burning in her throat.
So she pulled on a pair of loose joggers and a t-shirt, and threw her hair up into a ponytail to at least pretend that she had washed it. She was thankful for Carl, who had volunteered to watch Judith until she was feeling better. She suspected that part of the reason for his helpfulness was an excuse to keep himself out of school, however he had thrown himself whole-heartedly into the role of big brother.
Carl had Judith on his lap at the small dining room table in the kitchen; feeding her with one hand and himself with the other. The others had already left for work, and Beth suddenly found her mind wandering.
What would the construction crew be working on today? Wall maintenance and roofing was a reasonable guess. She could picture Merle perched on the roof of the guard tower, a cigarette sticking out the corner of his mouth while he worked at stripping away damaged tiles. Tobin was probably badgering him for the tenth time about not wearing gloves or a safety tether, and Merle was probably flipping him off and muttering something about 'those fuckin' city pricks'...
A loud rap on the door shook her out of her daydream, but Carl was already up and walking towards the door, Judith still tucked against him. She was half way through preparing another thermos of raspberry leaf tea when she heard his voice.
"Beth a'right? Was supposed t'come by 'n' pick up some bolts a couple o' days ago. Never showed up."
"Yeah, she's been sick," Beth heard Carl respond, "She's been pretty bad a couple o' days now. She probably just didn't wanna get anyone over there sick too."
"An' a guess that sticks you on Judy duty huh?"
Carl, sounding a little defensive answered with a simple, "She's my sister. I wanted to take care o' her."
Merle barked out a laugh before responding, "Ain't nothin' wrong wit' that," though he sounded sincere.
Beth had began to gradually gravitate towards the door, and now she was leaning her hip against the wall, thermos in hand and steaming liquid brushing her face. Merle looked up from Carl to see her and smirked.
"Blondie, you look like shit."
"Really?" she said sarcastically, "'Cause I feel like a million bucks."
"Don' get too close," Carl warned Merle, and Beth wondered if Carl had meant for the warning to be more than just a precaution against an infection. He hugged Judith closer as she began to fuss and started back towards the kitchen.
Merle stepped a little closer to her, keeping his voice low, "Was wonderin' why you weren't comin' by the last couple o' days. Thought you might o' found another fuck buddy."
Beth could tell it was intended as a joke, but she still caught the glint of something in his eye, the subtle tightening across his chest.
Beth raised her eyebrows, "You worried I was sleepin' with somebody else?"
Merle snorted, "Ain't my fuckin' problem if you wanna go throwin' you're pussy all over the place. So long as I'm still gettin' some."
She knew it was bullshit...
"Well, ain't nothin' like that. I've just got a stomach bug is all. I was just about t' head down to the pantry and get somethin' for it."
"Right, well...you just let me know when y'wanna hook up a'right Blondie?"
She nodded, and then he was out the door, closing it quietly behind him.
Beth dropped the paper bag onto the counter of the sink before reaching into her pocket. She had seen the box laying on the shelf and had swiped it while Olivia had her back turned. She wasn't sure what had possessed her to do it. Perhaps it had been the way Merle had looked at her; when he asked her to come by after what was surely just a bug had passed. But she had grabbed it anyway, and though she had felt guilty about it, she didn't regret the action. She read the back of the box.
"Two minutes," she whispered to herself before closing her eyes. She slowly began to count, and after reaching 120, she added a couple of numbers just to be sure before peering down at the pregnancy test to see two clear red lines; positive.
