Chapter 7: Sick
Nessie
I did not feel well. I did not feel well at all. I had been throwing up all morning and I was beginning to feel dehydrated. I knew that the smartest thing to do was to go to the emergency room but I wasn't sure how I was going to drive there without throwing up on the way. A knock on the door startled me. "Nessie are you alright? You have been in there a long time,"
"No," I managed to say as I wiped the vomit off of my chin. "I think I'm sick. Actually, I know that I am sick. I've been throwing up all morning,"
"Do you want me to drive you to the emergency room?" my brother asked me. The concern was evident in his voice.
"Actually, I think that is a great idea,"
I cleaned up as best as I could. "Wow. You look very pale," my brother said as soon as he saw me. He handed me an old popcorn bucket. "Just in case you get sick before we make it to the emergency room,"
"Thanks," I said. I felt like crap. Mike was worried about me. Even our dogs Ellie and Bailey looked worried. I wondered if it was true that dogs could actually sense stuff like that. It was a relief to finally get to my brother's car in the garage.
"Nessie," my brother began nervously. "Do you think it's possible, that well, that you might be pregnant again?"
My heart skipped a beat. "I don't know what you're talking about. I have never been pregnant,"
"Nessie don't lie to me. I know the truth. Adam told me,"
"He told you?!" my eyes went wide.
"More like he screamed at me that I had a pregnant whore for a sister. I gave him a black eye for that,"
"I was wondering how he got that black eye," I mused. "But if you knew all this time then why didn't you say anything to me before?"
"Because you're my sister and I wanted to respect your privacy. I figured you'd tell me when you were ready. But then I realized that something must happened when your stomach never grew,"
"Yeah," I sighed. "I miscarried.
"So do you think it's possible that you could be pregnant again?" he asked me once again.
I thought about it for a minute. It had only been a few weeks since Jacob and I had sex. My period. Oh no. My period was late. I hadn't realized it before but my period was late. "Could be," I mumbled.
"It's okay Ness. I'm here for you,"
I felt scared and uncertain and sick. The waiting room was packed full of sick men, women, children, and babies. My brother and I sat as far away as we could from the people who were coughing.
"How are you feeling?"
"Nervous," I answered.
"I meant about the nausea. Are you still feeling nauseous?"
"Surprisingly not as much as earlier. At least I don't think I will barf again any time soon,"
Mike looked relieved when I said that. I'm sure the last thing he wanted to deal with was my vomit. It took about an hour but finally my name was called. The nurse who called me took my temperature, blood pressure, and weighed me. I was shocked that I had gained a few pounds in the past few weeks. Yeah my diet had increased as of late but that was because I was more hungry than usual lately.
I was taken to the back and left in an empty office. A few minutes later a man named Dr. Hardy walked in. I explained everything that had been happening all morning. The first question he asked was similar to the one my brother had asked. "Are you pregnant?"
"I don't know," I answered honestly.
"Then what I am going to have you do right now is an ultrasound. Follow me,"
I listened to him and followed him down the hallway to the ultrasound room. My heart was pounding the entire time as he set the machine up. The gel he rubbed on my belly was cold. "Well there's definitely a fetus in there,"
"What?"
"You're pregnant. Look. He showed me the screen. There it was. There was no mistaking the head, arms, and legs.
"I'm going to estimate that the gestational age is about 13 to 14 weeks,"
My head snapped up. "That's impossible,"
"Nessie. The evidence is right here,"
"But Dr. I wasn't sexually active three months ago. I had sex just a few weeks ago. Two weeks ago actually. I mean it hasn't even been a month yet. Before that it had been about a year since I was last sexually active. I can't be that far along in my pregnancy,"
"Nessie, the evidence is right here. This is a normal and healthy 14 week old fetus. I can already see the gender as well. You're going to have a boy. See here is the penis, right here. If you'd only been pregnant for two weeks there is no way we'd even be able to see the gender yet. Hell you wouldn't even be showing signs of pregnancy yet,"
"But-"
"Nessie as a doctor I can't confidently tell you that you have been pregnant for three months at this point. That is non debatable. Now what I am going to do is give you a list of foods that you should eat and vitamins that you should start taking,"
Something wasn't right here. Something was not right at all. I left that office having way more questions than answers. My brother noticed my ashen face right away when he saw me. "Well?"
"I'm pregnant,"
"The doctor says I'm about 14 weeks along already but that it's impossible,"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I wasn't well, um, active 14 weeks ago. Jacob is the only partener that I have had in over a year and that was only two weeks ago,"
"Maybe the doctor is wrong," he said.
"I'm not so sure about that. I mean he could already tell the gender and everything. It's a boy,"
"Nessie relax. Breathe. We'll figure this out. Try not to worry," he said though he sounded very worried himself.
My stomach felt very queasy from the nerves.