“What was I thinking?” he repeated as if he couldn’t believe that she had just asked him that. Looking completely baffled, he turned to Tori. “Are you sure it’s out of her?”
She had her arms crossed in front of her as she leaned against the wall. In response, she shrugged her shoulders and said, “Teenage girl,” as if that explained it all. He always thought that he knew women, but that was a foreign species to him.
After the girl fluffed her hair and straitened her clothes, she marched over to stand directly in front of him. Thrusting forward her arms, he had to dodge to the side, so not to be hit. “I presume this is yours. Get it off.” Looking over, he realized that her wrists were still bound with his belt.
He maneuvered Trinity, so that she was leaning against a wall before turning back to the girl. Reaching up, he started to untie the belt, but had to pull it tighter to get it undone.
“Watch it! You want to leave more bruises on me, or something?” He finally got the belt free, and she pulled her wrists quickly back and started to rub them. She sneered down at him once more, a lot like how the demon had, just minutes ago. “Is that how you get your kicks… hurting young girls?”
“Why you little…” Before he could finish the sentence, a hand on his arm stopped him. He looked back to see Trinity shaking her head, telling him without words that it wasn’t worth the effort.
Shutting his mouth, he turned backed towards the girl.
“Humph.” Sticking her nose in the air, she turned and walked out the door.
“You’re welcome!” he gruffly yelled before the door had closed all the way. What an ungrateful brat! No wonder the demon chose her, he thought.
Getting up off the ground, he extended his hand down to help Trinity up. He was mindful of his wounded shoulder, and held her up with his good arm. Moving his shirt to the side, he saw that it was healing, but it was still somewhat deep. It wouldn’t be much longer till it was at least manageable.
Trinity now had the ability to heal, but she was still learning. As far as he knew, she could only heal herself, and hadn’t tried someone else yet. He could wait.
They were gathering to leave when Gemariah looked around the room. “Tori…”
“Already on it.” Sure enough, she had a phone up to her ear, and was talking to a specialist to come clean up after them. Placing her phone back in her pocket, she looked to him. “Ten minutes.” Ten minutes till they got there, and they could finally leave.
Trinity straightened and gave him a nod to say that she was alright to stand. What I wouldn’t do to be able to heal myself, he thought when he tried to rotate his shoulder. Unfortunately, he could take anyone’s pain away, but not his own. That was one of the downfalls to his ability.
Letting out a breath, he leaned back against a wall to wait. He just wanted out of the bathroom, and out of the school. Ever since he could remember, he had not done well around kids. He was too rough, too vulgar, and been glared at by upset parents on more occasions than he could count. Praying that he didn’t have to encounter another little monster today, he looked at his watch to count down the minutes till he was free.
CHAPTER 3
Nicole looked down at her watch once more, and sighed. She had been at the doctor’s office for forty five minutes already, and there was no sign of Trinity. Nicole had already been through two different waiting rooms, talked to a nurse, talked to a doctor, took some tests, and was now back in the room, waiting for results. Every time they took her someplace new, she would search for her friend, but could never find her.
After the first waiting room Nicole broke down and called Trinity to make sure she was okay. After all, she had said that she would be there. Yes, Trinity had been getting distracted a lot lately with getting married and all, but she had been so adamant about coming today.
The phone continued to ring, and ended up going to her voicemail. It was the same result after the second time she tried to call as well.
Starting to get more worried, Nicole took out her phone, and tried one more time. Unlike the first two times, when it got to her voicemail, she huffed out a breath, and hung up without leaving a message.
She knew that she should have programmed Malachi’s number into her phone, but procrastinated on it every time. It wasn’t like her to be so unprepared. All the time being sick had really taken a toll on her. She found herself forgetting the smallest things, when normally she was right on top of everything. It was all due to stress, she thought, and soon the doctor would come in and prove her right.
Startling her, the door started to swing open. Finally! Nicole sat up straighter and started to smile, ready to give her friend a hard time for being late, but she slowly deflated back down when she saw that it was just the doctor returning, and not Trinity.
He was still reading her chart as he slowly came into the room, and sat down.
“Okay, Nicole. Well, we pinpointed what’s causing your health issues.” Spinning around on his chair, he came to sit directly in front of her.
“That’s great.” She was overjoyed, and let out a long kept in breath. So many things were going through her mind; cancer, foreign diseases, and more. Most of what she thought couldn’t be diagnosed with a single urine test… she hoped anyway.
“Yeah.” He nodded his head in agreement. “You’re pregnant.”
The whole world stopped. What? The doctor was talking, but she wasn’t hearing a word. Wetting her dry lips, she confusingly looked at him again. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
She watched as the doctor sighed. “I take it this was unexpected.”
Numbly, she nodded her head. It didn’t make any sense to her. Thinking back to the only sexual encounter that she had experienced, she inwardly groaned. “It was only one time.”
The doctor patted her knee, as if he were placating an unprepared teen. “It only takes once.”
She knew that! She did, but it still felt too unreal.
The doctor slid back over to the counter to look at her chart. “It says here that you couldn’t be sure when your last menstrual cycle was, but you knew that it hadn’t come in a while. You didn’t think that you could be pregnant?”
If the doctor didn’t appear so concerned, she would have thought that he was being condescending. “I just… I just thought that I wasn’t having my period, because I was sick.” She was having a hard time formulating her sentences, as she waited for the flood of emotions still to come. Right then though, she was just numb.
He nodded his head in acknowledgment. “That can be the case sometimes.” Looking back down at her chart, he pointed to something on the page. “This would also explain your fatigue, and expecting mothers with a bad case of morning sickness usually have it worse than others. Can you think of anymore symptoms?”
She sighed as she thought of her constant craving for chocolate syrup in and on everything. Assuming that it was a weird side effect of whatever she had, she never thought twice about it. As if in tune with her thoughts, her stomach growled. This time, instead of thinking she was hungry, she pictured a little person inside of her shaking a cord while yelling, “Feed me!”
Placing her hand over her stomach, she looked back up at the doctor. He must have seen the panicked look on her face, because his expression turned even more sympathetic. “I understand how this could be a shock if you were not expecting it, but from now on, if you miss a period, you should always check for pregnancy.”
He was talking as if she planned to be in this situation again. Not her. It was celibacy from here on out.
She then realized that he was talking to her again, but she had once again tuned him out. Shaking her head, she returned her focus back to the doctor. “Sorry. What?”
Pinching his lips together, he looked directly at her. “This is important now. You need to listen.” When she nodded her head, he continued. “I am going to have the nurse give you information on different options you have with this pregnancy. If you don’t want to keep the baby, there is a
lways adoption or the choice of abortion.” Reaching into the top drawer, he pulled out a round chart. “You said that it was only one time. Do you remember the exact date?”
“Umm.” She pulled her purse onto her lap, and pulled out her date book. Flipping through the pages, she came to rest on the day that said ‘Rin’s BBQ’. “October sixth.” Her voice was just a whisper as her mind flashed to events of that day. She baked cookies in the morning, went to the barbeque in the late afternoon, only to be driven home and seduced by an overbearing jerk.
Thinking of him always got her ire up. Now, he was connected to her in a way that she never expected to happen. She shook her head, refusing to think about it just then, and put it into her ‘Things to process later” box. Then she focused back on the doctor that was spinning a pinwheel chart.
“It looks like you’re nine weeks and 4 days along, and your expected due date is… July thirteenth.”
It just got real. Nicole was always a person that dealt with specifics, and now that she had a set date, the weight of everything started to push down and suffocate her.
“Because you are so far along, you will have to make up your mind soon if you want to terminate the pregnancy.” The doctor slid back to the counter and pulled out his prescription pad. “For now, I’m going to write you a prescription for prenatal vitamins. They are important to take every day to keep the baby, and you, healthy.” He tore off the sheet of paper, and handed it to her. “Unfortunately, our office doesn’t handle obstetrics, so you will need to find one that does. We refer a lot of our patients to Highland OB/GYN. If you would like, I can have my nurse set you up an appointment over there.”
“Thank you. That would be nice.” Nicole spoke so quietly that, she didn’t recognize her own voice.
The doctor grabbed her chart, and stood up. Her distress must have shown, because he walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. “It will be alright. Everything has a way of working out, you’ll see.”
She didn’t know why, but that was the last thing she wanted to hear. Raising her head, she glared up at him.
He quickly removed his hand, looking uncomfortable. “Right, well… good luck. Talk to the nurse sitting at the desk outside this room. She will set up your appointment. Have a good day.” Without looking back, he exited the room.
The moment the door closed, she slumped forward in resignation. What was she going to do? Numbly, she got up from the table, and went over to the corner to collect her coat and purse.
The moment she opened the door, the hustle of all the people around her was a little jarring. It took all her strength not to turn around and hole herself up in the nice, quiet room. When she got to the counter, she didn’t say anything, but instead just stood there and waited to be noticed.
A bubbly nurse approached the counter, and asked for her name.
“Nicole Summers.”
“Oh yeah. I got your chart right here.” She opened it, and saw the note from the doctor about making the appointment. “Congratulations! A baby, huh? How far along are you?”
Nicole swallowed the lump in her throat before she could answer. “Nine and a half weeks.”
“Wow, that late? I’ll try to get you in as soon as possible.”
Not being able to speak any longer because of the persistent lump in her throat, all she could do was nod her head in appreciation.
She listened to the nurse talk, and pulled out her date book so she could look at her schedule. The feel of the tangible paper in her hands was a balm to her nerves. Her life was at her fingertips, and written in her own hand… regulated by her. She disliked electronic schedulers, and constantly refused to change to one, hating the idea of losing an ounce of control.
“How does first thing this Friday sound?”
The nurse’s question had her flipping pages to reach that day. She had a meeting with a family late afternoon, but the morning was still open. “What time is ‘first thing’?”
“Nine o’clock.”
“That’s fine.” Taking out her pen, Nicole didn’t look back at the nurse when she confirmed the appointment and wrote it down.
As the nurse finished on the phone, Nicole started putting her belongings back into her bag. Once done, the nurse, handed her a sheet of paper, and pointed her in the direction of where to go to check out.
When she was finished at the doctor’s office and successfully checked out, Nicole zipped up her coat, and walked out into the parking lot. Immediately, the bitter wind hit her, and she slouched inward to ward it off. When she was almost to her car, she could have sworn that she heard her name, so she stopped to look around, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Figuring that it was just the wind, she continued on, and reached for the handle to open her car door.
“Nicci!”
This time, she definitely heard her name, and it was close. Looking up, she was startled, when she saw Trinity running between the cars to get to her. Anger welled up inside of her from the sight. She knew it was misplaced, but didn’t care at the moment.
Making her face devoid of emotion, she stopped to let Trinity approach.
“I’m so sorry! Something came up, and I couldn’t get here in time.”
“You’re over an hour late, Trinity! I called you over and over. Did you not think to let me know you were going to be MIA?” Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she cocked her hip, and waited for an answer.
“I left my phone at home today.” Trinity kept talking before Nicole could say any more. “Okay, I should have found a way to call you.”
Nicole dug her nails into her arms in hopes to defuse some of the anger. When it didn’t work, she looked away to take a moment and breathe.
“I said I was sorry. Shouldn’t that be enough?”
That was the wrong thing to say. Having her ire back up, she lashed out at her friend. “Sorry? You’re sorry? That’s all I’ve been hearing for months.” Nicole threw her hands up in frustration. “I thought you were my family, but I’m constantly blown off for Malachi and his friends. I can’t take it anymore, Trinity!” Nicole pulled her hands up to cover her face.
“Nicci…” Feeling a hand touch her arm, she quickly backed away.
“Don’t touch me!” Throwing her hands back down at her sides, she brought one back up to point at Trinity and yelled, “I needed you today, and you said that you would be there!” Nicole hated that she couldn’t contain the sob that was pushed out.
Understanding crossed over Trinity’s face, and she stepped forward. “What did the doctor say?
“Oh, like you care!”
“Of course I care, Sweetie. What did he say?” The softness in her voice was Nicole’s undoing.
“You wanna know what he said? I’m pregnant, that’s what he said.” At Trinity’s shocked expression, the emotions couldn’t be held back any longer. She dug her hands into her hair and threw back her head as she yelled into the wind as loud as she could.
Once she was all screamed out, she collapsed in on herself and slumped to the ground. Leaning against her car she buried her head between her legs and started to cry uncontrollably.
The next thing she heard was a car door opening, then with surprising strength, Trinity lifted her and placed her inside the car. The door closed, and for a moment, she was all alone. No, not alone, the little invader was with her. The thought brought a new wave of tears.
Seconds ticked by, before the passenger door opened letting in a fresh wave of cold air. Quickly, Trinity got in, and shut the door behind her.
Nicole was crying into her hands and couldn’t see Trinity’s face; she didn’t want to see her face. She had screwed up, and the last thing she wanted to see was the look on Trinity’s face saying that she agreed.
She then felt a hand lightly stroking her hair. “I’m such a bad friend.”
The softly spoken words from Trinity were unexpected. Sniffling, Nicole finally raised her head to look quizzically at her friend. “What are you talking about?”
&
nbsp; Trinity reached down to hold her hand. “We have always been so close. Yes, there has been a lot going on, but I should have made more time for you. I mean… I didn’t even know that you were seeing someone.”
Nicole covered her eyes, and groaned. “I’m not. I never was.”
“What do you mean? Who’s the father?”
Nicole opened her mouth to tell her everything, but stopped the words from coming out. She was not ready for Gemariah to know yet, and if she told Trinity, it would no doubt get back to him. She just needed to figure things out on her own, without someone else telling her what to do. No, Gemariah didn’t have to know right now. “There is no father. It’s just me.”
Nicole could tell by the look on Trinity’s face that she didn’t like that answer. “Come on, Nicci. Who’d you end up sleeping with?”
Pulling her hand away, Nicole stared out the windshield. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Oh my gosh.” Trinity grabbed onto her shoulder, and moved to look in her eyes. “Did someone hurt you? I’ll kill them.”
Before Trinity got even more worked up, Nicole stopped her. “No. It’s nothing like that; I just don’t want to talk about it.”
Trinity let go of her shoulder, but still looked at her skeptically. “Okay… You would tell me, if that was the case, wouldn’t you?”
Nicole rolled her eyes. “Yes…”
“Okay, okay.” Trinity thankfully dropped it. “Are you ready to tell me details now?”
She was worried that Trinity would put two and two together with specifics, so she kept her answers as vague as she could. Shrugging, she turned to look at her friend. “I’m two months along. That’s why I’ve been so tired and sick all the time.”
“So what’s next?”
Looking down at her watch, she realized that she was already pressed for time. Digging her keys out of her coat pocket, she stuck them in the ignition. “Now, I have to go to the store, and get some stuff before my meeting.”
“I meant in the long run.”
The Divine Whisper Page 6
