Page 29 of Loving Jake

Kimberly bobbed her head weakly. She did not have the strength to argue with Carly. Kim didn’t dare tell her that this was the third time, in the last month, that she had nearly fainted. Her sister would surely panic from that news.

“Here, let me help you put this on.” Carly, in typical fashion, Kimberly noted, took control of the situation. She had her own coat on and held Kimberly’s open for her.

“Carly, I can put my own coat on. I’m not dying. I got dizzy, that’s all. I probably have the flu, and it’s left me a little weak.” The ‘month-long flu’ she realized and hoped there was such a thing.

“Hello,Ms. Urbane. I’m Doctor Hayes,” a middle-aged man with graying temples informed her soon after she was seated on top of the examining table.

“Let’s see,” the doctor murmured as he looked over her chart. “Seems that you fainted this afternoon?—"

“Almost fainted.”

“Ah, yes, almost fainted. You think it may be the flu. Why is that, Ms. Urbane? Have you been exposed to anyone with the flu?” he asked with a pleasant smile.

“Ah, well, I think so. I’m a photographer, and some people I worked with last week mentioned that they had the flu recently.”

“That may very well be your problem then, Ms. Urbane, but just in case, I need to ask you some questions. First, how long have you been having flu symptoms?”

“Actually, a month, maybe a little longer. Maybe two?”

The doctor looked up from his note pad. His eyes squinted in concentration. “I see,” he mumbled and jotted down some notes. “Perhaps you better explain your flu symptoms to me.”

Kimberly squirmed on top of the examining table, her hands clasped tightly together. Doctors had made her nervous since childhood, and Dr. Hayes was no different. Despite his small gestures to make her comfortable, she still felt uneasy when she answered his questions. “Well, I’ve lost my appetite recently. Food sort of turns my stomach, I guess you could say,” she told him and laughed uneasily. “I get dizzy occasionally and sometimes I feel warm, and the next minute I’m freezing.” She shrugged, unable to think of any other symptoms.

“Hmm,” Dr. Hayes said, as he wrote furiously on his notepad. “Anything else, Ms. Urbane? Shortness of breath? Loss of vision?” Kimberly shook her head. Loss of vision? What sort of flu virus strand was this?

“Ms. Urbane.” He scribbled several words and then looked up from his notepad. “When was your last menstrual cycle?”

“My last menstrual cycle?” Kimberly mumbled and then realized she wasn’t sure. “I, ah, well. I’ve never been regular. Sometimes I skip a month...I don’t know for sure,” she stammered. “Maybe two months ago? Or almost three? I’m not sure.”

“I see,” the doctor replied in a way that did not reduce her building anxiety. “I’d like to take a test first, but I think I may know what our problem is Ms. Urbane.”

“You do? What is it?” For the first time, she was frightened that something may be seriously wrong with her. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth, her eyes large, and fearful.

“I think we better wait until I know for sure before we discuss it. Now, please relax while I call the nurse in. There’s a simple test I’d like you to take.”

Carly lookedup from her magazine just as Kimberly walked out into the waiting room. Her sister’s eyes widened at the sight of her, and Kimberly was tempted to laugh. Only tempted, because there was nothing funny about the doctor’s diagnosis.

“Kimberly, what is it? What’s wrong?” Carly questioned, fear evident in her tone. She hopped up from her seat and followed Kimberly out of the clinic’s revolving door. She half-hoped Carly hadn’t followed her, as she was in no mood to explain anything to her sister right now, not when she had yet to figure things out herself.

“Kimberly, you’re scaring me. What is it?” Carly demanded from behind her.

Kimberly spun around and Carly’s eyes widened when she looked up at her. Kimberly knew she should be reassuring her sister, rather than let her think the worst, but she wasn’t thinking clearly, not yet.

“Oh no.”

“Please take me home,” Kimberly whispered in a tight voice. Sheer terror crossed her younger sister’s perfect features, and Kimberly shook her head in frustration.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Carly, please just take me home. I’m not dying if that’s what you’re worried about. I’d rather not talk about it while we are standing in front of the clinic, however. We’ll talk when we get home.”

Carly took her car keys out of her purse and shook them at her sister. “Kimberly, I can’t believe you sometimes. You walk out of the clinic looking worse than when you walked in. What do you want me to think?” She quickly followed on her sister’sheels. “Do we need to stop at the pharmacy and pick up a prescription or anything else?”

“No, it’s not necessary. Just take me home.” Kimberly sat down in the front seat of her sister’s BMW, buckled her seatbelt, and then closed her eyes for the duration of the ride home from the clinic.

“I’m not waitinganother minute for you to tell me what’s wrong,” Carly demanded with a careless toss of her jacket over a kitchen chair. They had driven the fifteen-minute drive home in silence, which for Carly was probably a record, Kimberly thought, each of their nerves on edge for the entire trip.

Kimberly tossed her coat over her sister’s and then walked over to the sink. She poured herself a glass of water and swiftly drained the contents. She placed her glass down on the counter and turned around to face her sister. She leaned against the back of the counter and lifted her hand to brush a wayward curl from her face. “Well, I don’t have the flu.” She looked directly at her sister and then laughed without a trace of humor.

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