Page 13 of The Doctor

“Do you want me to—”

“No,” I stop her. “Don’t say it. Let me deal with one thing at a time. First things first, I need to get up and look at that test in there and see if my life is about to change forever.”

“I can look for you,” she offers, fingers squeezing mine.

“While I appreciate it, I need to do this on my own. Just don’t leave because I might fall apart depending on how many lines it has.”

Lexie gives me a small smile as I stand up and look at the bathroom. “You’ve got this.”

I nod as I take my first step toward my destiny. My knees shake as I journey into the bathroom. I crane my neck, trying to get a glimpse of how many lines there are.

From where I stand, I can see there are no lines but words.

“Did you get me a test with no lines?” I call out to Lexie.

“What?” She asks from right behind me. “I don’t know. I bought… shit, I don’t know. Whatever I saw first. You can’t go wrong with one that says if you’re pregnant or not. No miscommunication.”

Turning to her, I close my eyes. Now that the moment is upon me, I don’t think I can look at it—my future balances on what that stick says.

“I don’t think I can do it,” I cry, squeezing my eyes even tighter.

Her hands come up to rest on my shoulders. I keep my eyes clamped closed. “Do you want me to look?”

“Can we wait, and I’ll look tomorrow?”

“Uh… I think if you do that, the results might change. I’m not sure, but I think you should find out now.”

Peeking one eye open, I find Lexie looking over my shoulder. She must feel my eyes on her because she looks down and smiles. “Go look.”

Taking a deep breath, I turn and feel like my heart is about to beat out of my chest as I take the two steps to where the test is taunting me.

Picking it up, I suck in a startled breath even though I knew what the results would most likely be.

Pregnant.

“You’re going to be a mama, Rainy-Bear,” Lexie whispers in my ear. I don’t have to turn around to know she has a big smile on her face. I can hear it, and it makes me smile even when I’m not sure I’m happy about all of this yet.

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