Page 50 of His Secret Virgin
Chapter 20
Emma
Two months went by with me and Christopher spending as much time together as we could steal at the cabin. Another Monday had come where I’d had to pull myself away from the man at nearly two in the morning to go back to my parents’ house.
The day hit me hard and heavy as my alarm went off. Staggering to my bathroom, I felt a knot in my stomach that made me nauseous. I held my stomach as I went to the sink to brush my teeth.
In a sudden wave of heat and dizziness, I changed directions, heading to the toilet instead where I puked my very soul up. I felt so weak I had to sit on the cold tile floor. “What the hell?” I whimpered.
After a few minutes I managed to heave my body up and went right back to bed, lying down and trying to figure out what I’d eaten or drank to suddenly be feeling so terrible.
Christopher and I had made spaghetti for dinner Sunday night. I’d had one glass of wine with that, certainly not enough to make me feel this sick.
Rolling onto my side, I closed my eyes, which felt like they were burning for some reason. When I opened them, I found ten minutes had passed. I got out of bed and went to get into the shower to wake myself up and hope that it would make me feel better.
The cool water did bring me around. My head felt better, and after toweling off and giving my teeth a good brushing, I felt more alive and able to take on the workday.
I needed to get a fresh hand towel from underneath the sink, and I reached down to grab one. That’s when my attention was caught by an unopened box of tampons.
…the same box of tampons I’d bought to replace the one I’d used up during my last period. Two months ago.
Leaning over, I said the words out loud. “Two. Months. Ago.”
Two months ago?
Standing up straight, I looked at myself in the mirror. “Emma Eileen Hancock, you did not do this to yourself!”
In a daze, I went back to my bed to sit down before I fell down. It all came flooding back to me. Each and every time Christopher and I had made love flashed in my head—and then the most significant thing illuminated in my brain, burning a hole in it.Birth control.
I’d never gotten on it. I’d never talked about it with Christopher either. We’d never used protection a single time in the last two months. And now I’d missed a period.
I picked my cell up off the nightstand and looked at my notes. I hadn’t missed just one period; I’d missed two of them. I should’ve had one the week before.
I had to get a test. A test would prove what I already knew, but I wouldn’t let myself actually think it until I had the proof in my hands.
On the way to work, I stopped by a drugstore to pick up a pregnancy test. Hiding it in my purse, I took it in with me when I got in my office, heading straight to my private bathroom.
Peeing on a stick wasn’t exactly the way I thought I’d start my workday when I went to bed last night, but then again, I hadn’t thought I’d wake up puking either.
Minutes later, I stared at the line that told me that I’d fucked up my life royally. And Christopher’s too, for that matter.
I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Grabbing my purse, I bolted out of my office, heading down the long hallway to the stairwell. I wasn’t about to use the elevator and chance running into anyone.
After three flights of stairs, I had to sit down on a step and catch my breath. My head spun from lack of oxygen and the fact that I’d been so damn stupid. “You’re truly an idiot, Emma Hancock.”
I sat there, not sure what I should do. Only one thought came to me.Valerie.
Getting up, I took the stairs at a slower pace so I wouldn’t pass out and break my neck by falling down the stairs.But then again, that might not be so bad.
It took forever, but I finally made it to the ground floor. I had to get to my car in the parking garage without anyone seeing me and asking why I was leaving.
Remarkably, I made it out and slipped into my car. My hands shook as I clutched the steering wheel. I had to get to Valerie; she’d know what to do. At least I hoped she would.
In my panic, I hadn’t even called her; I just drove like a bat out of hell. Pulling up at the dorms at Columbia, I got out of my car and went to her dorm room, only to find that no one was there.
After knocking for five minutes, I leaned my back against the door and then slowly slid down the wall. Now it was officially time to break down. “No!” I cried as I put my face in my hands and started bawling.
“What are you doing, Emma?” came a girl’s voice.
