Page 75 of Undeniable
“Mazzie, I’m sure Dr. Mitchell counseled you that Nexplanon’s effectiveness begins to diminish around the three-year mark. In addition, it is possible to get pregnant on it as well.”
It was hard to breathe. “She also said that the implant could last up to four years.” I gripped the edge of the examination table. Otherwise, I was about to collapse. “Can you run the test again?” False positives could occur, although highly unlikely.
She gave a pitiful look. “I’ll have a nurse pull a blood sample while you’re here. In the meantime, I need to remove the implant. If the second test indicates you’re not pregnant, then I’ll insert a new one.”
“Okay,” I whispered, on the verge of tears.
I vowed to never become my mother. Yet here I was facing a possible unplanned pregnancy. I’d spent years watching my mom spiral, cleaning up her messes, taking care of Kaylee, and showing Kaylee that I wasn’t like our mom. And now, I was following the same destructive path Mom had. The irony was suffocating considering all those nights I’d sworn I would break the cycle.
I mentally calculated backward. It must have happened the night of the pep rally, the night I told Lucas he didn’t need to wear a condom. I internally scolded myself for being reckless, for screwing up my life plan.
Dr. Vasquez poked her head out the door, talking to someone.
I pressed my hands against my flat stomach, trying to process that a fetus might be growing inside me. The clinical part of my brain, the premed student who studied female anatomy, understood the science. But the terrified girl who’d raised herself and her sister couldn’t reconcile this reality.
I sat on the exam table like a zombie as the nurse drew blood, then Dr. Vasquez removed my implant. How would or could I break the news to Lucas? Oh, God. My mom. I couldn’t face her. For all her flaws and faults, she had warned me many times not to turn out like her. Then there was Kaylee. She would be so disappointed that I was following in my mother’s footsteps. The chaos in my head had me sweating and panicking as though a freight train at high speed was barreling down on me.
“You know that you have options,” Dr. Vasquez said several minutes later as she bandaged my arm. “I could give you referrals if you decide to go a different route.”
Dizziness washed over me, and I couldn’t think past this moment.
“Did you come here alone?” Dr. Vasquez asked.
I blinked away tears. “My friend Bailey is in the waiting room.”
“You can sit here a minute, and I’ll send her in.” Dr. Vasquez tucked her hands into the pockets of her lab coat. “Also, we’ve put a rush on your blood work. It will be ready tomorrow.”
I cried softly until Bailey came in. Then I lost it.
She rushed over to me and grabbed my wrists.
Nothing needed to be said or confirmed, but I told her anyway. “I’m pregnant.” Just saying that made me queasy. “Dr. Vasquez is running another test to confirm. I should know for sure tomorrow.”
She cleared her throat. “Then maybe you’re not.”
I really wanted to believe that, but I couldn’t. “I am my mother’s daughter.”
She rolled her shoulders back. “Listen to me, Mazzie Meyers. You are not nor will you ever be your mother. You are the strongest person I know. I’ve watched you work up to three jobs, taking care of your mom and Kaylee, and through it all still ace your classes. You’re not alone in this. You will have more help than you ever imagined.”
“But I have medical school, internships, clinicals…” I choked out a cry.
“You will still do all of that. I will be right by your side helping you.” She hugged me. “More importantly, you have Lucas.”
I couldn’t stop crying. “He’s going into the NFL. He won’t be around. Oh, God. I can’t tell him.”
“You’re not seeing him tonight, are you?”
“No, he’s supposed to be researching data for his assignment. His tutoring session is scheduled for next week.”
“Good. You’ll have the results tomorrow, then you can address things from there.”
The next twenty-four hours would be hell.
25
Lucas
The library had that scent of aged paper as students were scattered around, laptops open, notepads in front of them. A few of them wore headphones.
