“I feel like crap, Mia. I’m not hiding,” I whine, leaning against the counter.
She begins emptying the bag, ignoring me. “I got you some chicken soup, crackers, lemon aide, water, tea, and a pregnancy test.”
“What?” I yell, pushing off the counter.
I go to grab it and she swats my hand away. “You might be sick, but you might be pregnant. Pretending isn’t gonna make it go away. You need to take this test and if it’s positive we can talk about what you want to do.” She reaches out grabbing my hand as she tilts her head. “I’m here as your friend, let me help you.”
I roll my eyes and grab the pregnancy test. “Fine, but when it comes out negative, I’m going back to bed.”
“That’s fine with me,” she calls out to my retreating form.
I read the directions five times before I open the test. My heart is pounding, and my stomach is turning as I pee on the pink stick. I don’t know why I’m so nervous, I’m sure I’m not pregnant. After I finish, I put the stick on the sink and wash my hands. I want to walk away, but my eyes are glued to the test.
“Can I come in?” Mia calls from the other side of the door.
“Yeah,” I whisper.
She comes in and looks at the test, before hopping up on the sink. “No matter what the results are, you can relax because at least you know. Not knowing is the scariest part.” I look up at her and she shrugs. “I’ve been here before.”
“Obviously, it was negative,” I say.
“No, it was positive. I lost the baby when I was just over three months pregnant,” she quietly says.
I realize in this moment that there are two people here that are hurting for different reasons. “I’m so sorry, Mia.”
“Me too, but this is about you.”
I’m too scared to look so I keep my eyes on her. “This is the longest three minutes of my life.”
“I know,” she says smiling. She peeks over and back at me. “Do you wanna look?”
“No, but I guess I have to,” I whisper.
She holds my hand and nods her head, still smiling. She’s not giving anything away. My heart is slamming against my chest so hard I can hear it, my palms are sweating, and my stomach is in knots. I’m terrified to look, but I take a deep breath and glance down at it.
“Oh my God,” I whisper, my hand flying to my mouth. I look up at Mia, who is still smiling, and start to cry. “I’m pregnant.”
“I know,” she softly says.
“No, no,” I yell, shaking my head. “It’s wrong. He wore a condom.”
“Condoms break, Ivy,” she calmly says. “There’s another test if you want to take it, but that test was already positive when I walked in here. It didn’t even need the three minutes.”
The tears haven’t stopped, and my legs feel like they are going to give out on me. I hold onto the side of the sink and slowly drop to sit on the toilet. “What am I gonna do?” I ask, covering my face with my hands.
“We’re gonna go into the living room, eat a little bit, and talk about your options,” she says, jumping off the sink. “Come on.”
Reluctantly I get up and she grabs my hand, leading me to the living room. She has everything set up on my coffee table, waiting for me. She knew it was going to be positive.
“I’m not hungry,” I say, sitting down. I pull my knees up and wrap my arms around them, resting my chin on my knees.
“Drink some tea,” she says, handing it to me.
I don’t even know her well and she’s being so incredibly sweet. I’m not sure if she realizes it or not, but it’s exactly what I need right now. It suddenly makes me miss Harper more than I have. Even when her life was on the line, she made sure I was happy and taken care of. I think she might like Mia too.
I take a small sip of the tea and it feels good on my raw throat. I lift my sad eyes to Mia, and she grins. “What the fuck am I gonna do?”
“That’s up to you,” she says. “There are a few options.”