She pushed to her feet, grabbed the test, and looked at the window where the word PREGNANT stared back at her. A sob passed her lips. Tears burned her eyes.
“It’s wrong.” She shoved it back at Despina, on the verge of hysteria. “Give me another one. It’s wrong. I want to do it again.”
Despina humored her. Zahara didn’t even wait for the other woman to leave the bathroom to pee on the damn stick again. Then she set it on the counter, washed her hands, and returned to the edge of the tub. But this time, she pressed both hands to the burn in her gut and controlled her breaths the way she did when she was in pain so she didn’t hyperventilate.
“It has to be wrong,” she muttered, more to herself than Despina. “I don’t feel pregnant. We used birth control.” She covered her face with both hands. “This can’t be happening.”
She pushed to her feet, lunged toward the sink, and pulled the test into view.
And saw the word PREGNANT.
Terror ripped through her. She pitched the test into the trash and turned on Despina. “They can’t be all that accurate, right?”
Despina winced. “Seeing how distressed you are about the result, I’d love to say they’re not. But I have to admit, these tests were the ones recommended by my fertility specialist as the most sensitive and accurate on the market.”
“Holy fuck.” She covered her eyes with both hands. Her stomach felt like it was turning inside out, one tortuous fold at a time.
“I’m going to call the set, have them cancel—”
“No,” she blurted. “God, no.”
“Sweetie, you are not doing stunts in this condition. And I don’t mean pregnant. I mean distracted.”
“If you cancel filming, everyone will want to know why.” She broke out in a sweat and fanned her face. “Oh my God.” She gripped Despina’s arms. “No one can know about this. Please promise me—”
“Zahara. You know me better than that.”
Zahara crossed her arms. She did know Despina better. She’d worked with her on a number of movies, and they’d become friends over the years. “I’m sorry. I don’t feel like I know anything right now.”
“Come on.” She gestured to the door. “Let’s get something to eat and talk this over.”
Zahara followed, but she didn’t know about eating or talking anything over. All she could manage right now was getting one foot in front of the other, which would make performing stunts today incredibly challenging.
The thought cut through her turmoil, and her feet halted. “Oh my God.”
Despina turned. “What?”
“Today’s stunt,” she said. “Jesus Christ. I threw myself out of a car, and I’m preg—”
She couldn’t finish the word. It stuck in her throat. And her sudden concern over this foreign thing called pregnancy, this thing she hadn’t planned and didn’t want, confused the hell out of her. Then the realization of what this could mean for the movie hit her. Quickly followed by what it could do to her career. And tears she hadn’t known were coming overflowed onto her cheeks.
Despina wrapped Zahara in her arms and hugged her tight. “Shh, honey. It’s going to be okay. I’ve got an incredible obstetrician. I’ll call him and ask if he can fit you in.”
Zahara pulled back and wiped her tears from her face. “Unless he works on Sundays, I don’t know how I’ll fit him in.”
“He’s a concierge doctor,” Despina said, continuing into the kitchen and opening the fridge. “He works whenever his patients need him.”
She huffed a pathetic laugh. “Bet there’s one hell of a bill for him to travel to Canada.”
Despina put two premade salads on the counter and reached into the fridge again. “He’s here, in Vancouver. So much of my filming is done here now, I have a doctor both here and in LA.” She closed the fridge and put two bottles of sparkling water on the counter. “Never know when you’re going to turn up pregnant.”
Zahara took the fork Despina offered. “I can’t afford a concierge doctor. Not even one here.”
Despina lifted a shoulder, opened her salad container and poured on dressing. “Your care will be covered by the retainer I gave him six months ago.”
“You can’t—”
“Consider it a test drive,” she said with a smile and a wink, “on my behalf. Then, when I do get pregnant, I’ll be confident with his care.”