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“You probably herniated your disc.”
“You think?”
“Well, that’s what you get for thinking you’re Hercules. You should’ve asked Sam to help you out or hire someone.”
I shot her a look, made sure there was just the right amount of venom in it, and sank my head into the cushion. The pain wasn’t disappearing, but it was at least dimming for now.
“You’re going to have to stay the night, Alex,” said Vicky, sighing deeply, as if she was heavily inconvenienced, as ifshewas the one who had put her back out. “There’s no way you’re going to make the drive home in that state. I’ll make up the spare bedroom for you.”
Adrenaline was a mighty drug. One that could get a person to lift a car off the ground if absolutely necessary—though in my many years of medical experience, I had never witnessed such an event.
“I’ll be fine,” I said, pushing myself up slowly and cautiously until I was standing. But before I could get fully up, the pain came back with a vengeful fury, and I staggered backward, falling into the soft cushions of the couch. “Remind me to axe that table tomorrow.”
“I can have one of my therapists look at you first thing in the morning,” said Vicki, sitting down at my feet. “Unless you want me to take you to the emergency room?”
The thought of moving, especially into a car, only to be wheeled into an emergency room, didn’t sound appealing at all. Besides, the best thing right now was to let the inflammation heal, and the best way to do that was to rest. Tomorrow, if all went well, the pain would be a lot better, and I’d be able to move.
“I don’t need help. Just some strong painkillers. You’ve got those in a cupboard somewhere, don’t you? Besides arsenic?”
A small smile tugged at the sides of her lips. “Of course, I do. But I’m also booking you in with one of my therapists. I owe you that at least.”
I was just about to say something snotty likeYou owe me a lot more than that, but kept it to myself, and instead tried to shift to a better, more comfortable position. But the pain came in like a hot poker. “Fine . . . But only because I can’t exactly run away from you.”
“Good,” said Vicki. “At least the pain’s making you less stubborn. I’ll make you a cup of tea.” She rose, squeezed my foot unceremoniously, and headed in the direction of the kitchen, exposing that soft, gooey side of her that hadn’t completely stopped caring about me.
CHAPTER 9
Sophie
“Idon’t know why you’re peeing on a stick again,” said Becks, standing on the other side of the toilet cubicle. We were the only ones in the bathroom, which, given that it was located on the rehab floor of St. Helena Medical, was the least congested. “The other five were all positive. You’re definitely pregnant.”
That was completely true.
But denial was a powerful thing. I could easily ignore that little tidbit and sit on the toilet, wait for my bladder to refill, and try another test.
Who knew, maybe the first was faulty. Maybe they were all false positives. Who cared that it was completely unlikely and that it only happened less than one percent of the time?
Maybe I fell into that less than one percent category. Maybe I was one of the lucky ones.
“I might not be,” I muttered softly, not quite believing myself.
“You are!” exclaimed Becks against the door, her weight creaking the hinges of the stall.
I could see her sneaky feet beneath the door. “And it's fucking crazy, Soph. Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely excited to bea godmother. I’d just never in my whole life thought you’d be pregnant before me.”
Neither had I.
Becks, who was my age, was already married to an adorable man called Caleb and lived in a lovely three-and-a-half-bedroom townhouse with a garden, where their golden retriever buried her tennis balls. They had their life together.
I, on the other hand, couldn’t keep a goldfish alive.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” I muttered under my breath, and after I’d finally managed to pee on the stick, I walked out of the stall, placed it on the sink, and held my breath.
“Now the waiting begins,” said Becks. “Again . . . I bet you a hundred dollars it's positive.”
“No,” I said, not wanting to lose a hundred dollars.
Great. Even my subconscious believed I was pregnant.
