Page 68 of Shatter

"I actually don't know what it is. Athena's just always called it that."

Whitmoore nods. "It was likely true when you were underage, but once you turned eighteen, it would be very unusual..."

Somebody approaches Whitmoore and whispers into his ear. He listens before nodding once, reaching into his suit pants' pocket for his wallet before slipping Mel a card.

"Please, call my office Monday morning. I'd be more than happy to clear my schedule for you so we can really get down to the heart of things."

Speechless, Mel simply nods, takes the card, and watches the man leave.

I watch her as she processes what she's learned tonight. I'm hoping she focuses more on her conservatorship more than the fact that I pathetically opened a charity in hopes it might help her someday.

Chapter thirty-five

Melody

"The doctor will see you now," the nurse practitioner says. I'm the only one in the waiting room. Still, I'm wearing Harrison's oversized baseball cap and the biggest sunglasses Vivek bought for me.

I follow the nurse back into an exam room, where she takes my blood pressure and weight and promises the doctor will be in shortly.

I woke up a week ago and wanted my IUD out. Immediately. Not because of Harrison's breeding kink. But because it wasn't my choice to get in the first place. And I don't want it. I want children. Maybe not right now, with my parents and the public drama still happening. But I read somewhere that it can take upwards of a year for your hormones to level out once you get it removed. And I figured, why not?

It's just one more step on my path taking back my freedom - the freedom to choose what I do to my own body.

The nurse hands me a paper gown before turning and giving me the privacy to change.

Doctor Patel walks in a minute later and shakes my hand. It's the first time I've been with her because I didn't want anything getting back to my mother. I know HIPPA laws are a thing, but I just don't trust my mother or anyone in her sphere of influence. If she knew I had an appointment in town, she'd be in that doctor's office waiting for me. I just knew it.

"What brings you in today?" the kind woman asks, flipping through my chart.

"I'd like to get my IUD removed."

"Any particular reason?"

"Not really. I just know they can affect your hormones for awhile and I'd like to have a baby in the next couple of years." Maybe. Probably.

She nods, flipping the pages back as if she's double checking something.

"Alright. Given your past history, I do want to know the second you think you might be pregnant."

That's odd.

"Why's that?" I say, putting my feet in the stirrups and scooting my ass to the edge of the table as Dr. Patel puts gloves on.

"Because of your termination when you were a teenager. It may have done some damage to your cervix, making it weak, so I'll want to install a stitch to keep it closed while the fetus develops."

"I'm sorry. What?"

I couldn't have heard what she just said. She must have someone else's chart.

She frowns at me, clearly as confused as I am.

"Your... termination..."

"I've never been pregnant."

She snaps her gloves off, and pulls the chart from the counter, flipping through the pages.

"It says right here. The January you turned fifteen. Your OBGYN at the time confirmed the pregnancy and performed an early termination."