Page 20 of The Player

“Is she going to be alright?” I hear someone talking, but nothing is coming to me. The voices sound so far away and unfamiliar.

“Yes. She fainted due to shock, but that’s not all. Her body is under a lot of stress right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s pregnant.”

Silence. There’s no more talking after those words. Who is pregnant? I have become nosy in my hopes of learning more about the person having a baby.

“Julie.”

I blink my eyes and look up to see Kaylee. A smile tries to form on my lips, but it hurts. Everything hurts.

“Shh.” She runs a hand over my hair and kisses my forehead. “Everything is going to be alright.”

No. Nothing is going to be alright. Kaylee shouldn’t be here, but she is, and someone is pregnant. Is it Kaylee? Why is she under a lot of stress, though?

Everything seems to be backward in my mind and I don’t understand why.

“Julie, honey, focus on me, please.” Kaylee shakes me a little, and I find myself blinking again.

“What?” I croak out and everyone laughs. Looking around, I see a doctor and a nurse staring at me.

“The campus security found you standing in Mr. Lawerence’s office but said that you had just arrived by the looks of the camera footage. Did you see anyone come out of the office?”

Another voice speaks, and I turn my head slowly toward the sound. A woman in a suit is sitting in the corner, notebook in hand. Her stern face causes me to cringe, and I shrug.

“No. I had lab today and then a one-on-one session with him. He was recruiting me for his teacher assistant position.”

That’s not a lie. He had asked me earlier in the semester if I would do it. I just didn’t think telling them he was blackmailing me was a good idea.

“We found pictures of you in precarious positions in your room. Do you know who sent them?”

A blush runs over me, and I shake my head too quickly and become dizzy again. “Oh.”

Kaylee glares at the detective. “That’s enough. Don’t you see how much this is hurting her?”

“I’d apologize, but I have a murder to solve and possibly something else going on here.”

Coughing, I try to clear my throat. “It was him. He didn’t like that I was having fun with James.”

Kaylee looks at me, her eyes sharp and discerning. “You don’t owe anyone an explanation. You’re the victim here.”

She squeezes my hand, and the detective gets up. “Your friend is right. You are the victim. However, Mr. Lawerence is also the victim. He’s the one that’s dead. Not you.”

Her words are like a slap of cold water down my spine. “I didn’t kill him.”

“Your fingerprints will determine that. There’s a handprint in the blood and in the middle of Mr. Lawerence’s back. We will see if you are as innocent as you are acting.”

With that, she walks out to a seething Kaylee and the nurse looking appalled at her. “How can she think she did this?”

I don’t know the nurse, but I like her. “Thank you.”

This seems to bring everyone’s gaze back toward me. “You have a lot to focus on right now. I’m prescribing a week of bed rest and then follow up with an OB-GYN.”

“For what?” Kaylee laughs a little and squeezes my hand again.

“Honey, you’re pregnant.”

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