Page 14 of Bonding the Band

“I peed on a stick already.”

“Okay, we can run a blood panel and confirm that, as well as check all your levels. If you’d like to do that today, I can call in one of the nurses to take a sample.”

As much as I wanted to live in blissful ignorance, I couldn’t keep doing that. Better to know for certain if it was a false positive or not, so I could plan one way or the other. I nodded, unable to vocalize.

The doctor took a few notes, checked my blood pressure, and assured me that a nurse would be in soon to take my blood sample before rushing off to his next appointment.

Thankfully, I didn’t have too much time to stew in panic over my future possibly being altered beyond belief before the nurse bustled in with a tray in hand.

“Hello, my dear! I need to get a blood sample from you. Is that okay?”

I nodded. My stomach was churning, and I was concerned if I opened my mouth, I was going to vomit on the very nice nurse.

She chatted away as she prepared the syringe, talking casually about her son finishing high school as she tied a tourniquet around my upper arm and found a vein. Her incessant chatter was actually distracting enough that I hardly noticed when she pricked my skin.

“All done!” she declared happily.

“Is that it?” I asked, bewildered.

“Yep, that’s all I need. You’re free to go now, my dear, and we’ll call you in a few days with the results.”

I thanked her profusely as I gathered my bag and darted out from the clinic, thankful to be done with it. Clover took me out for some greasy fried food as a reward. Now, all I could do was wait.

Why did getting results from blood tests take so long?

Four days. I waited, spending every minute of those four days driving myself, and by extension, Clover, up the wall.

“The results will come when the results come,” Clover kept insisting.

Patience was not my strong suit. While the possibility of being pregnant was a pretty strong one, I still wanted that last final confirmation before I truly spiraled into panic.

“Why can’t I get the results now?” I whined as I lay down on the couch, throwing a pillow over my face as I grumbled.

“Because they don’t do the tests on campus and have to wait for the external lab to do everything. Gotta be patient.” Clover tucked her books into her bag. She had class soon, whereas I had an afternoon off.

Which meant I had more time to stare at the ceiling and contemplate my fate.

“Medical bureaucracy sucks,” I mumbled.

“I know it does.” Clover laughed, patting my leg. “Now, I’ve got to be at class in ten minutes, so you’re on your own. Try and eat something semi-healthy for dinner. I bought you some snap peas and dip. If you eat chips again, you are going to start looking like a potato.”

“But they’re so delicious.”

“They are, but you know what’s also delicious? Vegetables!”

Clover cackled as she ran out the doorway, narrowly avoiding the throw pillow I tossed in her direction. Vegetables? I liked vegetables as much as the next girl, but all I wanted was potato chips and strawberry milkshakes and Funyuns.

I sat up, grumbling to myself. I needed to study, but my focus was shot. Grabbing the TV remote, I flipped through the channels until I found a ridiculous reality show to watch. It was the type of TV that would rot your brain, but it was so entertaining you couldn’t look away: an omega being courted by several eligible alphas, and they were all vying for attention, doing weird and wacky things. One alpha was about to take her in a hot-air balloon, despite the fact that she had admitted she was afraid of heights. It was guaranteed to be a shitshow that would be hilarious to watch.

My phone buzzed.

I stilled, looking at the screen lighting up.

An unknown number was calling me.

Diving forward, I grabbed the phone, quickly pressing accept and holding it to my ear. “Hello?”

“Hi there, is this Meadow Reed?” a pleasant feminine voice asked from the other end.

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