I shook my head, unsure if I’d heard her correctly. “I’m sorry, did you just say ultrasound?”
The sweet nurse nodded. “Yes, Ms. Greene. According to the reports here, Dr. Samson ordered you to have an ultrasound done ASAP.”
“For what?”
“Oh.” Bit by bit the smile on her face fell. “He didn’t check back in with you?”
“Nobody has been in here besides us,” my father said softly, looking just as confused as Carter and I did. “Is something wrong, ma’am?”
“No… of course not…” She froze then, her skin paling as she gaped between the three of us. “Ms. Greene, would it be okay if we spoke privately?”
“Whatever it is, just tell me. It doesn’t matter who’s in the room. You have my permission.”
She nodded, then glanced back down to the paperwork, swallowing hard. “It’s routine, of course, but before the surgery, we’d taken some blood to run a few tests. The results came back over an hour ago, so I don’t understandwhy he didn’t—”
“What tests are you talking about?” I swallowed around the lump in my throat as I forced myself to sit up straighter, giving her my full undivided attention. “Is-is something wrong with me?”
“According to the results, your HCG levels are quite high—triple the normal amount if I’m being precise.”
HCG levels?
Dad bellowed out a stunned gasp, covering his mouth as he blinked wide-eyed at me. My lips slowly parted, and my heart dropped like a stone in my stomach as the revelation slapped me hard, knocking the air dead out of my chest.
“I… I’m pregnant?”
“It appears so, Ms. Greene. That’s why we need to get you inside an ultrasound room ASAP. Given the anesthesia, surgery, blood transfusion, and the pain meds you’ve been given, we need to see how far along you are and check on the fetus’s condition.”
She spun on her heel and left the room long enough to push a wheelchair in. As Carter breathlessly wheeled himself out of the way, the nurse came up to me and gently reached for my forearm. Together she and my father helped me out of the bed and got me situated in the chair.
“This has to be a mistake,” I hoarsely whispered. “I-I can’t be pregnant. I-I’m on—” My words faltered then, and my eyes swelled once I remembered something crucial.
Fuck.
I was on the Depo shot. My three months were up over a month ago. I missed my appointment and had forgotten all about it!
“Oh no.” Tears instantly filled my eyes, and anuncontrollablesob burst from my throat.
“It’s going to be okay,” Carter promised. “Get checked out and we’ll figure it out. Together.”
“Would you like me to come with you?” asked my father.
“Ca-can he?” I asked, looking up at the nurse for her approval.
“I’ll make an exception,” she nodded. “But what about the baby’s father? Is he here too?”
Embarrassment lit up my cheeks. There was no way in hell I could openly admit to her that I’d been sleeping with two different men, so I settled by saying, “He was, but he had to leave for a work emergency. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”
Carter opened his mouth, thankfully not saying their names as he began offering to call them, but I shook my head and said, “No. I should be the one to do it.”
“Let’s see what’s going on first, and then you can call whoever you need to call,” said my father, who was impatiently bouncing on his heels now.
All the nurse did was smile. “That sounds like a fabulous idea.”
I couldn’t stop crying on the way to the ultrasound room. I couldn’t believe I was pregnant, that I was so irresponsibly reckless and had missed my doctor’s appointment. Did I want kids? Yes, of course I wanted to have precious little babies of my own, but not right now. I had plans; goals I wanted to fulfill before settling down and having kids. I wanted this ADA position more than anything and having a child would only hold me back from succeeding in what was possibly left of my career.
Fuck, this couldn’t be happening right now!
“Are we ready?”