Page 90 of Haunted Prey

Andrea glanced at Lena. “I think that would be good too. We’ll get something figured out. Maybe tonight, though I heard there might be rain or even snow.” She turned back to me. “I was hoping I could borrow you for a minute, Eve.”

I locked eyes with Lena who merely shrugged. I pulled my chair back and stood, squeezing Lena’s shoulder before I followed Andrea toward her room. I glanced over at Emery who looked my way, giving me a reassuring nod before I slipped inside.

Andrea shut the door behind us as I stood by the bed. “Are you feeling alright, Eve? Any pain? Discomfort?”

I shook my head.

“How about your arm?”

“It aches a little still, but it’s a lot better after using the compress,” I said.

She tested my arm, and I found it still hurt to bend it a certain way but not as bad as the day before. “You’re healing fast, that’s good,” Andrea commented. She studied me, checking my pulse. “No other issues? Nausea? Dizziness?”

“I feel queasy sometimes,” I admitted.

She let go of my wrist. “That’s okay.” She locked her hands together, watching me carefully. “I’m going to ask you a more personal question and it’s okay if you're not comfortableanswering, but just know I’m here to help. Have you had your period yet?”

I shifted in front of her. “No,” I answered. “I thought last night maybe it was starting, but…nothing now.”

“How late are you?”

I closed my eyes. “By a couple of weeks. I know I might be…I know what Severfalls was doing and I know I might have been in on their experiments. I had so much going on in my head I didn’t want to think it was a possibility too that I was…”

“You’re scared and that’s perfectly acceptable,” she said. “But we should test and make sure. Better to know now so you can move forward, yes?”

I couldn’t keep denying it, couldn’t keep putting it off no matter how scared I was.

Andrea placed a hand on my arm. “Whatever happens, I swore to help you, Eve. Whatever you decide, we’ll make it work.”

I bit my lip as she moved into her exam room. Returning, she handed me a pregnancy test. “You don’t have to do it now if you don’t want to.”

“No, I should,” I said without hesitation. “I should just get it over with.”

She gave me a comforting smile. “You know where the bathroom is. I’ll be here after if you want to talk.”

As I gripped the test in my hand, I left the room. Outside in the community room, I noticed everyone had disappeared except for Lena, including Emery, but I could hear voices out in the garage. I heard Micheal say he’d be back later as a car door slammed shut.

I slipped down the hall to the bathroom. As I came to the door, I saw the light was already on. I peered in and froze at the doorway. Emery was inside, leaning against the door to the shower at the back.

“Hey,” I said in surprise.

He smiled at me.

In a way, I was glad he was here. I went inside and closed the door, then headed to one of the two stalls, shutting myself in. I caught Emery’s shadow pass underneath and stop in front of my stall. I took a deep breath.

“Here it goes,” I said.

A minute later I was outside the stall, staring at the plastic strip laid out on the counter, my heart thudding softly. Emery didn’t say a word as he now waited by the door.

I hugged myself, trembling a little but not just from the cold.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” I said.

“I’m here,” he said.

I took a shaky breath. “I know. I couldn’t do this without you. If I had to do this alone…”

“We’ll weather this storm,” he whispered.

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