I headed into the kitchen and found her looking through the cabinet. “What are you doing? Did you leave the lab early today? Did something happen?”
She looked over at me, and I could see she was paler than before. She looked like she’d been through the wringer.
“I don’t feel great. I have a headache, and my stomach has been twisted up all morning. I threw up and decided I should probably go home.”
I walked over to her and pulled a hand up, placing it on her forehead. Katie was hot to the touch.
“Maybe you should go see a doctor.”
She shook her head, looking back into the cabinet. “No, I just need some sleep.”
“Katie, you don’t look good. And I know there is a lot of stuff going around with the weather changing like this.”
She shut the cabinet and glanced at me. “Sweetie. I have a degree. I know it’s probably just a stomach bug. I’m going to go take a nap.”
I frowned. “You have a degree in science, not a medical degree. They aren’t the same.”
She scuffed and turned down the hallway. “Potato potahto, same thing.”
I watched her head down the hallway to the bedroom and decided to pause the projects. I didn’t want to make any extra noise, so I grabbed a book and went into the living room. I worked on some paperwork and started making dinner when Katie came back down the hallway. She paused and leaned against the wall, looking worse than she had before.
She placed a hand over her stomach and started to wobble. I rushed over to her, quickly catching her before she could fall. “Katie, sweetie, you're not well. We need to take you in.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
I hoisted her up and hurried her out to the car. I drove us to the hospital, where we were quickly taken to a room. Katie lay on the bed and rubbed at her stomach. A nurse took some of Katie’s blood and left, leaving us alone.
“You okay?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I feel the need to vomit, but I have nothing in my system. And I'm dizzy.”
“Have you had water today?”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t keep it down.”
So, she was probably dehydrated as well. The door opened and a doctor stepped in. “Evening, I’m Doctor Luis. Seems that you're experiencing some illness?”
We both nodded. “She probably has a stomach bug.”
Luis nodded. “It’s going around. But we are worried about how pale and dizzy you’re feeling. The nurse said it was pretty hard to prick you, so you’re dehydrated, and coupled with your inability to keep anything down, we're going to start you on an IV and get you some fluids. I’ll be back with the blood work, but you just need to get comfortable and let that IV sink in for now.”
We thanked the doctor, and I looked back at Katie. “I’m sorry you're feeling so crappy.”
She gave me a weak smile. “I’ll be fine. I’m sure it’s just a bug. The girls in the lab next to me all had it.”
“How sweet of them to share,” I said as I reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Maybe you should ask them to share other things.”
Katie laughed. “Well, at least they share with me now.”
I laughed, placing a kiss on her hands. “Is that IV helping?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
We sat there for a while before the doctor came back. He gave us both a bright smile. “Well, good news is it’s not a bug.”
“That’s the good news?” Katie said. “What is it then?”
“You’re pregnant.”