Page 79 of Bad Seed
Oh, crap. I forgot about that question. Most of the time I answer eating. “Um…” I lick my lips, then wince at how sore they are. “Do you need to know that?”
“Yes.”
Guiltily, I stare up at the man I was doing. He’s drifted into the background but keeps staring over at me. “I was…ah… Will it go in my record? Like, whatever I say here, it’s confidential right. Because of the hippo?”
“HIPAA, and yes.” The nurse cranes his head back to glance at the giant man pacing behind him. “It will not be available to anyone but your doctor.”
Oh, great. So that means my family doctor, my Baba’s doctor, can hear about how I sucked a man’s cock and wound up in the ER. Great.
“We were…sleeping,” I mumble.
“You were what?”
“I said we were sleeping…” I fold my fingers together hoping he understands.
“I don’t know what you’re saying.”
With a loud boom, Aubry shouts, “We fucked.”
The nurse’s face turns three shades of red in a second. “Ah, right. Of course. Did you use condoms?”
“We do.” I race to assure him that I am a good little slut who prides herself on birth control.
“It could be a latex allergy. Latent, but one allergy can lead to another.” He jots something down looking like he wants to bolt. Probably before my giant boyfriend tries to defend my honor.
A latex allergy? Just what I fucking need. No, that would mean no fucking. Ever.
“Great,” I moan, falling back onto the pillows.
“Well…” The nurse backs up for the door. “The specialist will speak with you in the morning about a plan. I’ll just—”
Aubry catches his arm. “We didn’t use a condom.” He speaks to the nurse but stares at me the whole time. “Can an allergen be transferred in semen?”
Holy shit!He asks it so casually, but also with an edge. Like the answer is life or death.
“Possibly. There might be a few cases. I can look into that…” The nurse shrugs off Aubry and hurls open the door so fast, the drawn curtains smack against the glass. “Avoid any potential contact until we determine the source.”
With that, he flees.
I drop my hands to my lap and stare up at the TV. A grandmotherly British lady is peeling a zucchini while talking about her garden.
“You didn’t tell me—” Aubry begins.
I swing my gaze over to him feeling like a pin cushion that’s been sat on. Rather than ream me out too, he drops his head and tousles the back of his hair. “How are you doing?”
“Better.” I put on a weak smile and reach for him.
Did he hesitate?
No. He holds my hand and drags over one of the chairs to sit beside me.
I’m just beat from all of this.
Without the oxygen mask on, and the nurses gone, it hits me how badly I fucked up. “I’m sorry,” I moan.
“For what?”
“I ruined everything. The date. You…you were going to punish me—”
