Page 31 of Wrapped Around My Heart
Arianna’s knees hit the floor in front of the toilet with a loud thud and I barely have time to grab her hair from her shoulders before she pukes.
My heart thuds as I listen to her cough, and I glance over my shoulder, already knowing Vivian will be there.
“She’s still sick? Has she gone to a doctor?” I try to keep the panic from lacing into my voice, but as Arianna heaves again, the feeling all but consumes me.
“She—” Vivian starts but a thud on the door behind her cuts her off.
My neck practically snaps as I peer around Vivian just as Cora weasels her way in through the small crack. She immediately comes to Ari’s and my side. When she starts licking at Arianna’s ankles, I adjust my hold on her hair to free a hand and gently push Cora away.
“Out,” I softly tell my dog, who instead sits and watches Arianna with literal puppy eyes.
Ari sighs, still leaning over the toilet but no longer throwing up. After another moment of silence, she turns her head slightly to look at Vivian, my hand moving with her since I haven’t let go of her hair yet.
“Can you take Cora for a minute?” Arianna whispers.
Vivian watches her friend, and it feels as if they’re having some silent conversation. After a few drawn-out seconds, Vivian nods. She bends down to grab Cora before turning to leave, pausing briefly at the door and looking back at us.
“I’ll be just down the hall if you need me.” She closes the bathroom door behind her. Something in her tone makes the nerves in my stomach spark to life.
“Do you need me to get your mom or Landon?” I whisper even though I already know the answer. If she did want one of them here, she would have sent Vivian to get them.
Ari shakes her head while sitting down and I reluctantly let go of her. She’s still facing the toilet as if she expects to get sick again at any second.
I’m still crouching beside her, staring at the side of her face. All the color and vibrancy are gone, leaving her looking pale and…drained.
“Ari, something is clearly wrong.” I keep my voice low and soft, even though every inch of my body is thrumming with the need to do something. I just don’t know what.
She bobs her head, the movement slow and calculated. Her eyes drift shut as she answers me.
“I promise I’m fine. I talked to my…doctor. She said this is normal and that I’ll be okay to wait until next week when?—”
“Bullshit,” I snap, pushing to my feet and pacing the small length of the vanity. “Puking for almost two weeks straight isn’t normal. And they want you to wait another week? Hell no. What doctor told you that?”
My phone is in my hands before I finish my question. “No. That’s not okay for a doctor to make you wait or to tell you it’s fine to be sick for this long. I can find you someone better. Someone who can get you in tonight or tomorrow morning. Let me just?—”
“Dean.” The way Ari says my name, her voice cracking with the breathless plea, makes me stop immediately. My heart cracks at the sight of the tears streaming down her face.
I sink to my knees in front of her, carefully reaching out to cup her face in my palm as I wipe her tears away. Her eyes close, a weak attempt at hiding the pain she’s clearly in from me.
“It’s okay. We can find someone else. Someone who?—”
Once again, she shakes her head.
“The doctor is right about this.” She levels me with a weak glare when I open my mouth to interrupt. She sucks in a ragged breath as a fresh wave of tears streams down her cheeks, but she opens her eyes and holds my stare. Something in her shining emerald eyes makes the air leech from my lungs.
“It’s normal to get sick when pregnant.”
Pregnant.
“What?” I hear the word come from my mouth but don’t remember deciding to say it.
Pregnant.
“It’s still early. Like very freaking early,” she tells me, but all I can do is stare at her.
Pregnant.
Arianna is pregnant with…
