Page 116 of Fling

‘Oh God, I’m dying,’ Tara said, sitting up.

‘Don’t say that, Tara!’

‘I probably have cancer. I need to check WebMD,’ she said, reaching for her phone.

‘No,’ Colin said, putting down her hand. ‘You’re not looking up your symptoms. The test results will be back any minute. And no matter what it is, we will face it together. Nothing will ever tear us apart ever again.’

Emily and Rory suddenly barged into Tara’s room.

‘OMG! Tara are you OK?’ Emily said, rushing to her side.

‘You two didn’t need to come!’ Tara said. ‘I didn’t mean to interrupt your date.’

‘Don’t worry, we’ve done it three times already,’ Rory said, fully serious.

‘And you’re both still together?’ Colin asked, shocked. ‘What happened to post-nut clarity?’

‘It’s the weirdest thing – after we had sex, we still actually liked each other!’ Rory said, shocked.

‘But Tara, what happened? Did you faint when you found out that Colin was Jack?’ Emily asked.

‘YOU KNEW?’ Tara shouted.

‘We literally only figured it out a few minutes before your date,’ Rory said, defending her. ‘We pieced it all together.’

‘You could have called to let me know!’ Colin said, unimpressed.

‘We thought it would all just work out. We didn’t know you’d end up in the hospital!’ Emily said.

With that, a doctor entered the room holding a clipboard chart.

‘Tara, my name is Dr Boyd. How are you feeling?’ he asked.

‘Doctor, please give it to me straight,’ Tara said starkly. ‘How long do I have left?’

‘My guess is about eight months,’ Dr Boyd said, looking at her chart.

‘Oh my God,’ Colin said, gripping Tara’s hand.

‘Let me guess, doctor,’ Tara said. ‘Cancer?’

‘Possibly,’ the doctor said without expression.

‘Sweet Jesus,’ Colin cried.

‘But more likely a Gemini,’ Dr Boyd said.

‘Doctor, I didn’t come here for you to read my birth chart. What does my blood chart say? Why did I faint?’ Tara said, both confused and furious.

‘Well, it seems you had some low blood sugar but it’s not that serious. Fainting is very common for women in your condition.’

‘WHAT CONDITION?’ Tara shouted.

‘Wait, you don’t know?’ Dr Boyd said, confused.

‘KNOW WHAT?’

‘You’re pregnant.’

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