That's Your Baby

Pandora groaned, still feeling tired after ten hours of sleep. As she sat up, she felt a wave of dizziness overcome her. Before she could lay back down, her stomach turned. She jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, hoping and praying she wouldn’t puke on the floor.

She hunched over the toilet and heaved. Nothing really came up. She didn’t have time to be sick. And she willed her body to stop without much result. When the retching finally stopped, she dragged herself to the sink to clean up. Still, her stomach felt uncomfortable.

As the day passed, she felt worse. Nothing seemed to help with the nausea she was feeling. She tried to force down the lunch before resting her head on the desk, hoping a short nap would make her feel better. 

Sleep made everything better, right?

“They pay you to sleep at work?” she heard Derrik say. She jumped at the sound of his voice, but it was her stomach that made it worse. She covered her mouth and looked at him. 

“What?” he said irritably, staring her down.

“I want to puke just looking at your face,” Pandora said bluntly. 

“Don’t get cheeky with me just because you’re having a terrible day.” Derrik’s smug grin made her feel terrible. “Here,” he said, throwing a stack of papers on her desk.

She looked through them angrily when she realized he was trying to force her into selling the house. “What is this? Derrik, don’t you understand? You’re not getting my house and I am not going to give you the money either!”

Derrik’s next words were loud enough for everyone in the office to hear. “You’re a selfish piece of shit. Sitting here, all high and mighty, but you look ugly and all wrinkled. You make me sick. What the hell did I see in you?” He paused for a second before resuming. “Now that you look exactly like you did while we were married, you’re all ugly again. The fake extensions did make you look a little better. Why did I ever want a worthless and ugly woman like you?”

“Get out,” Pandora gritted out. She felt her colleagues looking her way.

“Because of you, my girl lost another baby,” Derrik said, this time his voice a whisper. She could hear the pain in his voice, but she didn’t give a damn about what Derrik felt.

“That is none of my problem.” She picked up the papers and threw them in the trash. “Get out right now. And if I see you here again, I will get a restraining order against you. Did I make myself clear?” she challenged.

Derrik narrowed her eyes but he didn’t move a muscle, defying her.

Pandora picked up the phone and dialed the security head. “Get this piece of shit out of my office. Make sure to let the other security detail know that he is no longer welcome here.”

“We are not done here, Pandora!” Derrik hissed as he was pulled out of her office by security.

Pandora had to cover her mouth and she slowly sat down on her chair. She tried her best to breathe through her nose, willing the nausea away.

- - - - -

Pandora sleepily walked to the front door, knowing that Keira said she would take her to work. It had been three weeks since she woke up feeling sick and it was not getting any better. In fact, she felt worse than before. She almost got into an accident the night before because she felt woozy while driving.

Opening the door, Pandora allowed Keira in before moving to her couch and lying down on it.

“It has been three weeks. I think it is time you went to a doctor,” Keira said as she felt her head.

“It’s just a bug,” Pandora muttered weakly and then pressed her lips together when she saw her friend frowning down at her.

“What did the clinic say about your tests?” Pandora blinked because she had no idea what the other was talking about. “Last month you got tested for STDs remember?”

Pandora slowly sat up. “I never heard back from them. Damn it, I must have missed their calls. Do you think he gave me something?” she yelped as her heart started racing.

Keira looked worried but placed a fake smile on her face. “Let’s go to the doctor’s office and get you checked out, okay?”

“I can’t. I need to go to work,” she said, knowing if she didn’t get on the road, she would be late to work… again.

Keira shook her head. “I am calling your boss and taking you to the doctor.”

Pandora groaned, deciding it was best not to fight in her condition. She curled up, and closed her eyes. Her eyes drifted close as she heard Keira speaking to someone on the phone.

“Hey,” she said, pushing Pandora’s hair back. “You need to get up and dressed. Your doctor’s appointment is in an hour.”

Pandora nodded and slowly sat up. Her eyes drifted to the clock and she found it was almost two in the afternoon. “Oh no!” she muttered.

“It’s fine. I called in for you. Now get dressed.”

Pandora shook as she thought about how she had not taken a sick day in all the years she had been working. She went to her room and grabbed some loose clothes. Keira helped her into the car and drove slowly to the doctor’s office, making sure she didn’t feel sick again. Pandora was thankful that she didn’t need to wait with other patients and was ushered into the doctor’s office.

“I checked your results and the tests came back clean. Do you think you could be pregnant?” the nurse asked. “I saw that you didn’t do the follow-up.”

Pandora shook her head at the nurse. “That’s not possible. I have a history.”

“Let’s do the test, just to be clear.”

“Stranger things have happened,” Keira said and the nurse just hummed.

“Give me a urine sample and we can go from there?” the nurse prompted.

And Pandora did just that. After a few minutes of wait and Pandora frowned as the nurse looked at the pregnancy stick with a smile. “Just as I thought. You’re pregnant.”

The nurse placed the test down on the table beside her to see. Pandora’s eyes fell on the positive sign on it. “I can’t be,” she said, her voice barely over a whisper. Her eyes flitted between her friend and the nurse, who both looked ecstatic.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. She remembered a story where a woman got a false pregnancy test positive and ended up having cancer. 

“It must be cancer,” she sobbed out. She looked at the nurse who was shaking her head.

“Ma’am. It’s not cancer,” she replied. “The stories you hear online are about a man who had cancer and took a pregnancy test. It’s not the same thing.”

“Keira, you know I can’t have a baby. Derrik and I tried for years!”

“Pandora, just take a scan and you will know what is going on, right?”

“The doctor isn’t here today, but I am a licensed technician. I can sign you up and perform the scan for you.” She paused. “I want you to calm down so that we can take a look and see what is going on. Okay?”

Pandora sighed before nodding. Soon, she was pulling her pants off and sitting on the table. The nurse prepped her and told her what to expect. Pandora gripped the bed as the scan proceeded.

The nurse made humming noises before she stopped moving. “There you go,” she murmured and turned the screen for Pandora to see. “Do you see that?” she asked as she pointed at the screen.

“Yes,” Pandora said, nodding. She frowned as she looked at the bean-shaped mass. “What is it? Is that the cancer?” she asked.

The nurse frowned. “That’s your baby,” she corrected.

Pandora looked at her and then back to the screen, feeling a sob rip out of her mouth.