Pretending to be Pregnant

Seventeen

Was I dreaming or was I zooming through white washed corridors whilst suspended in mid air?

My name.

My age.

The state of my body.

They were all being shouted across my suspended state. Someone was firmly grasping my hand and rubbing a reassuring thumb in circles on my palm.

I stiffly opened my eyes and turned towards the source of the pressure on my hands, expecting to see Ryan. Instead, there stood Luke, his tie whipped from around his neck and his top button gaping untidily open, whilst he ruffled his slightly messy and stressed hair. Abruptly, recent events were brought to the surface of my mind and I turned away from him.

"Esme, you passed out. Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling very well? You could have just said. Anyway, don't worry, we're going to check on the baby as soon as we get you to the private room and then we're going to take it from there. You're going to be alright Esme, I'm going to make sure of that." Suddenly, it occurred to me, I was in a hospital.

I was in a hospital.

Quickly I sat up.

"Just stay lying down. Just relax." A nurse told me, pushing me back down to the surface of the bed and before I knew it I was in a room and in a trace, dreamily climbing onto a hospital bed. "Okay, someone will come and do an ultrasound and then we'll conduct blood tests. It's probably just an infection, but there's also a possibility that something could be wrong with the baby so we need to act as soon as possible." The nurse told me, before leaving Luke and I in peace.

"Luke I can't be here."

"I know it's scary, but we need to make sure you're okay." I panicked, glancing around. Soon the midwife would arrive with the ultrasound machinery and would be lifting up my top. Granted, the bump looked pretty real, but it wouldn't fool them.

"No Luke, you don't understand."

"I think I do." He whispered quietly and nonchalantly turned his head. "You're not pregnant are you?"

I gasped in shock.

"What?" Silently he walked over and placed a hand on my stomach before caressing it and gently lifting up my top.

"I still don't know why you did it, maybe you lost the baby originally and couldn't tell anyone, but I know that you're scared and I'm here for you." Tears stung my eyes. I knew now that it wasn't possible to not love him. To not want to be with him. And with that thought in mind, I knew that I couldn't marry Ryan. I had to tell him the truth, but for now....

Acting on impulse I pulled Luke towards me, grasping the collar of his shirt.

"I don't know why I did it." I whispered soothingly. I was still feverish and looking back, this was probably the most unromantic kiss in history, but it was the first kiss I knew that was a kiss of love.

Luke gazed into my eyes, unable to pull away as I grasped desperately at his shirt. His right arm strayed across to the other side of my body and before long his lips were gently on mine, his eyes closing simultaneously with my own and as he slipped his tongue urgently into my mouth I thought I might explode with happiness. He placed one of my own hands on his shoulders and kissed him back urgently, until abruptly he pulled away. At first I was slightly confused, yet as soon as I saw the elderly woman in the nurses uniform in the room, I nervously smiled, embarrassed.

"I've come to do the ultrasound." The elderly woman told us. Luke nodded. I looked at him, shaking with nerves.

"I'm sorry, but you must be mistaken. Somebody has already done an ultrasound." He coughed. "There's no baby." The woman wasn't silly, she didn't ask questions, just flounced from the room in a heat of panic at the lack of medical notes.