Thorn (Carmichael Series #5)✔️

Decisions, Decisions

** There are probably typos in here somewhere. If there are, please let me know! I didn't have time to edit this. Today was an extremely long day at work...**

Tansy's POV

"Honey, are you alright? You look pale as a ghost." The doctor said, her tone laced with worry. I swallowed the lump in my throat that felt like a chunk of lead before shrugging my shoulders.

"Are you sure? What about the discharge?" I questioned, my voice so small and childlike. She rolled over to where I was sitting before patting my knee with her hand in a comforting manner.

"Vaginal discharge is common with pregnancy, but your HCG levels are too high for me to account this anything else, sweetheart. If I had to guess I'd say you're probably only a couple weeks along." She explained calmly.

"What do I do now?" I asked more to myself than to her, though that didn't stop her from answering.

"At this point, you need to have the discussion with not only yourself, but also the father, on where you want to go from here. It's a great thing that we caught this so early because now you have time to think about your decision whether to carry to full term or terminate this pregnancy." She said looking slightly regretful. Did she just fucking insinuate that I abort my child?

"I'm keeping this baby whether the father wants it or not." I growled vehemently, my emotions getting the better of me as my eyes watered just thinking about "terminating" this pregnancy - as she so professionally put it.

"That's wonderful, dear. Unfortunately, that's something I have to ask for standard protocol. Now, I'm going to prescribe you some prenatal vitamins that you can just pick up at the pharmacy. Along with that, you need to be sure you're taking excellent care of your body and making good life decisions as you're in a very fragile stage of your pregnancy right now. The first trimester is when almost all miscarriages occur. This means no alcohol or drugs of any kind - ever." She lectured.

"Oh my God, I had a couple beers the other night!" I gasped, looking at her with a horror-filled face.

"It's fine, honey. You didn't know and it wasn't intentional. The baby should be just fine." She reassured me with a warm smile. She handed me a brochure of information about the first trimester of pregnancy and all the do's and don'ts. "Now you need to make sure you're eating a high protein diet with lots of fruits and vegetables - especially those with folate as it's vital for the proper growth and development of your child's spinal cord. There will be all the necessary vitamins in what I prescribed you, but it's best to be on the safe side and also get those vitamins and minerals from food as well. Do you have any questions at this time?" She asked, giving me an expectant look. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my brain enough to ask what I wanted to know.

"When is the next time I need to come in?"

"We'll schedule you an appointment for four weeks from now. By that point, I'm certain you'll be six or seven weeks along which means we'll be able to take a transvaginal ultrasound to detect the heartbeat." She spoke with a smile. I released a deep breath before nodding, still light-headed and slightly nauseous from the information she'd just shared.

"I'm not sure what else I have questions about just yet." I mumbled out, still in a state of shock.

"Alright. Well, you have the number of my office, but I always give first-trimester moms my personal cell number just in case anything were to happen that you needed my attention immediately." She rattled off while typing a few things into her computer before turning around and giving me a business card with her name and phone number on it. I smiled, grateful to have been able to have such a caring doctor.