New Life (Book 2)

Chapter 5

With a curt nod, Grace steps back and Isabelle steps forward with a tiny flashlight. She holds my chin and shines it into my eyes. I squint and blink a few times, temporarily going blind before I get used to it. "Thank you for blinding me," I tell her, but she just smiles.

"Follow the light." She moves it from side to side and I follow it. "Okay, good." She grabs a pen and carefully began to transcribe her findings onto the clipboard. A second later, she circles the bed around Sierra's side.

She does the same procedures and asks the same questions. "How did you feel before you passed out?"

"Uh, I was feeling a lot of things, to be honest." She says eagerly. "I was hungry, like on the verge of starvation because I've been throwing up all day and can't keep shit down. So, I was nauseous and a little faint but I thought that my blood sugar was low because I haven't been eating, you know. So–"

I put my hand over her mouth to silence her. "You make a horrible patient."

She sighs. "Short answer, nauseous and lightheaded."

Isabelle nods and exchanges a look with Grace. She wears a smile and I know what that smile means. "How long have you been throwing up?"

"It feels like forever. I can't even remember life before this hell." I roll my eyes at the dramatics.

"It started on Saturday." Grace volunteers.

"Saturday. Okay," Isabelle writes it down, her smile getting wider. "Sierra,"

Sierra squeezes my hand beneath the blanket, her anxiety rising again. "I don't like the sound of that. I don't like the way you said my name." She turns to me. "Em, why did she say my name like that?"

Iz laughs and it only makes me more nervous. This is amusing for her while we're over here being nervous wrecks. "Relax. I just want to know when your last period was."

"Oh," Sierra says, taken aback. "Oh, um..." She hesitates making me look at her. I see her reach for her phone, tapping away at the screen. "One second..."

"Take your time." My sister says sitting down. Her amusement is really bothering me.

"Do you mind sharing what's entertaining you so much?"

She just shrugs at me. "In a minute. I thought you would've picked up on this by now, Em."

"On what? She's not pregnant." If that's what you're thinking. "We have like fifty negative tests!"

"Hmmm," she continues smiling and turns her attention back to Sierra. "It happens."

I feel angst brewing in the pit of my chest, making me look at Sierra. She's pale as her gaze is glued to the screen of her phone, but in her eyes, I can see the panic that I'm feeling from her. "Baby?"

She looks over at me like a deer in headlights, her thoughts flashing across her eyes one after the other. "This is impossible!" She breathes and I know what that means.

"A few weeks ago you told me nothing was impossible anymore." I hate to be the one to say it but...

"Yes... I know what I said but this, this is different. This should not be possible— I don't understand."

"Did you not have a period since Mother's Day weekend?" Grace asks, perplexed.

"No!!!! I thought it came as a part of the package. Is it not?"

Isabelle laughs making me look back at her but her eyes are on the clipboard. "Mother's Day weekend? What date was that Sierra?"

"Uh, M-May... Sixth— This is impossible!"