Not What I Expected

Part 25

"Oh thank god," Beth breathed as she glared at Officer Simons.

Nicole knew that Beth was livid just by the way she looked at the officer and Nicole couldn't believe that the officer was so quick to pass the blame to someone else. It was very clear that no one could have made the marks on Anna's wrists except for Anna herself, but she wasn't a professional in that department so what did she know.

"Don't you dare place blame!" Beth shot at the officer, "My sister is awake. I'll go talk to her and then you can ask your questions, but I can't believe you would just jump to false conclusions before even talking to the victim first. I can guarantee you that my best friend would never do what you are attempting to accuse her of."

Before Officer Simons even had a chance to say anything in response, Beth gave Nicole a sad look and a squeeze on the shoulder before she made her way down the hall, following the doctor to Anna's room. Nicole was stressed to the max and as if the baby was trying to tell her to calm down, a wave of nausea passed through her. She put her hand to her mouth and sat down, taking deep breaths and trying to keep anything from coming up.

"Mrs. Sanders, I'm very sorry, I was only following..." Officer Simons began before Nicole cut him off.

"Don't worry about it, I get it," Nicole said in a whisper as the nausea only got worse, "You were only doing your job."

Then, without any warning to Officer Simons, Nicole emptied her stomach all over the emergency room floor before she fell to her knees. Out of breath and exhausted, Nicole cried out in frustration as she silently replayed all the events of that night in her head.

"Jesus, are you ok?" Officer Simons asked as he rushed over and kneeled down beside her.

"What the hell is going on?" Ryan asked, the concern written all over his face as he made his way towards them, "Officer, please go find a doctor."

Officer Simons nodded and then took off in the direction of the nurse's station. Ryan picked Nicole up and helped her into a chair and she smiled thankfully at him. She wasn't sure if she was done yet, but for the time being the police officer was gone and she could take a moment to calm herself. Ryan didn't expect an explanation from her and she loved that about him. He wouldn't force her to talk until she was ready.

She leaned her head against his shoulder for a second before the nausea hit her again and it happened again. Ryan rubbed her back as she took deep breaths, but the smell of antiseptic and illness did nothing to help take away the feeling. She silently hoped and prayed that she could hold it in until the doctor came.

"Mrs. Sanders," Dr. Burrows called as she made her way towards them, "This has been a horrible run for you hasn't it?"

Nicole looked up and smiled when she realized that it was the same doctor that helped them when Chad was in the hospital.

"It hasn't been great, no," Nicole replied quietly.

"I'll get one of the orderly's to clean this up," Dr. Burrows said as she reached out her hand, "I've got a room for you. Follow me, you two."

Nicole reached for Dr. Burrows' hand and stood up and she and Ryan followed her down the hall to an empty room. She sat down on the bed and without a word being spoken, Dr. Burrows took her temperature and her blood pressure. The doctor wrote some stuff down on a chart and then sat down and looked at Nicole.

"So Nicole," Dr. Burrows said, "What seems to be the issue?"

"Well, for starters, I'm twelve and a half weeks pregnant," Nicole answered, "I've been experiencing horrible morning sickness and since Chad died, I really haven't been taking good care of myself. I'm barely eating and I've been living in a bubble. Anna was just brought in here because I found her unconscious in front of my house, an attempted suicide, and the police felt that it was necessary to wrongly accuse me of having the motive to do this to her. So I am extremely stressed out, I'm hungry and I'm terrified that I'm causing my baby serious harm."