Chapter 12: Discovery and Recovery
Allison awoke in a dark room.
At least, it looked dark at first. Once her eyes adjusted, she saw that there was light trying to sneak in under the drapes. She sat up in bed and felt the baby move in her stomach. She froze and slowly looked down. She didn't look any different... but it was the first time she had felt it move.
She swung her legs out of bed and stood up quickly. Too quickly. Her vision blurred and she gripped the table for support. After her vision cleared, she looked up again and jumped. Connor was standing in front of her, looking at her quizzically.
"Are you okay?" he asked her.
"I think so. But I have two questions." Connor nodded. "What happened and where am I?"
Connor smiled. "You're in your bedroom. Or did you not recognize it?" Allison looked around and blushed. How had she not recognized the room she slept in every night? "And you... sort of passed out last night. When Kim started that insane food fight."
Allison's memories came flooding back to her all at once and she had to sit back on the bed. She put her head in her hands and groaned. "How bad is the mess? That pasta had to stain the floor, right?"
Connor nodded again. "But we cleaned it up. It only took a few hours... and it's safe to say Kim won't be coming back here for a while."
"Oh, she means well. She's just... Kim being Kim, you know? You must remember, it hasn't been that long since she went to school with her."
Connor stared at her. "Well, yeah. But this time I feel like it wasn't like that. She was... unrepentant. She didn't care at all that she destroyed the dining room. I think she was a little jealous of the attention you were getting."
Allison swallowed. "I don't think so..." Before she could continue, she remembered something he had said. "Wait, who's we?"
"We?"
"Yeah. Earlier you said 'we cleaned it up.' Who else cleaned it up?"
"Oh!" Connor cleared his throat. "Well, Mark and Ryan stayed the night. Mark's car broke down and Ryan wanted to stay to help you out. Did you know he's a doctor? Anyway, we tried to make Kim stay and clean up, but she started screaming at Mark and through the china plate against the wall then stormed out. Once Ryan calmed Mark down, we all cleaned for most of the night while you slept. They're out there now watching TV and sipping on coffee... which I didn't have. I swear, I didn't!"
Allison laughed and she felt better. When she tried to stand, though, her vision blurred again. "You never answered my next question. What happened?"
"Oh, right. Sorry. Well, you passed out in the middle of the food fight. Everyone else thought it was planned or something. But when KIm came up screaming, everyone stopped and looked down to see you lying on the floor. I thought..." Connor swallowed. "I thought you were dead. You weren't moving at all, and you were barely breathing. We carried you in here, Ryan checked you over, and we've been letting you rest. You've been out for like a full day, you know."
Allison glanced at the clock and groaned. She had missed a full day of classes. "Okay. Well, why can't I stand up?"
Connor felt her forehead and left the room, promising to return with Ryan the Doctor. Sure enough, within five minutes they were rushing into the room. At least, Connor was. Ryan was being pulled by the wrist down the hallway while Mark trailed slowly behind.
Ryan walked over to the bed and smiled down at her. "Feeling better?"
Allison shook her head. "Not really."
Ryan nodded and made her lie back. He felt her forehead again, pressed her stomach, and pulled a thermometer and blood pressure gauge out of a bad that Mark was holding. "That's normal. Mark, would you go make her some tea, please?" He nodded and left the room quietly.
"So? What's wrong with me?"
Ryan smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. "It's very common to faint during pregnancy. But, judging by your blood pressure and comatose state for the past few hours, I'd say this is a little more serious. I have two theories." Ryan glanced over at the door as Mark walked in and handed Allison her tea with a reassuring pat on the hand. "First, the baby is kicking right now, right?" Allison nodded, glancing down. "Well, during the second trimester, it's very common for a sharp kick to the ribs to make the woman pass out."
"So nothing is wrong with the baby?" Connor asked, worried.
"No. My second theory is stress. Increased anxiety can lead to fainting, as can an increase in blood pressure and shortness of breath. You had all three, as I recall."
Allison nodded again, remembering why she had snuck under the table. She felt as if she couldn't breathe standing up. "But... I'm going to be okay?"
He nodded. "I'm leaning towards the second theory because your'e obviously still stressed and that's making it hard to stand. Plus, you've been lying down for fourteen hours."
He glanced at Connor and Mark, who also sat on the bed. "But we think Kim may have had something to do with this," Mark said slowly.
"Well of course she did! She started the food fight, which caused my stress," Allison explained. Why were they so nervous?
Connor cleared his throat. "Well, yes. But why she started the food fight is the real question."
Allison laughed lightly and stared at them. "Why?! She's Kim! She does stuff like this all the time! Remember the time she almost set the cafeteria on fire?"
"Well, Kim's sister just had a baby. She stayed with Kim and Kim learned everything there was to learn about pregnancy while she took care of her. So Kimmy was very aware that stressing you out could cause complications to the baby."
"But... you said the baby's fine." Allison's voice quivered.
"Yes, but you'll need to check with a doctor at a hospital so they can do an ultrasound."
Allison sighed in relief. "Then everything's fine!"
There was a long pause, then Connor looked up slowly. "Allison, we think Kim did this on purpose."
Allison shook her head quickly, tears forming in her eyes. "NO! Why would she do that?!'
"You know how much she hates when other people get attention," Mark said. "You stole the spotlight tonight. And she knew that repeating what happened the night with Connor's parents would stress you out to breaking point. She didn't seem that concerned or surprised when you passed out."
Allison shook her head again, and sat up quickly, ignoring the stars that threatened to cloud her vision. "No! The Kim I know wouldn't do that! We've been best friends for years! She would never ever do that to me on purpose."
Connor shook his head. "Allison, Kim was smiling after you fainted. She was smiling and laughing and almost jumped for joy when Ryan warned us there might be something wrong with the baby. There's not," he added quickly, "but she didn't care."
Mark reached over to put his hand on her shoulder. "But honey, she told Nikki and Sarah that she's been trying to get pregnant for almost a year now. And the doctors said she might not be able to. The Kim I know wouldn't stand to see you live her fantasy. Marrying her dream guy, having a baby, stealing her life. I'm so, so sorry, Allison."
They talked quietly for a little longer, but Allison blocked them out. They left a few minutes later after she claimed to be tired. Once they closed the door, Allison fell back against the pillow and cried. Kim was her best friend for so long. Why would she do something like that? She didn't want to believe it, but some part of her knew it was true. Kim absolutely would do that. And Allison couldn't bear to think about it.
***
Hello again!
Sorry it's short, this was just a filler chapter! Thank you all so much for your support, I with I could thank each and every one of my fans!!! I appreciate all the support, votes, comments, and everything else you guys do! Oh, and thanks for the 20 comments on the last part! This week I won't be choosing one at random, I'm dedicating it to careforbooks because she did something really sweeet! Go check her out, guys! Next time (hopefully this weekend) I'll be updating and choosing a random comment to dedicate the part to. Promise! Today's comment question: Do you think Allison and Connor's baby will be a boy or a girl? Or is it twins? Triplets? Octuplets? ;) Put what you think and I just might dedicate the chapter to you!
Love you guys! WRITE ON!
<3SnazzyReader