Tainted Forever (Tainted Knights 5)

“Okay. See you later, then.”

The door closed, and I blew out a relieved sigh. The nurse assisted me into a sitting position, and I tucked the sheet around me tighter in an attempt to regain some sense of normalcy. In the matter of ten minutes, suddenly my life had been turned upside down.

It was ridiculous the speed at which something as small as a single word could upend everything in a person’s life. I covered my face with my hands and waited for the doctor to finish what she was doing.

“Kin, we’re going to step out and let you get dressed. When you’re finished, come out, and we’ll give you a cup to pee in. The test won’t take two minutes, and then we can talk again, okay?”

I nodded mutely without uncovering my face. I heard them both leave and only dropped my hands when I heard the door click shut. Jumping up, I jerked on my clothes, trying to breathe through the panic which had triggered a new wave of nausea.

The nurse was waiting with the little plastic cup, and I took it into the bathroom, my fingers shaking so badly I nearly dropped it into the toilet when I tried to pee in it. When I was done, I put it in the little window and turned the dial so it would appear in the lab next door. I washed my hands and went back to the exam room to wait.

I couldn’t sit, my legs were too restless. I pulled out my cell phone as I paced. Jace was handling his own list of things to do, and I knew he was busy. I wanted to talk to him, tell him what was going on.

It wouldn’t be just my life that changed if the test came back positive.

I didn’t make this baby on my own.

If there even was a baby.

Shit.

Did I want there to be a baby?

My free hand touched my stomach, unsure what I wanted anymore.

What I did know was that Jace was going to freak. Fuck. Oh God, what was I going to do?

Sure, he wanted me to move in. And yes, he’d even asked me to marry him multiple times, but I wasn’t sure he was truly ready for that. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for it either. Not when we’d only just gotten back together. I didn’t want to jump straight into that big of a commitment yet.

But a baby, that was the biggest commitment a person could ever make in their lives. To create and raise a child. To be responsible for another human being who was so vulnerable and fragile.

How would I even tell him anyway?

Oh hey, yeah. So, the doctor looked at my vagina today and thought I was pregnant. Turns out, you’re going to be a daddy in blah-blah months.

A hysterical laugh left me at the thought just as a tap sounded on the door. Seconds later, the doctor returned, minus the nurse. I caught my breath, waiting for her to deliver the news.

Her face serious, Dr. Baric clasped her hands together. “Have a seat, Kin.”

“Oh God,” I muttered but took the seat by the window.

The doctor took her place on her rolling chair and scooted it over so she was only a few feet away. “The pregnancy test was positive.”

“Fuck,” I breathed, closing my eyes.

“You have options. This doesn’t have to be life-changing.”

My eyes snapped open, and I glared at her. “I wouldn’t even consider that option,” I growled at her, my hands covering my stomach protectively.

Dr. Baric’s eyes softened, and she smiled. “Okay then. The first thing we need to do is get that implant out of your arm. I’ll send it in to have it examined, see why it stopped working. The second, let’s get you an ultrasound done right away. I would like to determine just how far along you are before you head off on this tour of yours. Third, I’m going to write you a prescription for a prenatal vitamin you should take every day. I advise my patients to take them at bedtime because they can upset the stomach, so it’s easier to take them before going to sleep.”

An hour later, I walked out of the doctor’s office with a handful of ultrasound pictures and my prescription. My eyes were on the top picture, my fingers tracing over the tiny little blob that was supposed to be my baby. I was almost exactly six weeks pregnant. It was crazy. As soon as Jace and I got back together, we made a baby.

“Hey!” Kassa called out, and my head jerked around at the sound of her voice.

She and Gray were sitting in the corner of the waiting room. Surprised to see them still there, I quickly thrust everything into my purse and zipped it closed before she could see what I’d been holding.

“Hey. I…I thought you two were going on without me,” I told her with a tight smile. “You didn’t have to wait.”