As she sat there trying to make it make sense to herself; her mind would not wrap itself around the reality that she was carrying Scott’s child in her body.
She shook her head, thinking of all the work she had done to get through school, to graduate, to make sure that she had almost no debt when she graduated, and then to create and build her own business and try to turn it into the enormously successful firm she dreamed that it could be someday.
A child would ruin all of that. A child would make everything she had done, everything that she had worked for, fail. There was no room in her life for a baby, she told herself. There could be no place for one. She wasn’t ever going to be with Scott again, so it wasn’t as if she could offer the baby a family to grow up with. Her mind was a torrent of confusion and angst as realities pelted themselves against her viciously.
Her weeping turned into sobs that wracked her body, and as she convulsed, she laid herself down on the bed in the examination room, and closed her eyes, letting herself cry out and shake until she could start breathing again.
Slowly, one deep breath at a time, she managed to get herself under control, and she turned and laid on her back, staring at the ceiling, focusing on breathing in and out. She told herself that she had to calm down and think her way through everything going on in her mind. There was a way through it all; she just had to find it.
She realized as she lay there, that she was probably going to have to go through it alone, and the thought paralyzed her, until she thought of Eva. Eva had been her best friend since high school. No one knew her better, and no one was closer to her than Eva. She might not have to go through it alone after all, no matter what route she decided to take with it.
Naomi pushed herself up from the bed and got her cell phone. She sent a text to Eva, asking her to meet her as soon as she could. She told her it was an emergency. Slipping her phone back into her purse, she got dressed and used the little sink in the counter to wash her hands and face, in an attempt to cool off and calm down a little more.
The nurse knocked on the door and Naomi called out for her to come in. She looked sympathetic, and Naomi knew that she must have been told about the reception of the doctor’s news. She had Naomi sign a few forms and she gave her some education pamphlets and information sources, and wished her well.
When Naomi got to her car again, she gave her phone another look and saw that Eva had texted her back. She told her she would meet her at the café where they liked to go. An hour later, Naomi walked through the door of the café and saw Eva sitting at a table waiting for her.
Eva rose up from her seat and hugged Naomi tightly, which nearly made Naomi lose the slight grip she had on her calm demeanor. She sat across from her friend and Eva took Naomi’s hands in hers, holding them gently.
“What’s going on? I’ve been so worried since I got your text!” Eva asked with enormous concern.
Naomi swallowed. She hadn’t said it out loud. She had no idea how to share her news and even speak it, but one look in Eva’s patient waiting eyes, and she knew that she had to do it.
“I haven’t been feeling very well, so I went to the doctor today,” she began quietly.
Eva’s mouth opened slightly as she waited. “Cancer?” she asked in the barest whisper.
“No,” Naomi replied, realizing in that moment that what she was going through could be much, much worse. “I’m pregnant.”
Air gushed out of Eva’s lungs and she blinked in surprise. “You’re pregnant?”
Naomi nodded and pursed her lips shut, waiting to see what Eva would say.
“Wow…” Eva leaned back a little and looked at Naomi, and said nothing for what felt to Naomi like an eternity. “Who is the father? Is it the guy you were just seeing? Or… not seeing?” she asked with a darkening look.
Naomi nodded. “Yeah, that’s him. He’s