A CONTRACT ENGAGEMENT

Nina was well aware of that! As exhausted as she was, she’d never be able to keep up with the demands expected of her when the real work began again.

“Have you seen a doctor?” Camille asked her.

“No. When do you expect them to send over a contract from Fair marketing media ?” Nina asked.

“Any day now,” Camille said, frowning again as if annoyed that she’d changed the subject. “Once you, Evan and Trevor sign, they’ll want you to be ready to work with them. It would be crushing to your career if you fell off schedule and were unable to work. Or worse, if you go there looking as exhausted as you do.”

Thinking about what Camille just said was a nightmare on its own. She had to do something, and if it meant taking medicine for depression, then that’s what she’d do.

“Very well,” Nina said. “I’ll call my physician today.”

But due to her doctor’s busy schedule and Nina was kind of a friend, he agreed to see her after hours.

“How has it been at work… And personally too of course?” the doctor asked.

“Great,” Nina said, her heart warming over the memory of unbelievable bliss with Julian, and at the same hurting with the thoughts of how it had ended between them.

“Unfortunately I caught a bit of a bug and can’t seem to shake it.” She said,

The doctor quickly launched into his professional persona. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Exhaustion and a queasy stomach.” She replied.

“This started when exactly?” the doctor asked.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Nina frowned. “A week ago I think. Actually, it started with an upset stomach. At the time I thought it was some kind of normal stomach upset but now I don’t know anymore”

The doctor patiently listened as she described how food-even the smell of it-would turn her stomach. How she’d feel perfectly fine one moment only to become violently ill the next.

“It didn’t last more than three days and then I felt fine. Except for being tired, but now it’s back” she admitted as the doctor gave her a careful examination.

“I’ll ask you this once because, considering your medical history, I have to rule it out,” the doctor said. “Have you had a relapse with your eating disorder?”

She’d expected the question. “No. I’ve adhered to a healthy diet and have not been tempted to revert to anorexia once since my recovery. In fact, I have gained weight.”

“Good for you,” the doctor said after weighing her and announcing she was five pounds heavier than the last time she’d checked.

The weight gain shocked her, for though she noticed her clothes fit snugger, this was a much greater increase than she’d ever had. But she had hardly noticed the gain. It certainly hadn’t been at the forefront of her mind.

“Nina?” The doctor smiled as she looked up and flushed, embarrassed to be caught lost in internal thought. “Let’s focus on what could cause your problems. As for the exhaustion, I imagine your schedule has been intense… Let’s say for the past month have you been having tight schedules, working or being awake at night, stressed?”

“Extremely so. ” She replied.

The passionate nights she’d shared with Julian when they were together had cost her much-needed sleep. But she couldn’t divulge something that personal, that precious to her. Including work stress and her break up with Julian, which had left her with even more sleepless nights.

The doctor frowned and made a few notes. “So now the fatigue is back?”

“Yes. And I can’t seem to get my energy back no matter how much sleep I get,” she said.

“What about rest? Are you having difficulty falling asleep?” he asked her.

“Yes,” she admitted, and because he knew he’d ask more, she simply stated, “I have some personal issues that have troubled me of late, so sleep eludes me.”

“How is your mood? Are you depressed?” he asked.

“No,” she said, though she missed Julian more than ever before. But depressed? “But I’ve had weird dreams that bother me whenever I manage to sleep.”

The doctor frowned. “Before I give you a prescription for an antidepressant, I want to run blood tests and see if something shows up there. It’s very possible you have an infection that is being relentless. If so, the right medicine should set you to rights in no time.”

“I hope so. I can’t afford to be sick now.” She said,

Thirty minutes later, Nina had given blood and urine samples for office tests and was sitting in the empty waiting room waiting for preliminary results.

The doctor strode into the waiting room, his expression somewhere between curious and worried. “Nina, are you still taking contraceptives?”

“Faithfully,” she said, that query bringing her to her feet.

“You’re sure you didn’t forget once or twice?” he asked her.

She shook her head, the first slice of worry scoring her tenuous calm.

“Not once.” she replied.

He rubbed his chin, stretching the moment out. Pulling her already frayed nerves so taut she was sure they’d snap.

“When was the last time you took an antibiotic?” he asked.

“Some time last month,” she said. “I took an antibiotic with some malaria pills. Why do you ask? Is something wrong?”

He nodded, but his pensive expression kept her on edge. “Did you have intercourse during that time or shortly thereafter?”

She felt her face burn, for that memory, too, was one she would never forget. “Yes. I did. I was seeing someone at the time.”

“That explains it.” the doctor said.

Her blood turned to ice, chilling her to the bone. “What do you mean, that explains it?”

“Antibiotics can decrease the effectiveness of birth control medicine. Did you use condoms?”

Her cheeks burned hotly from the implications that sprang to mind. And the fear … Dear God, the fear of what was wrong with her was becoming glaringly clear.

I’m on the Pill, she’d said at those tense moments when she and Julian were ravenous for each other. And Julian had needed no further urging those times or the ones following it.

“What’s wrong?” She asked the doctor, near frantic now, for his line of questions breathed life into her deepest fears.

“You’re pregnant.” the doctor replied.

Those two words slammed into her with enough force to drop her back in her chair. “I can’t be!” she said.

“Yes, you can. The blood tests will tell for sure, but at this point I suspect you are about one month along.”