Chapter 2 #5
“I’m pregnant.”
In that moment, Janice’s world stopped turning.
She didn’t know what she’d expected the woman to say, but it most certainly hadn’t been that.
“PREGNANT?!” She heard her disbelief echoed by Addie in the seat next to her.
“Could you be any louder?” Sascha hissed, exasperated.
“How long?” Janice asked anxiously. How had this happened? When had this happened?
“My vacation. I didn’t find out until after coming back to work though.” Sascha admitted quietly.
No… Janice thought, horrified as she remembered how she’d pulled The Tower in the reading she’d done for Sascha all those weeks ago.
. . but she’d also pulled Nine of Wands, a reversed Chariot, and a reversed King of Swords.
The only good card she’d pulled was The Lovers, but even that had been pulled with the Eight of Swords.
Meaning Sascha’s life changing trip could have gone well…
but she’d self-sabotaged and the situation had gone a dark way.
“So then, your medical excuse?” Addie asked seriously.
“No.” Sascha shook her head, there was a touch of pain in her eyes as she dropped her gaze to the buffet before her. “I got hurt on my trip and this guy said I’d need an extra week before I was in fighting shape again,” she jerked a thumb at Ansell.
Janice gripped her shirt front. Her chest suddenly ached as though she’d been punched in it. “What?” The word escaped her as barely a whisper.
“What do you do for a living?” Addie finally asked Ansell, suspicion in her tone.
“I’m a doctor.” Ansell said and Janice felt her heart break.
What had happened to her friend while on her trip?
“I was in charge of Sascha’s care after her accident.” The man was curt and polite. As though even he had trouble handling the memories of what had happened. . .
It was no wonder Sascha never talked about her trip. Janice just knew something horrible had befallen her.
“Isn’t that some kind of conflict of interest?” Janice frowned looking around the table and trying to keep her head about her. If he was treating her friend and still acting as her doctor, could he even be here right now?
“I was the first to be aware of the incident. So I was the one to care for her.” Ansell commented hostilely.
And she supposed she earned that. They had trauma to bond them. It really wasn’t her place to question whether he could legally support her and function as her doctor.
“I’m carrying four babies. Don’t you think it’s good to have a doctor around?”
At this, Janice did finally look at Ansell. Directly at him, meeting his frigid glare. “How is that possible?” She hated the desperate sound of her voice.
Sascha shrugged distractedly, tucking into one of the plates that had been set in front of them. “Just lucky, I guess.”
“Lucky?” Janice turned on her, she felt like her head would explode.
The migraine had come on so suddenly, her vision became spotted for a moment and she thought she might pass out.
“How can that be lucky?” She blinked through it, trying to focus, her power was welling, swirling violently in her body.
She knew it was in reaction to how she was feeling, but she didn’t know what to do about it right now.
“I never said it was good luck. . .” Sascha threw her a glare, grumbling around a mouthful of french toast.
“Is that even safe?” Addie sounded as anxious as Janice felt. “I didn’t even know it was possible to have four babies at once.”
At that point, Janice lost track of the conversation. Her head pounded as though someone were hitting her with a hammer and she couldn’t make sense of what they were saying.
The first thing she was able to understand was a request made by Ansell. “I’d like you to make sure she drinks her tea if she gets stressed.”
Janice just nodded. It wasn’t like the man was talking to her.
No, the man hated her. And with how much her head hurt, she was in no mood to try and figure out why.
It could be anything, but his hating her didn’t mean that she wouldn’t help take care of the woman she considered her best and only friend.
“I’ll drop by the Bank every now and then to check in on her, but she is fine to continue working until she has to go on bed rest.” He said.
That word caught her and Janice shook her head in disbelief. When she got the chance, she’d start looking into Four Baby Pregnancies. . . Hell, what did one even call that?
“Bed rest?” She repeated weakly, hearing her concern voiced by both Addie and Sascha.
“What do you mean bed rest?” Sascha asked. This had obviously not been mentioned to her during their visits.
“It’s exactly as it sounds.” He looked at her apathetically.
“Later in your pregnancy you will be placed on bed rest to ensure your and your children’s safety.
And that will be shortly before you will be sent to a hospital that is more equipped to handle your delivery.
” He watched her for several moments with an intense sort of severity.
Almost as though he was challenging her to argue with him about it, but knew he’d win.
“There are reasons why I keep telling you to do certain things. I’m not just telling you for my peace of mind. ”
Janice looked between the two, feeling her world crumble around her. She was in pain. Physical pain. Her head was killing her and her chest felt like it was going to explode. She was almost certain she was having a panic attack and her overflow of power was only making it worse.