The Space Between Us(56)
When it was over I hurried away from the house as quickly as I could, hoping no one saw me spewing all over their landscaping. I was nearly in tears when I made it back to the sorority, ashamed and embarrassed of what had happened. Obviously, I wasn’t as well as I thought I was. I made it through the door before I felt another wave of nausea come over me and I raced to my room. I crashed through the bedroom door and just made it into the bathroom before I was sick again. The commotion must have woken up Reeve because as I was dry heaving into the toilet I felt her come up behind me and pull my hair back with one hand and rub my back with the other.
Eventually my stomach calmed and I sat, sweaty and disgusting, on the bathroom floor.
“Well, that was the grossest alarm clock I’ve ever woken up to,” Reeve said, obviously trying to lighten the mood. She sat on the edge of the tub with a worried look on her face. “I thought you had some 24 hour bug or something.”
I shook my head. “I think it was something I ate,” I managed to say, all the while regretting opening my mouth. I could still taste the sick and distinct tang of vomit. I stood up to try to brush my teeth.
“Well, did you eat the same thing two nights in a row?” I turned to look at her and shook my head no as I brushed my teeth. “Hmm. That’s really strange.” I turned back to the sink and studied Reeve’s face in the mirror. She was working something out in her mind and I could almost see the little gears in her mind working overtime. “Don’t you think it’s a little strange that you’re only getting sick in the mornings?”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth I felt my world drop away from me. Reeve and I were still looking at each other in the mirror and I watched as her face moved from confused to shocked and I felt my face go from thoughtful to scared and entirely terrified.
“No.” I said as I mouthed the word around my toothbrush. “No, no, no, no. Not possible,” I said and then spit out the toothpaste mucking up my words. “Reeve, get that look off your face. It’s not possible. I can’t believe you would even say that out loud.” I wiped my mouth on a towel and walked back into our bedroom.
“Charlie, I’m sorry. But, aren’t you even a little bit curious about this? You’ve gotten sick two mornings in the row, but felt fine in the afternoons. When was your last period?”
“Three weeks ago! I’m on the pill, Reeve! I’m not pregnant.”
“And you haven’t missed any pills lately?”
“No! I’ve never missed a pill. It’s practically my religion. I take them every day at the same time. I’m very responsible!”
“Ok, ok. I’m sorry. You’re right. You’re probably not pregnant.” I shot a glare at her.
“I’m not.”
“Well, if you’re so sure you’re not, then what’s the harm in taking a test?”
“I can’t just go and buy a pregnancy test,” I half whispered, half yelled at her. “What if I see someone at the store? Or what if I know the cashier?” I was admittedly starting to panic.
“I’ll go and buy it for you. No big deal. Charlie, people buy pregnancy tests all the time hoping they’re positive. The cashier doesn’t have to know you’re just a sophomore in college without a job, or a marriage, or really anything at all.”
“You are so not helping right now, Reeve.” I walked over to my bed and put my head in my hands.
“I’m gonna go buy a test and then you’ll know for sure.” I heard her moving around the room and knew she was putting clothes on to go to the store for me. My brain nearly poured steam out of my ear trying to comprehend what was happening. Had I forgotten a pill? No, I was sure of it. Had I taken any antibiotics? I had heard from my doctor that antibiotics make the birth control pill ineffective. No, I hadn’t taken any medication except the f*cking pill. There was no way I was pregnant. It was an impossibility. I took some more deep breaths and watch Reeve continue to ready herself.
When she was all dressed she stood in front of me clutching her purse to her side. “There’s no use getting yourself all worked up over nothing. Don’t start to worry or panic until you’re sure what you’re dealing with.” Those were her parting words to me as she left to buy me a freaking pregnancy test. Yeah right. Don’t panic. Sure.
It might have been the longest thirty minutes of my life that passed until Reeve returned with a small brown paper sack hidden underneath her jacket.
“I didn’t want to risk any of the sisters seeing it,” she explained. I wanted to point out that no one would be able to see through the paper sack, but knew she was just trying to help me, so I kept my mouth shut. She pulled three boxes out of the sack and held them out to me.
“Three kinds?”
“Yeah. I figured you wouldn’t be satisfied with just one.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I wouldn’t be,” she added. I took the three boxes in my hand and took a minute to study the back of each one.
“Conveniently enough, the directions are all pretty much the same,” I muttered.
“You’ve always been really good at taking tests,” she said quickly. I gave her a puzzled look. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that. This is really intense and I just spouted whatever came out of my mouth. I know this isn’t helping. Do you want me to get you some water? Do you think you even have enough pee to take all those tests at the same time? Maybe I should take one too just so that we have a control test, you know, like, one that will obviously be negative since I haven’t had sex in a millennia?” I stood up and wrapped Reeve in a tight hug.