California Girls(53)

They reached a flat area and stopped for water and to catch their breath. The view of the hills and city beyond was amazing. It was early enough that they had the trail to themselves and the only sounds were their breathing and conversation.

DeeDee handed Zennie her water bottle. “Hold this for a second, please.” DeeDee put her heel on a boulder and stretched her leg. “I keep getting this stupid tight hamstring.”

She straightened and reached for her bottle. Zennie went to hand it to her friend, her arm outstretched.

She wasn’t sure what happened next. She knew she stepped on a rock and that knocked her off balance. Zennie’s weight shifted, the edge of the hill gave way just a little and the next thing Zennie knew, she was sliding and falling and screaming as she tumbled over before coming to a stop a good twenty feet below the path.

At first she was too stunned to do anything but lie there. She heard her friends yelling her name. Gina scrambled down first, hanging on to bushes and dried grass to slow her descent. By the time she was close, Zennie had pushed herself into a sitting position and was trying to assess her injuries.

She felt shaken but not disoriented. Her upper leg burned. When she looked down, she saw she’d gotten a heck of a scrape from hip to knee. She ignored the oozing blood and dirt and rocks embedded in her flesh. That was superficial and could be dealt with. She was more concerned about serious injuries.

“Lie back down,” Gina told her.

“And risk getting a snakebite on the face? No, thank you.”

Gina waved to the other two. “She’s conscious and still scared of snakes. I think that’s a good sign.”

“Not snakes,” Zennie muttered. “Rattlesnakes. There’s a difference.”

Gina crouched next to her. “Did you hit your head?”

“No.”

“Good. We’ll start at the bottom and work our way up.”

Gina had her move her toes, her feet, her ankles and so on. They quickly assessed nothing was broken, although Zennie had multiple scrapes with plenty of embedded debris.

“That’s going to hurt to get out,” Gina said, helping Zennie to her feet.

“I’m trying not to think about it,” Zennie admitted as she stood and waited. She monitored herself for dizziness or acute pain, but there was just the dull ache of the abrasions. She was banged up, a little shaken, but nothing more.

She and Gina scrambled up to the trail. DeeDee flung herself at Zennie.

“This is all my fault.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I slipped. That’s on me, not you.”

“You could have died.”

Zennie hugged her friend. “You are so weird.”

Cassie, a pediatric care nurse, looked at Zennie’s leg and winced. “You’re going to need to go to an urgent care center. A hospital would be better, but I know you’ll balk at that.”

“There’s one just down the hill,” Gina said. “I’ll go with her and you two can finish the run.”

Cassie snorted. “As if. We are not finishing the run without you two. We’ll all go to urgent care and make sure Zennie’s okay.”

Zennie wanted to protest but she knew there was no way she could clean out the scrapes herself. Not only couldn’t she see what she was doing, it would hurt like hell. At least at the urgent care center, they could spray on a topical numbing cream to take the edge off.

Thirty minutes later she was in an examination room. A handsome doctor in a wheelchair entered the room, her chart in his lap. He was in his late thirties, with too-long hair and glasses. He gave her an easy smile.

“Really? You couldn’t just sleep in on a Sunday morning?”

“Sorry. I’m not the sleepin type.”

“Fine. Make me work for a living. I’m Dr. Rowell, by the way, but you can call me Harry. Everyone does.” He stopped in front of her and looked at her leg. “That’s ugly. Okay. I’m going to make sure you’re only banged up and not seriously hurt, then we’ll clean you up.” He picked up her chart. “Any allergies to medication or medical conditions I should know about?”

“No, I’m—” She’d been about to say perfectly fine, only what if she wasn’t.

Zennie clutched the edge of the exam room table and stared at the doctor. Horror swept through her as nausea churned in her stomach. Tears filled her eyes.

“What?” Harry asked, his tone gentle. “Zennie, what is it?”

“I might be pregnant. I just got AI last Friday. No one even knows. I’m trying to have a baby for my best friend and I fell.” The tears spilled onto her cheeks. “What if I killed her baby?”

“You didn’t kill the baby,” he told her. “Come on. If you even are pregnant, it’s like four cells.” He squeezed her hand. “Okay, let’s get serious. This early on, the embryo would be embedded in your uterus, surrounded by all your girl parts and internal organs. Fabergé eggs don’t get such royal treatment when they’re shipped around the world.”

She wiped her face and managed a smile. “Girl parts? Are you sure you went to medical school?”

He flashed her a grin. “I think I missed that day, but I totally rocked wound cleaning.” He squeezed her hand again. “Zennie, artificial insemination is a simple procedure that doesn’t always take. If you’re not pregnant, it has nothing to do with your fall. I swear. Believe me?”