The Randy Romance Novelist(86)
Derk was right when it came to communication, but I was also nervous to hear what Henry wanted to actually communicate to me. Was he not ready to be a dad?
Text message after text message passed through my phone. I scrolled through all of them, questioning whether Henry and I were going to be able to make it, or if this was the beginning of the end for us.
***
“One forty-two,” the nurse said out loud after I got off the scale. “One-pound gain.”
“Thank you,” I said tersely, wanting to smack the grin off her face. I snatched my purse from Delaney and followed the nurse into the same exam room I had stormed out of only a few days ago.
“Miss Bloom, please go ahead and change behind the partition. There is a robe in the back.”
“I brought mine from the last appointment,” I said, pulling the robe I walked down the streets of New York City in. “Reduce, reuse, recycle . . . right?”
“Mmm-hmm.” The nurse gave me a very judgmental once-over and then left the room.
Once the door was shut, Delaney gave me a disgusted look. “Well, she’s kind of a bitch.”
“Kind of? She’s been judging me since the minute I stepped on that damn scale. She wouldn’t take my word for how much I weighed.”
“What did you tell her you weighed?”
“That’s beside the point,” I answered, stepping behind the partition to get changed.
The room was cold, so taking off my clothes was unpleasant. I shivered when I put the stupid front-opening robe on. The flaps in the front wanted to expose everything, and the sleeves were cut wide enough that side boob was very prevalent.
Self-conscious, I peeked my head past the partition. “Um, could you not look?”
Annoyed, Delaney put down the magazine she was thumbing through. “Rosie, I’ve seen your vagina so many times, it’s as if it was my own.”
“But this is my whole naked body. Plus, I’ve gained some weight.”
Delaney scoffed. “Weight? Aka, baby. You’ve gained baby. Stop being a weirdo and strut it out here.”
“I find it disturbing that you want to see my body so badly.”
She shook her head no. “Yeah, not so much. I’m not really that interested in seeing what kind of private parts you have going on, but I want to have a conversation with you and having it while you hide behind that partition is stupid. Get your ass out here and sit on the damn table.”
I knew I was seconds away from having Delaney drag me out, and knowing her, she wouldn’t be gentle, so I closed the robe incredibly tightly and shuffled out to the table. Delaney stared at me the entire time.
“Stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?” she smiled.
“Like you’re waiting for me to trip and fall, only to have one of my breasts land on a stirrup, propped up for everyone to see.”
“That would be a great day for me and something that would most definitely happen to you. Can’t blame a girl for wishing for the best.”
“You’re such a good friend,” I mocked. “Wanting to see the worst happen to me, so sweet.”
“Cool your tits, Sensitive Sally. If this pregnancy is going to be you complaining the entire time, I’m not sure I can be by your side.”
Her voice had a hint of humor in it, but I still had a sickening feeling in my stomach. If Delaney wasn’t there for me and neither was Henry, then how the hell was I going to do this on my own?
I looked up at the ceiling, willing the tears to go away. I didn’t want to cry in the doctor’s office; all I needed was for Nurse Scale Nazi to come back in here and judge me more.
“Why are you crying?” Delaney asked, slightly annoyed.
“I’m not crying.” I quickly wiped my eyes. “The lights are just bright.”
Delaney sighed and stood up so she was looking over at me while I lay flat on the table. Her eyes were soft, and she was concerned.
“Let’s talk about Henry.”
“There is nothing to talk about.”
Delaney moved a stray hair behind my ear. “Sweetie, you know I love you, but your stubbornness is so not attractive.”
“I’m not being stubborn. If he knew I was pregnant, why didn’t he ever confront me about it? Instead, he kept pushing me farther and farther away. I disgust him, Delaney. He wouldn’t touch me, even when I practically threw myself at him. He’s been nice and sweet, but that’s it. I think . . .”
My lip trembled as I tried to gather my words, to figure out the truth that was sitting on the tip of my tongue.
“What do you think?” Delaney encouraged.
“I think he wants to be just friends.”
Delaney shook her head. “Why would you think that?”
“Think about it. He doesn’t want to have sex with me, but he still cares about me. He takes care of me like he used to take care of me when we were friends. I don’t think I’m the person he wants anymore, and he’s just trying to figure it all out. He’s trying to figure out a nice way to tell me without breaking me in two.”
Delaney thought about it for a second and took my hand in hers. “I can’t imagine that happening. I know he’s been weird lately but breaking up with you? That doesn’t seem like him.”
I turned my head to the side, away from Delaney’s sorrowful eyes. I stared at a picture of a uterus on the wall and tried to erase the images of Henry breaking up with me. I couldn’t even fathom the kind of pain I would experience from such a loss. I wondered if getting involved with him in the first place was a good idea. Would he be supportive of this pregnancy? From the way he’d been so standoffish lately, I doubted he wanted to be a part of it. If anything, he would feel obligated to lend a hand because that’s who he was. He was a good guy.