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“She’s going to the fucking hospital and that’s the end of the discussion, Izzy. You didn’t fucking see her, Izzy! Her head slammed against the ground, goddamn it!”
Damn, my head hurts. I push myself up from the couch in my dad’s office and look around at the worried faces. My dad is crouched down on his knees in front of the couch, and my mom sitting on the armrest above where my head was just resting, her hand lying on his shoulder. I’m sure she is trying to calm him down. Maddox is leaning against the desk, and Greg is pacing the room.
“I’m okay,” I say, but it comes out like a moan when my head starts to feel like it’s spinning. “I think. ”
“See! She doesn’t even fucking know if she’s okay. Let’s go, little princess. Time to go see the doctor. ” He jumps to his feet and goes to grab me before my mom reaches out one slim hand to stop him.
“Calm down, Ax. Let her speak for herself before you go crazy. ” She turns to me with concern etched on her face. “Sweetheart, is your head bothering you?”
“A little. ” I stop and look up to Greg, the last person who saw the message. “Do you have it?” I ask him.
“Yeah, baby girl. Don’t worry about a thing, okay?”
A look I don’t even attempt to process passes between him and my dad.
“I think it might actually be a good idea to go get checked,” I moan. Then I lean over and lose my lunch all over my dad’s feet.
Dad freaks out. He’s convinced that I’m broken and someone needs to fix me. My head is hurting more from his continual barking at the staff at the urgent care clinic. My mom just sits back and lets him do his thing. She told me a long time ago that she learned her lesson when it came to him. He’s going to over-parent and be protective to a point of annoyance and there just isn’t a damn thing that will change him.
“Hello, Ms. Reid. I hear you took a nasty spill this afternoon,” the young doctor says when she stops in the room. She smiles sweetly at me before looking over and seeing my parents. Her face instantly goes hard. “Mr. Reid, I presume?” At his nod, she continues. “I hear you’ve been giving my staff a hard time today. ”
I giggle, and Mom snorts a laugh out.
“Hello, Dr. Webb,” I say after reading her jacket and effectively cutting my father off before he can start in on his rants. “It wasn’t that bad. Just a little bump when I hit the ground. Lingering headache. ”
“Don’t forget you threw up, Dani. Remember. ”
“Yeah, Daddy, I know. I was there. ” I roll my eyes and look up at the doctor.
“That’s what they said. Your scans look fine, and aside from the contusion and obvious concussion, I would say you’re fine. I’m going to write you a prescription for some low-dose pain meds that will be safe to take in your condition. ”
“Jeeze, Doc. You make it sound like I’m dying. ” I laugh and then wince when my head throbs.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Bad habit I guess. I know pregnant woman don’t usually like us to refer to them as having a condition. ” She laughs, looking down at her chart, and doesn’t even notice that the room has gone electric.
“I’m sorry?” I whisper. “What did you say?”
She looks up, noticing my expression before looking over at my parents. I don’t know what she saw there since I’m absolutely terrified to look at my father.
“Oh, I am so sorry. I didn’t realize. With your lab work and the date listed as your last menstrual cycle . . . I’m sorry. I just assumed. ”
“What are you saying, Doctor?” my father spits out. I can literally hear the force he had to use to get the words through his lips.
“I’ll need to talk to you daughter in private, and then, when she’s ready, she can choose to share the information we discuss as she sees fit. I do apologize, Mr. and Mrs. Reid. ”
I don’t move my eyes from my lap. I keep my head down even through the struggle of my mom physically pulling my dad out of the room. I don’t move when I hear him yelling out in the hallway or when I hear something crash. Not even when the door clicks loudly when the doctor shuts herself in the room with me.
The whole time, my mind is spinning.
Pregnant?
Surely, she’s wrong. She must have someone else’s chart. I remember the question about my last period. I just opened the app on my phone and put what it said. My periods have always been erratic, so I never even gave it a second thought.
“Danielle? Is it okay that I call you Danielle?”