Chapter 80
Jojo:
Mel’s right hand touched my thigh, she squeezed it gently. I looked away from the floor and turned to her. Through my blurry vision and tear-filled eyes, I could see a soft and sad smile form on her face.
“Okay tigress, let’s get back to the room now. Valerie has been out there on her own for so long. Now, I know she’s brave, but there’s only so much loneliness a nine-year-old can take.”
Shit! In the heat of the moment, I had forgotten all about Valerie. I sat down for over an hour, which meant she had been alone for almost two hours. I instantly sprang up from my chair and trotted away, Mel followed me behind. I could see her shake her head slightly as we walked. I did not turn to look at her, I knew I could be a shitty sister sometimes.
Just as I was about to take a swift turn to the room, the last person I had expected to see on this terrible day of my life popped up from nowhere! Nowhere! And just stood in front of me!
Alpha fucking Lake.
I stumbled on my steps, staggering backward. He had a basket of fruits in his right hand as he stood, tall and handsome as always, in front of me. I saw Mel creep up beside me, I could tell her jaw had dropped to the ground already.
“Greetings, Alpha.” She called out. I could not speak, but I found myself bowing my head along with Mel. She cast me a questioning glare, but I did not even have what to say to her, because I had no idea what he was doing there.
She muttered excuses and walked away from me. I saw her turn to me and wink before she turned away and began to move towards Valerie, who was still seated on the chair I left her.
I looked away from them, even though I did not want to focus my eyes on him. I knew how I looked, with my swollen and red eyes, scattered her and dry lips. I had not seen him in thirty days, yet, here he was. And today of all days, when it was obvious that it might take another few years for my mother to remember me. Or, she might never remember me at all.
We both stayed silent, and the eerie silence was eating me up from the inside.
“I am sorry that I could not take permission from Bentley before leaving, an emergency came up, and…” That was my attempt at breaking the awkward silence, but he cut in.
“That’s not why I’m here, Jo. It is up to me to ensure the safety and welfare of my workers. How is your mum?”
Damn it! The one question I wished I would never hear in my life again.
I forced a bright smile, even though my eyes were screaming otherwise. Do not get me wrong, I was happy he was here. I was not just thrilled about the situation that brought him here.
I coughed to clear my throat, and rid my voice of the vibrating and scratched feeling my tears had given it.
“My mother? She’s doing great. Pretty good. I mean, she just woke up today after eight years so there are some things the doctors still need to test for and work through…”
Like her fucking memory! But I did not stop myself from speaking, I could not. I wanted nothing more than to break into tears and rush into his arms, but that was out of my place.
“Besides that, she’s doing excellently well and would be home with us in no…”
I paused. A strange and queasy feeling built up in my stomach. Cold sweat broke out from my forehead and I instantly felt very nauseous. Something in my stomach turned and I could feel vomit rise from my stomach to my throat.
I turned away from the Alpha immediately and rushed towards a bathroom door I had found earlier. I pushed the door open and flung myself inside. I buried my head inside a sink and emptied the nasty content in my throat. I turned the faucet on and allowed the water to drain the vomit out of the sink.
When I raised my head to look at my swollen cheeks in the mirror, I found the alpha’s reflection behind me and the small vomit stain by the right side of my lip. I frowned and washed the stain off my face with water before I turned to him.
His black orbs stared longingly at me. He corked his head to the right slowly, and slowly to the left again, as though he was searching for something.
“Are you okay, Red?” His deep baritone snuck into my ears. I looked away from him and nodded, eager to be out of this enclosed space with him. Knowing we were alone within the four rectangular walls did things to me, things I wasn’t proud of.
“Yes, yes. It’s probably from the tomato in the sandwich I had or the smell of antiseptic in the hospital. I can’t tell which depresses me more.” I replied. Even though I did not need him worrying about me for any reason, it made me happy to know that he did.
“No.” He spat out, a stern look on his face.
My left brow raised on its own accord.
“What?”
He took one step closer to me. I swallowed hard, feeling sweat drip to the moist skin of my back.
“I said no. You’re not okay. You need to run tests to know if something is wrong. Tomatoes might be disgusting, but it doesn’t make people vomit. Antiseptics might be strong, but it doesn’t because stomach upset unless you swallow them. Did you swallow antiseptics?”
I blinked thrice at him. Was I supposed to answer that, or…?
His eyes were fixed on mine. He was expecting an answer.
I shook my head as a sign of no and he scoffed.
“I didn’t think so.”
The next thing, he grabbed hold of my right wrist and led me out of the toilet.
One minute, I was in the hospital corridor, the next minute, I was in a laboratory room having my blood and urine tested, and before I knew it, I was seated across a doctor’s table. Her blue eyes stared down at a paper, which appeared to be my test result. She had the tag “gynecologist/obstetrics” on her desk.
I couldn’t help but wonder what I was doing in the office of a gynecologist.Content © NôvelDrama.Org.
I had my fingers intertwined on my lap, while my right foot continued to tap the ground.
She finally decided to speak after looking at me for what seemed like thirty years.
“Miss Jojo Wyatt, I’m sure you already know why you’re here.”
I stared blankly at her.
No. I did not.
She leaned into her chair and pushed the paper gently toward me.
“The test we carried out shows that you are five weeks pregnant.”
The world around came to an abrupt pause. It was just the paper in front of me, the continuous banging sound in my head, and myself. It felt as though the air was being sucked out of me by some unknown force.
“Miss Jojo? Can you hear me miss?”
I jumped out of my trance immediately. The sweat on my face refused to dry, despite the active air conditioner in the doctor’s office.
“I… I don’t understand.” Those were the only words I could mutter. Those were the only words that made sense.
“You’re pregnant, miss Jojo. That’s the outcome of the tests we carried out.”
“You’re sure this isn’t some kind of mistake?” I asked again. I saw her brow raise in annoyance and I sighed, before leaning into my chair.
What is the name of the goddess of fertility that was wrong with my life?!
Pregnant? I was pregnant?
I was not yet fully able to take care of Valerie, Mel, and myself, and now? Now a baby was on the way?
What was I supposed to do with that?
I looked up at the doctor, before leaning into her desk.
I needed to think of what to do, but first, I had to make sure that this information remained with us, and us alone.
“Doctor, can I ask you for a favor?”
She did not seem very excited, but she did reply to me.
“Yes, sure.”
I cleared my throat before I spoke.
“Please. I need this to be between us. You and I alone, can I trust you to do that?”
She looked over me once more, scrutinizing my appearance.
“Yes, miss Jojo. You can trust me to do that.”
I rose from the seat, stole the paper, and squeezed it into the back pocket of my blue denim pants.
“Thank you,” I muttered, before storming out of the office.
Meanwhile, only three words continued to ring in my head as I walked back to my mother’s ward.
WHAT THE HELL?