Fate's Cruel Hand

"That was beautiful" Kelly says, gently touching Jeremy's shoulder.
He physically jumps and she tries not to giggle. "Really it is"

He scoots over on the seat and she sits next to him.

"It's for you. It's not finished" he replies, lacing her fingers through hers. Kelly kisses his cheek.

"Thank you"

His eyes close as she caresses his cheek, feeling smooth recently shaved skin. He kisses the heel of her hand and looks at her with big despairing eyes.

"I'm sorry" he mumbles against her hand, his eyes falling to the side.

"You've done nothing to be sorry for" she says. "Look at me"

Jeremy can't bring himself to look at her, to look into those eyes he drowns in.

"Look at me" Kelly cups his face and forces him to look at her."Why are you sorry?"

He swallows hard and finally looks at her, briefly before looking away.

"'Cause I can't...I can't...cause I can't.... perform"

"Oh, baby." She pulls him against her, his head resting on her shoulder. He gives her neck a solitary kiss, feeling different things running through him.

"I love you no matter what, Jer."

*****

Marilyn can instinctively tell that something is bothering Kelly. She still doesn't look well and looks stressed out to the max. She's wearing no make-up and her hair is pulled into a lazy ponytail. By the looks of things Kelly had just rolled out of bed.

Kelly looks out the window and it doesn't escape Marilyn that her mind is elsewhere.

"I'm going to get straight the point here" Marilyn says evenly.

Kelly looks at her and doesn't know what's coming next. She looks down at her untouched coffee and listens.

"Somethings bothering you and I want to know what it is. You know you can tell me anything. Are you and Jeremy having problems?"

Kelly wants her to mind her own business, to drop it so they can eat and then she can go home. The smell of fried bacon turns her stomach.

"Yes..No..I mean yes" Kelly sighs, rubbing her forehead."It's nothing serious."

"It's serious enough if it's upsetting you" Marilyn replies. "Are you two fighting?"

"God, I wish we were fighting. At least we would be able to fix that."

"If you aren't fighting, then what?" Marilyn pushes. She's trying to help and will get the truth one way or another.

"Jeremy is having a problem" Kelly shifts uncomfortably. She takes a sip of the coffee and feels it hitting her empty stomach."He's struggling to...you know.."She leans over and whispers "To get hard"

Marilyn sighs and gives her a sympathetic look.

"And if he does it doesn't stay hard enough to do anything with it." Kelly sighs and tries to not think about the smell of bacon.

"Maybe you two just need to spice things up a bit or it could be that heart medication he's been taking. Plus, the antidepressants won't be helping"

Kelly looks at Marilyn, hopeful that she's right and it isn't her or that he's having second thoughts about them.

"You know I'm right-" Marilyn starts to say and Kelly abruptly gets up and runs to the bathroom.

Marilyn is in quick pursuit and by the time she gets into the cubicle, Kelly's throwing up, coughing and gagging. After a few minutes, Kelly rinses out her mouth with water and dampens her face. The sicky feeling easing off a bit.

"Are you okay?" Marilyn asks softly.

"I wish this bug would go to someone else. I hate being sick. I hate feeling so tired and exhausted"

Marilyn folds her arms across her chest.

"Could you be pregnant?"

Kelly turns to her, completely shocked.

"No way. We're always careful."

"When was the last time you had your period?" Marilyn leans against the sinks and watches Kelly as she does the math.

"I don't know" she confesses. "I'm late. But I'm not pregnant. This whole inquest thing stressed me out too much and it's just taken it's toll"
Kelly replies. She's sure that's what it is.

"We can do a test right now if you want. Just to be on the safe side. There's a pharmacy down the street"

Giving in Kelly agrees to it and waits like an idiot in the bathroom.

Kelly sits on the toilet seat and reads the instructions for the second time. She's only doing this to humour Marilyn who is waiting for her just outside the cubicle, timing her. She breathes slow and deep, trying to rationalise how silly all of this is, a fuss about nothing. Still, she wonders if this is how teenagers felt when they missed a period, remembering the guy they slept with at a party.

"You okay?" Marilyn asks. Her voice seems to echo and bounce off the tiles.

"I'm fine. There's no need to do this" she replies.

"You've got two minutes and then it should give you the result" Marilyn says, ignoring the protest.

The next two minutes feel like two hours and Kelly stares at the test, scrutinising it's alleged accuracy. She know's she's not pregnant. There's no way she could be.