Status: Finished
I Hope You Like the Stars I Stole for You
Chapter Twenty- Two- It's a Knife in the Back
Pruitt’s POV
Vic’s face went completely white, and his eyes went wide. “W-what…?” He stood and stared at me, uncomprehending. I placed my hands on my belly “It’s your baby, Vic.”
Vic’s eyes rolled into his head and he dropped to the floor. “Vic !” I screamed. I rushed over to him, kneeling by his side. I shook him, trying to wake him, but he stayed quiet and still. I called 911 with shaky hands, more scared than I’d ever been in my life, and that included a moment ago when I’d found out I was pregnant. Now the love of my life was passed out on my floor, my parents were out of town, and there was a baby in my stomach. I called the only person I could think of to help me- Alex.
Alex rushed over, beating the ambulance by five minutes. He followed behind Vic and I to the hospital; of course I rode with him in the ambulance. I felt like the paramedics didn’t quite believe me when I told them that he had just passed out so suddenly. They rushed Vic away when we arrived, so Alex and I sat in the waiting room. I was shaking and tears were streaming down my face silently. Alex didn’t know what to say, so he just held my hand and stayed quiet. He kept shooting nervous glances at me, and finally he spoke “What happened ?” I glanced at him, “I’m pregnant.”
He stared at me in disbelief, then hugged me. “It’s going to be okay Pruitt.” Then, a moment later “It’s Vic’s ?” I nodded, absently touching my belly. He motioned toward the information desk, “Maybe while we’re here, you should….get checked out ?” That seemed like a good idea, but I didn’t want to do that alone. I started to cry harder “ I’m scared Alex.” He patted my back, “I’ll go with you. C’mon.” He explained the situation to the front desk, and a kind woman led us down a narrow hallway. She pulled a pregnancy test from a drawer, and handed it to me “We’ll start with this.”
I took it into the bathroom with me, with Alex waiting outside. The woman had told me not to look at it, so I complied and handed it to her face down. She handed me another one, and I repeated the same process. I sat down with Alex, and five minutes later she pulled me aside. She showed them both to me and said
“You’re not pregnant.”
“It was a false positive ?” I asked her immediately. She looked at me, “No, they both said positive at first, but from what you told me, something didn’t seem right. I washed them off a bit and then they showed negative. Have you been taking any drugs ? Whatever you have taken caused it to show up as positive.” I gave her the short version of how I’d been drugged at the party, and she nodded “Yeah, that’d do it.”
I walked back to Alex, unsure of what to feel. I hadn’t been necessarily happy about the baby, but now I was kind of sad that it was gone. Well, it had never really been there. I mean, it wasn’t so much about the baby, but that it was VIC’S baby. I wanted to start a family with him, maybe not so much now but someday. I had just thought briefly that that someday was now. Who am I kidding ? I couldn’t raise a baby at this age. And my parents would kill me….and what about school ? My relief got bigger, and it seemed like this was all a dream, or that it was all happening to someone else. It had felt so real a minute ago, but now I was in an almost fantasy-like state.
I led Alex back to the waiting room in silence, and as soon as we sat down, a doctor called “Fuentes family ?” We jumped up at the same time, and the doctor said we could see him now, that he was awake, yet another huge relief for me. As we approached the room, the doctor held his hand up to stop us. “Wait here…” He continued into the room, and Alex stood with me out in the hall. There seemed to be a slight commotion inside the room, with many doctors and nurses blocking my view. I stepped back a bit, leaning against the wall. “So…I’m not pregnant.” I turned to look at him, and his face was much closer than I expected. “Really ?” He breathed, his breath tickling my face. I nodded, and he got closer still. I watched his gaze linger on my lips, and the next thing I know, I’m kissing Alex Gaskarth.
Outside my boyfriend’s hospital room.
The boyfriend I was in love with.
The boyfriend I had thought I’d be having a baby with.
A strangled cry and a thud later, and my boyfriend was now on top of Alex, punching him in the face repeatedly.
“Maybe we're not supposed to be happy. Maybe gratitude has nothing to do with joy. Maybe being grateful means recognizing what you have for what it is. Appreciating small victories. Admiring the struggle it takes simply to be human. Maybe we're thankful for the familiar things we know. And maybe we're thankful for the things we'll never know. At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing is reason enough to celebrate.”
Vic’s face went completely white, and his eyes went wide. “W-what…?” He stood and stared at me, uncomprehending. I placed my hands on my belly “It’s your baby, Vic.”
Vic’s eyes rolled into his head and he dropped to the floor. “Vic !” I screamed. I rushed over to him, kneeling by his side. I shook him, trying to wake him, but he stayed quiet and still. I called 911 with shaky hands, more scared than I’d ever been in my life, and that included a moment ago when I’d found out I was pregnant. Now the love of my life was passed out on my floor, my parents were out of town, and there was a baby in my stomach. I called the only person I could think of to help me- Alex.
Alex rushed over, beating the ambulance by five minutes. He followed behind Vic and I to the hospital; of course I rode with him in the ambulance. I felt like the paramedics didn’t quite believe me when I told them that he had just passed out so suddenly. They rushed Vic away when we arrived, so Alex and I sat in the waiting room. I was shaking and tears were streaming down my face silently. Alex didn’t know what to say, so he just held my hand and stayed quiet. He kept shooting nervous glances at me, and finally he spoke “What happened ?” I glanced at him, “I’m pregnant.”
He stared at me in disbelief, then hugged me. “It’s going to be okay Pruitt.” Then, a moment later “It’s Vic’s ?” I nodded, absently touching my belly. He motioned toward the information desk, “Maybe while we’re here, you should….get checked out ?” That seemed like a good idea, but I didn’t want to do that alone. I started to cry harder “ I’m scared Alex.” He patted my back, “I’ll go with you. C’mon.” He explained the situation to the front desk, and a kind woman led us down a narrow hallway. She pulled a pregnancy test from a drawer, and handed it to me “We’ll start with this.”
I took it into the bathroom with me, with Alex waiting outside. The woman had told me not to look at it, so I complied and handed it to her face down. She handed me another one, and I repeated the same process. I sat down with Alex, and five minutes later she pulled me aside. She showed them both to me and said
“You’re not pregnant.”
“It was a false positive ?” I asked her immediately. She looked at me, “No, they both said positive at first, but from what you told me, something didn’t seem right. I washed them off a bit and then they showed negative. Have you been taking any drugs ? Whatever you have taken caused it to show up as positive.” I gave her the short version of how I’d been drugged at the party, and she nodded “Yeah, that’d do it.”
I walked back to Alex, unsure of what to feel. I hadn’t been necessarily happy about the baby, but now I was kind of sad that it was gone. Well, it had never really been there. I mean, it wasn’t so much about the baby, but that it was VIC’S baby. I wanted to start a family with him, maybe not so much now but someday. I had just thought briefly that that someday was now. Who am I kidding ? I couldn’t raise a baby at this age. And my parents would kill me….and what about school ? My relief got bigger, and it seemed like this was all a dream, or that it was all happening to someone else. It had felt so real a minute ago, but now I was in an almost fantasy-like state.
I led Alex back to the waiting room in silence, and as soon as we sat down, a doctor called “Fuentes family ?” We jumped up at the same time, and the doctor said we could see him now, that he was awake, yet another huge relief for me. As we approached the room, the doctor held his hand up to stop us. “Wait here…” He continued into the room, and Alex stood with me out in the hall. There seemed to be a slight commotion inside the room, with many doctors and nurses blocking my view. I stepped back a bit, leaning against the wall. “So…I’m not pregnant.” I turned to look at him, and his face was much closer than I expected. “Really ?” He breathed, his breath tickling my face. I nodded, and he got closer still. I watched his gaze linger on my lips, and the next thing I know, I’m kissing Alex Gaskarth.
Outside my boyfriend’s hospital room.
The boyfriend I was in love with.
The boyfriend I had thought I’d be having a baby with.
A strangled cry and a thud later, and my boyfriend was now on top of Alex, punching him in the face repeatedly.
“Maybe we're not supposed to be happy. Maybe gratitude has nothing to do with joy. Maybe being grateful means recognizing what you have for what it is. Appreciating small victories. Admiring the struggle it takes simply to be human. Maybe we're thankful for the familiar things we know. And maybe we're thankful for the things we'll never know. At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing is reason enough to celebrate.”