“Well, the stick one is.” The one I’d just taken on the sly before going through the official tests. She wanted to be certain of the result before putting me through tests that might prove me a liar. “We will still have to do an official urinalysis. It’s standard when you come in here.”
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” I hissed in a low whisper. “I was on the pill.”
She pulled my data up on the computer. “Your chart says you had a round of antibiotics last month, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I got a UTI.” From all the sex Angelo was forcing me have to conceive his heir.
“They can make the pill less effective.” She frowned. “Your PCP would have warned you about that if…”
My face fell. “If the birth control was listed on my chart.” Which it was not, because Hope had been secretly slipping them to me.
She placed a gentle hand on my knee. “Lie down.”
Patting the pillow behind me, I did as bid as she lifted up the stirrups. After about ten minutes, she finished checking everything, including the heartbeat. “I don’t hear anything.” Panic seized my chest. “He pushed me and I landed on my stomach two days ago.”
Her eyes widened as she cursed under her breath. “Any bleeding? Spotting?”
I shook my head.
“Is that how this happened?” She pointed to the scab underneath my eyebrow. It was a bit bruised, but healing. And it would definitely leave a scar. “And this?” She pointed to my arm.
“Yeah.” I cast my gaze to the floor.
“Fucking son of a bitch.” She wiped the goo from my belly. “I wouldn’t worry. It’s normal to not hear one. At about six weeks, it’s too soon. We could with a vaginal ultrasound, but I’m not going to order one.” I knew why. That would mean I’d have to see the tech, who couldn’t falsify the results. “You can get dressed now.”
Typically, the doc would leave the room, but not Hope. She knew we had some things to discuss.
“How much have you saved?” she asked.
“Not enough,” I said, zipping up my jeans.
She rubbed her brow. “Have you figured out if he’s looking at your medical data?”
I shrugged. “I still don’t know.” I chose not to set up online accounts to access my medical info, in hopes it could slow Angelo down, but it was likely he was privy anyway. Since he knew all my personal info, he could easily have set it up without my knowledge. Never mind that it was supposed to be my body and I’d never seen any of his medical reports.
She frowned. “I’ve got to run labs to keep things on the up and up. If I don’t, it will look suspicious if he’s watching. But I can’t hide the bloodwork in your chart. It will take a few days for the labs to come back, and when they do, they’re gonna show the elevated hormones.” She started typing. “I’m ordering a slew of extra labs…” Her hands flew across the keys. “That will hopefully slow things down and buy you time.”
“How much time?” I asked as I sat back down on the table, now fully dressed.
“Not much. A week, tops. If that.” She turned to me, her blue eyes so full of what I felt was undeserved kindness. She’d always been such a great friend, and I’d been so shitty by pulling away from her when I married Angelo. “The sooner you go, the better.”
“I’m sorry you have to do this,” I whispered. I didn’t know what kind of trouble she could get in, but I assumed there could be massive repercussions from her lies of omission. “If I would have listened to you years ago…” A tear rolled down my cheek. Hope had tried to warn me that I was moving too fast with Angelo. Lovesick and eager to be taken care of, I hadn’t listened.
Looking back, all the red flags were there. I was just too young and naive to notice them. I made excuses in my head. Passed off his controlling behavior as my boyfriend just being overly jealous because he loved me so. Too smitten with his charm, wealth, and good looks to pay attention.
After growing up in foster care, where I was tossed from group home to group home, and spending my early twenties struggling to make ends meet, I was all too happy to not think about where my next hot meal would come from. Instead, I gladly took the black Amex card Angelo gave me and would spend until my heart was content. No questions.
“Stop.” She pulled me in for a big hug. “This is not your fault. Yeah, I never liked the bastard; but neither of us could have predicted what a monster he really was.”
After a few minutes of us hugging, she finally released her hold, turned, and opened a cabinet drawer, pulling out her purse. “I’ve got about five hundred cash here. I can get you more,” she said, digging into her wallet. Sure, she was a full-fledged doctor now making the big bucks, but she still had a mortgage, car payment, and massive student loans. Hope wasn’t wealthy by any means, not yet at least.
“I can’t take your money, Hope.” I shook my head. She’d already done so much for me, including risking her medical license. I couldn’t ask more of her.
“You can and you will.” She put the money in my hand. “We’ll do it just like we planned. Tonight, I’ll leave the bug-out bag buried for you under the marked rock on the trail. Keys to the car inside.”
“You got me a car?” My eyes widened, jaw dropping as relief flooded over me. Mentally, I checked off my biggest worry—transportation. How had she managed a vehicle?
“It’s not great. An o-five, black Chevy Cavalier with a shit-ton of miles, but it runs. It should get you where you need to go. Lay low, stay off the interstate, take the state highways and backroads.” She went over the plan we’d made a thousand times and told me where she’d be leaving the car and the documents. “Get in it and drive like a bat out of hell to Canada. When you get there, find a clinic and get yourself prenatal care. Email me when it’s safe. Keep it cryptic. Don’t ever call.”
It clicked then. Hope was scared. I could see the fear in her eyes, and it gutted me. Because other than the color, they mirrored my own. I hated bringing her into this, but I couldn’t escape without her. She wasn’t just risking her license, though; she was risking her life. Angelo was too wealthy, too powerful, with too many friends in high places.
I stood, grabbed my purse from the chair, and paused. My friend waited in her scrubs and white lab coat, her beautiful, auburn hair cascading over her shoulders. And I finally realized this was the last time I was ever going to see her. Tears slid down my cheeks.
“Come here,” she said, pulling me in for another bone-breaking hug.
“I won’t ever see you again,” I breathed through the sobs, my tears soaking her coat.
“Nonsense. We’ll figure out a way. He won’t come sniffing around here too long, and even so, I’m solid on this end. Once the heat dies down, we’ll be fine.” She pulled back and wiped my mascara. “I’ll take a vacation every summer in Quebec if I have to.” She waved her hand, dismissing my concern.
But still, I could see it in her eyes, the way her jaw tensed, and that slight tremor in her voice. Not just scared, no. She was terrified.
“Because I’m not gonna miss this little one growing up.” She placed a shaky hand on my belly.