RUBY.
"Oh crap we didn't use any condoms," I said as the realization hit me like a ton of bricks.
"Oops, been there before," the elderly nurse in the blue scrubs said as she entered with her supplies. My face reddened and I lowered my head in shame. "No need to be ashamed it's happened to the best of us. All you need to do is head over to the lab and run some tests." She poked at my leg making me squirm.
"Thank you," I murmured with my head still bowed.
"No need to thank me. Yup, it's a sprain." She said as she proceeded to wrap my leg. "Here is some pain relief medicine, rest your ankle, take off the wrap and keep it elevated at night." She said handing two tablets over to me and fetching me water from the dispenser in the corner in a disposable cup.
"Okay, thanks," I said, sliding down gingerly from the bed.
"Wait, why don't I take your blood so I can send It to a lab nearby? They'll run some tests to make sure you haven't caught anything from your recent activity."
"Okay," I said, sitting on the bed again.
"Don't worry, you'll pass the test but we just need to be sure." She said getting a needle. I look away as she takes my blood to avoid feeling the effects. " Fill your information here, I'll send you the results tomorrow," she said, handing me a form to fill.
I was tossing and turning on my bed when I heard a noise. It was not a loud noise, it just seemed like someone was in the apartment with me, maybe working in the kitchen. I tried not to panic, Toby must be back, that must be it, right? I almost went downstairs armed with my heels but then I remembered what happened last time when I armed myself with a book to attack an intruder and ended up embarrassing myself so I locked my door instead to keep myself safe from any attacks.
I woke up late the next morning. The thoughts that plagued my head made it difficult for me to find sleep early. From the fear of being pregnant to catching some disease and what might be a bloodthirsty intruder in the house with me drove sleep from my eyes. I didn't remember falling asleep but I did fall into a very deep restful sleep from how I woke this morning. I woke up feeling refreshed and happy. I got up from the bed and stretched my limbs and then the pain in my ankle reminded me of not just my injury but my impending predicament. I rushed to my phone to check if the results had been delivered only to see that I had zero messages since last night.
I pushed my fears to the back of my mind, brushed my teeth, showered and dressed before checking my phone again. I found three unopened messages from an unknown number. I crossed my fingers to find a copy of the detailed lab analysis and two messages that read, "see girl, you passed." and "you have a clean bill of health." The lab analysis said they ran a pregnancy test and tested for more STIs than I knew existed. I breathed a sigh of relief and sent a thank you message to her with a note to myself to send her a little gift because it was not in her job description to calm down panicky interns and help them as she did for me.
I entered the kitchen with lifted spirits to make a light brunch for myself, the dirty dishes in the sink confirmed that Toby was back or an intruder could be around. I made my meal as quickly as I could and then dashed back to my room to avoid finding out which was the case. I avoided Toby all weekend, only coming out to put a quick meal together or pay for my takeout and dashing back to my room. I spent the whole weekend eating junk food, watching TV and texting Aiden. I left out my sprain from our conversation because I didn't want him to worry and come over. After the stimulating week I've had, I just wanted to rest, elevate my ankle and rest. From my conversations with Aiden, I found out that he and Toby had to travel for a business emergency. one thing was for sure, the Daniels do not play with their money.
I hobbled to the HR office I was posted to on Monday to report for duty so my boss put me on desk duty. I spent hours sitting in one spot with my leg on a chair sorting files till I became dizzy. I missed the hustle and bustle of last week.
"I brought you lunch." My supervisor said at the office door after he had knocked. He held a bouquet in one hand and a bag of food in another hand.
"Thank you," I said." I didn't know it was time for lunch yet."
"Don't stress yourself too much". He said. I hummed in response as an awkward silence enveloped the room.
"There's a nice diner around the corner, maybe when your leg is healed up we can go there for lunch." He asked nervously.
"Maybe," I said with a tight-lipped smile. He just stood there for a while in silence staring at me. I cleared my throat, feeling uncomfortable under his scrutinising gaze.
"I'll be leaving now." He said.
"Okay, bye then," I said with a wave, willing him to leave me alone in peace.
"See you later." He said finally making his way out.
I sighed, staring at the food and flowers he bought. I decided against eating the food because he creeped me out. The flowers reminded me I needed to send a gift to the nice nurse so I ordered a box of cupcakes on my phone and had them delivered to her. Then I ordered some lunch for myself.
I was eating my lunch when the nice nurse that helped me knocked on the door and popped her head through the door.
"Hi sweetie, thanks for the cupcakes ." She said.
"Hi, you're welcome," I said, waving her off.
"How's the leg?" She asked.
"It's better, thank you," I answered and we chatted for a bit before she left.
On Thursday morning, all my avoidance techniques were foiled, I woke up early as usual and got ready for work then went to prepare breakfast for myself before Toby woke up. "You've been avoiding me," Toby said.
"You startled me," I said, clutching my chest.
"Why have you been avoiding me?" He said.
"I'm not."
"Yes, you are. You've been moving around the house like a ninja. Why?"