CHAPTER TWELVE. THREE PINK LINES
967 Words
Three Pink Lines
Elena bought the pregnancy tests from a pharmacy almost thirty minutes away from her house.
Three of them.
Buying one felt too risky. If it was positive, she would convince herself it was faulty. If it was negative, she would probably do the same thing.
So she bought three.
She was sitting in her car outside the pharmacy when she called Maya.
“Elena?”
“I need you.”
The teasing response Elena expected never came.
“Where are you?”
“In my car.”
“Are you safe?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Elena looked at the small paper bag on the passenger seat.
“My period is late.”
Maya went quiet.
“How late?”
“Late enough.”
“Oh.”
“And I threw up this morning because I smelled coffee.”
Another silence.
“Elena, are you saying—”
“I bought three tests.”
“Come here.”
“I don't know if I can drive.”
“Yes, you can. Take your time and come straight to my apartment.”
Elena looked down at her shaking hands.
“Maya, what if I'm pregnant?”
“Then we'll deal with that after we know. Right now, you're sitting in a pharmacy parking lot frightening yourself with something we haven't confirmed.”
Elena breathed out slowly.
“Okay.”
“Drive carefully.”
---
Maya was waiting at the door when Elena arrived.
Her eyes immediately dropped to the pharmacy bag.
“Three?”
“I wanted to be sure.”
Maya stepped aside. “Bathroom.”
Elena stopped.
“Can I have water first?”
“You've been drinking water since you called me?”
“Yes.”
“Then bathroom.”
“You're very bossy.”
“And you're stalling.”
Elena glared at her.
Maya pointed down the hallway.
“Go.”
Twenty minutes later, Elena was sitting on the bathroom floor with Maya beside her.
Three pregnancy tests rested on the counter.
Neither woman looked at them.
“How long has it been?” Elena asked.
Maya checked her phone. “Long enough.”
“Maybe another minute.”
“Elena.”
“Thirty seconds.”
“You said that two minutes ago.”
“I've changed my mind. I don't want to know.”
Maya's expression softened.
She reached for Elena's hand.
“We can look together.”
Elena shook her head.
“You look.”
“You're sure?”
“No.”
Maya almost smiled. “Helpful.”
Elena covered her face.
“Just do it.”
She heard Maya stand.
Then silence.
Too much silence.
Elena lowered her hands.
Maya was staring at the counter.
“Maya?”
Her friend turned.
The look on her face answered the question before she spoke.
“Elena…”
“No.”
Elena stood quickly and grabbed the first test.
Positive.
She picked up the second.
Positive.
Her fingers trembled as she reached for the third.
Positive.
Three tests.
Three positive results.
Elena sat back down.
For several seconds, she couldn't speak.
Her mind moved too quickly.
Damien.
The wedding that would never happen.
Adrian.
A stranger with grey eyes who had offered her every opportunity to walk away.
One night.
One decision.
One morning when she'd refused his number because she had been certain their lives would never cross again.
“Elena.”
She looked at Maya.
“I'm pregnant.”
Maya sat beside her.
“Yes.”
“I slept with him once.”
“I know.”
“One time, Maya.”
“I know.”
A strange laugh escaped Elena, followed immediately by tears.
“This isn't funny.”
“I know.”
“Then why am I laughing?”
“Because you're in shock.”
Elena wiped her cheeks angrily.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“We make a doctor's appointment first.”
“And after that?”
“We figure it out.”
Elena stared at the tests.
Her hand slowly moved to her stomach.
There was nothing to feel. Nothing different except nausea and fear.
But suddenly she couldn't stop thinking about the possibility that there was a life growing inside her.
Maya watched her carefully.
“Do you know what you want?”
Elena didn't answer immediately.
She thought about the question.
Not Damien.
Not her parents.
Not what people would say about an unmarried woman becoming pregnant weeks after cancelling her wedding.
Her.
What did she want?
“I’m keeping my baby.”
The certainty in her own voice surprised her.
Maya squeezed her hand.
“Okay.”
Elena looked at her.
“Just okay?”
“It's your decision. If you're keeping the baby, then I'm going to help you figure out what comes next.”
Elena's eyes filled again.
“Thank you.”
Maya pulled her into a hug.
They stayed like that for a while.
Then Maya asked the question Elena had been trying not to think about.
“What about Adrian?”
Elena pulled away.
“I don't even know his last name.”
“You know where he lives.”
“In a building where the doorman probably wouldn't let me past the lobby.”
“You could try.”
Elena looked at the three tests again.
Before today, finding Adrian had been optional.
Now it wasn't.
“If the doctor confirms everything is okay,” Elena said quietly, “I have to tell him.”
Maya nodded.
“He deserves to know.”
Elena's stomach tightened.
Because somewhere in the city was a man who believed their one night had ended the moment she stepped into that elevator.
And Elena had absolutely no idea how she was going to find him.
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