Decision

JESSICA

For days now, I’ve been very ill, tired, and nauseous. When I first left the hospital without being cleared to do so, I had chalked up these feelings of illness to the fact that I left the hospital before I was supposed to and now, I’m suffering the consequences.

I have since discarded that notion though. Now, along with my illness and nausea, I’m suffering from a very acute case of disbelief, if such a thing exists.

I stare at the pregnancy test strip in front of me in disbelief, willing one of the two very prominent red lines to disappear.

Maybe if I stare at the strip long and hard enough and will the line to disappear, it will obey my command.

However, like the countless number of strips that I’ve wasted taking the test in the past week, this one doesn’t obey my command.

I’m pregnant. I’ve had up to six days to get used to the word, but still, it feels so foreign, as though I’ve never heard it before now.