Pregnant

A ringing phone was enough to make Fred who had been sitting quietly waiting for Cathleen to wake up, now distracted by the vibrating cell phone in his pocket.

Spontaneously, Fred clenched his hand into a fist when he saw the name on it.

The name that a few hours ago made him want to recite all his hatred for that person.

Fred took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he pressed the button to answer the call.

"What's wrong?" asked Fred in a short tone to the person on the other end of the line.

"Is Cathleen all right? I haven't been able to get in touch since our last meeting."

Fred closed his eyes, trying to control his emotions that were rising to the top of his head.

A low hum was eventually the answer Fred chose to give to Jedd - Cathleen's ex-boyfriend.

"Did she tell you anything before she met me?"

For a few moments Fred was silent. He honestly didn't know what to say to Jedd.

There was a hesitation in his heart to tell the truth that he himself felt odd about his best friend.

"I think she is tired of your attitude that tends to take care of your work and your world more than my friend."

Silence...

There was no immediate response from Jedd, unlike before.

'Am I so bad, that Cathleen has really gotten away from me?' Jedd monologued in his mind.

Poor Jedd didn't realize that his attitude of being ambitious and assuming his surroundings would follow his work rhythm, would not last as he had predicted.

Jedd thought Cathleen would wait for him until he achieved something he was really looking forward to. But the reality was the opposite!

Will everything he predicted and planned fail?

That was the kind of thing that now disturbed the mind of Jedd, who had never bothered to think about such small things before.

"Hey, do you still hear me?" asked Fred who this time raised his voice again, after not hearing an answer from Jedd.

"Yeah, I hear you-"

Jedd hung his sentence for a moment before he reluctantly spoke up again as if to ask Fred for help.

"Fred, can you help me persuade Cathleen to come back to see me? There are things I need to ask her and explain to her."

Fred quickly told Jedd that he wasn't sure he could convince his best friend of Jedd's request to him.

If Fred hadn't been in control of his emotions, he would have rejected Jedd's request outright, but Fred was in control of his mind so he didn't answer subjectively, instead he took Cathleen's answer into consideration.

No one knows what kind of attitude Cathleen herself will choose later, after realizing that the girl is pregnant.

It could even be that one of the reasons Cathleen chose to break up with Jedd, was because she knew that she was pregnant, right?

"Do me a favor, Fred. Maybe in this situation, you will support Cathleen, but I still want Cathleen be my lover, I promise to fix the problem that you said before. Can you help me, Fred?'

Fred sighed harshly as he massaged his forehead with his free hand not holding the cell phone.

"No comment. I'll consider it, but I can't make any promises."

The conversation between the two young men ended shortly after.

As the closest person to Cathleen, of course, Fred would not be rash, because it involved a good friend who he always considered like his own sister.

"Cath, should I help him?" wondered Fred as he looked back at Cathleen who was still closing her eyes.

In the midst of his turmoil, Fred's eyes felt heavier, and soon he chose to rest his eyes and body on the sofa inside the VIP hospitalization room.

***

It took Cathleen some time to digest what was happening to her at the moment.

"Fred, am I in the hospital?" asked Cathleen when she first woke up while Fred was busy eating his breakfast.

"Hng, your breakfast is beside you. You should have breakfast first Cath," said Fred as he got up.

Cathleen didn't answer but was busy blinking her eyes a few times.

"Cath? What's wrong, are you in pain again?" asked Fred when he didn't get the response he expected from Cathleen.

"Hey! Why did you take me to the hospital? You should have just taken me to my apartment. You know that I don't like hospitals."

Fred shrugged his shoulders lightly as he made a gesture of rubbing his ears to let Cathleen know that he wasn't listening.

"Frederick Flint Edmond, can you hear me?"

Fred instantly fell silent and looked at Cathleen completely. This was the first time Cathleen had mentioned his full name, which meant she was angry with him.

"Come on Cath, don't call me names like that. We had quite a fight four years ago and you called me by my full name."

Cathleen gave an ambiguous smile that Fred himself found difficult to interpret.

"You want to fight with me again?"

Cathleen easily asked Fred that question.

"No, of course not Cath. It's enough that four years ago we fought over something silly, and it won't happen again this time. You're always cheating," Fred hissed half-heartedly.

"It's good that you're in this mode."

Fred could only twist his eyes lazily. He didn't like the current position!

"Before I give you the reason why you ended up being brought here by me. Is there something you're covering up that you haven't told me about until now?"

Cathleen tilted her head, not understanding what her best friend was saying.

Couldn't Fred just tell her what the young man was asking instead of forcing her to think hard?

"What do I have to hide from you?"

Cathleen, who didn't understand where Fred was going with this, asked her friend back.

"Really? You're not lying?"

"Hey! Since when have I lied to you? Didn't we promise to reveal what we're hiding from each other?"

Fred let out a long sigh. If Cathleen had said so, it meant that his best friend had not yet realized that there was a living being inside her womb.

"I'm going to tell you something that will surprise you. I hope you can bear to hear it-" Fred hung his sentence to ensure that Cathleen could accept his next words.

A faint nod of the head could Fred seen on Cathleen's face.

"There's my niece here Cath. You'll have to take good care of her if you're going to look after her."

Suddenly Cathleen's hand covered her mouth in disbelief at what Fred had just said.

Cathleen's eyes were soon glassy with her cheeks red as it was obvious that she was holding back tears.

"Cry if you want to cry Cath."

Cathleen's defenses were now shattered as she cried loudly enough to be greeted with a warm hug from Fred.

'You have to be strong Cath.'

---

TBC

See you next chapter

Leave a comment, gift and vote

.

.

Seya