She couldn't sleep.
It didn't matter how many times they tried to convince her that she needed to.
"Please try to get some sleep" the doctor had said. "Consider your recovery and your condition."
Her condition! Ha!
She was certain of it.
Reyona was sure that there had been a mistake somewhere.
There must have been a mistake with the samples, and they had handed her the wrong result.
Yes, she could see her name on the result, and the doctor could sound as confident as he wanted for all she cared.
They were wrong, and she was sure they would come in anytime soon to prove her right.
Despite the doctor's seeming conviction, Reyona had told them to do the blood HCG test.
Everyone knew that urine tests are not so reliable, right?
She turned over again on the bed and wished the damned pain in her back would ease up enough for her to get down from the bed and pace as she wanted to.
But that would mean she was anxious, wouldn't it?
It would mean she actually believed what they said.
But she didn't.
She was not someone who would be careless about something like that.
The gynaecology she had consulted after Thomas had reemphasized the need for them to wait before having children, had been the best in the city.
Still the best.
Reyona had ensured she got the most foolproof contraceptive which the doctor had recommended the implant.
She had been on the implant despite the few inconveniences it had caused her at first.
She had been on it since then and only had it removed after she and Thomas got divorced.
She opted for the injection after she and Maxwell had their first intercourse, which he used protection.
The doctor promised her that it was foolproof.
She promised!
And the three months had not elapsed yet.
So Reyona was certain that it had all been a huge mistake.
Very soon that doctor would come in here all apologetic and tell her that they had made a mistake.
And she would leave immediately!
How could she even trust that they were good at their jobs if they could make such a silly mistake with something as simple as a test?
Maybe the other diagnoses were wrong too.
And how long does it take to do a goddamn test?
She was sure they were purposely delaying the inevitable.
They were making her wait because they didn't want to admit their mistakes.
Reyona's head jerked towards the door as she heard movement.
"You are still not sleeping" Nurse Killian said as he entered in his normal clothes.
He had been checking in on her all night as he went about doing his duties.
"I am waiting for my test results," Reyona said tersely.
Nurse Killian was silent as he went to check her transfusion.
"Your colour is not looking promising. You really need to rest," he said in concern.
"I am not tired," Reyona said. "All I have been doing is lying in this bed. That is enough rest for me. Now, can you tell the doctor to hurry up with the tests? I don't have all day."
Killian looked at the clothes, "It is barely 5 am, ma'am, and I think you will be staying with us for the day."
"Not if you all go about giving people wrong test results," Reyona said before she could stop herself.
Then she leaned her head against the pillow again and tried to find a comfortable angle for her neck.
"I don't want to brag, ma'am, but we don't make mistakes like that here. Here, lift a little," he said as he helped her to adjust the pillows that now looked haphazardly shaped from her tossing and turning. He continued as he readjusted them. "We are very thorough with our procedures, with a system in place to ensure mixups like that don't happen. We are very aware of how important these tests are to our patients, and we try as much as possible not to screw them up for them. There," he said as he moved back.
Reyona sighed quietly as she leaned back against the fluffed pillows.
"Thank you. You are done with your shift, aren't you?"
"Yes, I shouldn't have left before you got the second result, but I have an exam by 7 am and Dr Romano said I could go. You don't mind, do you?" he asked hesitantly.
Reyona opened her eyes with her brows furrowed. "Why would I mind? You have helped me quite a lot already. Go do your exam, best of luck. I will just wait for…"
They looked towards the door as Dr. Romano came in with a doctor.
"Nurse Killian, you are still here" he said in passing, as he came closer to Reyona's bed.
Reyona could feel her heartbeat thumping in her ears the closer the man got.
The file in his hand looked tiny in her vision for a moment, and she blinked to refocus.
He gestured at the doctor beside him and said "Ma'am. This is Dr. Blair Salem, our certified gynaecologist. I brought her with me, so she could help to put any doubts you have to rest and answer your questions too."
That was not the attitude nor the words she expected.
"What are you saying, doctor?" Reyona asked through a constricted throat.
"Your blood HCG test is here, ma'am. There was no mistake. You are pregnant, ma'am. With the level of hcg in your blood at the moment, it is about a couple of weeks, but you are very pregnant, ma'am."
Reyona could barely hear him at that point.
She looked at the gynaecology gym and said in a voice that sounded faint to her ears "I am on contraceptives. Foolproof contraceptive."
The gynaecologist stepped forward to explain.
*********
Maxwell rushed down the stairs while adjusting his shirt and headed straight for the main door.
He came out of the door just as a brown van backed up the driveway while his security men tried to catch up with it.
What the…
The van suddenly stopped some distance from the main door and Maxwell barely caught the reflection of the man in the driver's seat before the back of the van opened.
Something… someone was thrown out of the van.
The back door closed just as the van zipped down the driveway, almost creaming the security men who had just got to it.
"Pretty useless", Maxwell thought in annoyance, as he rushed down the porch.
"Sir, please stay back. There might be a dangerous item on it…him", his head of security said, as he came close to the tightly bound man on the ground.
"Then do your fucking job," Maxwell said as he came closer.
The security man turned the man over in his attempt to check the body.
Maxwell saw the unconscious face and said "Fuck"
"Sir, he is…"
"Clean", Maxwell said, as he brushed him aside.
He was brutally tied with duct tape that would make it impossible for him to move even if he had been conscious.
Pasted on his mouth with two strips of duct tape was paper with bold writing on it.
IF I HAD TO LOOK AT HIM ONE MORE TIME, I WOULD KILL HIM.