Kevin
"Kevin!" The shout reached my ears and I frowned, standing up. What was Brian so panicked about?
I opened the front door and stepped outside.
"What is it, Brian?"
I saw him kneeling over Mary and dropped to my knees beside him.
"Oh, God, what happened?"
"I don't know. She was fine one minute, then she said she felt dizzy and she passed out..."
I lowered my ear to her mouth. She was still breathing.
"Brian, um... call an ambulance."
"You think-"
"Just do it."
He stood up and went inside.
I wanted to wake her up, but I wasn't sure how. She still had a pulse and was breathing, so she didn't need CPR. And I didn't want to hit her...
"Mary," I said softly, touching her cheek lightly. "Baby, wake up."
Brian came back after a few minutes.
"They're on the way."
I nodded, still trying to get Mary to wake up.
She didn't actually wake up until she was in the ambulance.

Me
When I woke up and realized I was in an ambulance, my mind immediately flashed back nearly eight years and I panicked. I don't even know if I said anything, but I do know people were trying to hold me down and Kevin was yelling.
"No, leave her alone, don't touch her, she's fine!"
My leg was hurting. I touched it and looked at my hand. No blood. Then I saw Kevin and I began to calm down. Okay, I was the present and it was June 7, 2004, not April 23, 1997.
I took a deep breath, my eyes closed. I hadn't had a panic attack in a long time.
I opened my eyes again and looked at Kev.
"What happened?" I asked him softly.
"You passed out at the house. You okay?"
"I feel fine."
"Are you sure?"
I nodded.
"Well, I still want you checked out. I don't like the fact that you passed out for no apparent reason." He smiled gently and I nodded again.
"Where's Brian?"
"Probably somewhere behind us."
"Did I scare you?"
"A little."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's not like you could help it."
I was restless. I didn't like being in this ambulance and I didn't like being on this stretcher thing with all these people around me and machines beeping.
"Get this shit off of me," I muttered. A paramedic looked at me.
"What?"
"Get all this equipment off of me, I don't need it."
"Yes, you do. If your heart stops-"
"If my heart stops, you will fucking know it without some damn machine!"
"Just take it off," Kevin said quietly. He shook his head. "She doesn't need it."
The medic finally unhooked me from all the equipment and I sat up, leaning against Kevin. He draped his arms over my shoulders and kissed my neck lightly.
I closed my eyes and put my hands on his arms. Damn paramedics. So insistant on doing everything by the book these days.

When we finally got to the hospital, they made me do a bunch of tests. I wished they'd hurry up so we could go home. I hated hospitals. Even Brian looked a little nervous.
I was about to fall asleep in Kevin's lap when the door finally opened. I looked up at the doctor warily.
"Do you actually have something to tell us?" I asked. He nodded, shutting the door behind him.
"There are a few reasons as to why you passed out. One, you haven't eaten anything all day. Two, you were mildly dehydrated. And three." He paused and smiled. "You're two months pregnant."
Kevin pulled his arms from around my waist and I nearly fell off his lap.
"What?" I said in a low voice, regaining my balance. "You can't be serious."
"I'm totally serious."
"Oh my God..." I had to hold onto something. I grabbed Kevin's hand. I glanced at Brian. His head was down and his hand was on the back of his neck.
I looked back at the doctor. "This is so not planned." I felt like crying. I didn't want this at all. I felt sick. Hell, I probably was.
I stood up. I felt dizzy again, like I had tunnel vision or something. I really had to leave. So I did.
I didn't run out; I didn't want people looking at me. But once I was outside, I found a pay phone and called AJ. I wanted to talk to someone and it wasn't Kevin.
"Hello."
"AJ, are you busy?"
"Not right now, no."
"Do you have time to talk to me?"
"Of course. What's wrong?"
"That's what I wanna talk to you about. Can you come get me?"
"Yeah, sure, where are you?"
"The hospital."
"The hos- okay, I'm on my way."
"Thanks." I hung up and turned around. I was glad they hadn't followed me. I still felt sick. I didn't want, or need, this... 'course, I should've expected it at one point or another. But I wasn't even married... 'course, I wasn't a teenager anymore, either. This shouldn't have been that big of a deal. But I didn't need a kid... agh, I was gonna scream if I thought about this anymore. I needed to talk about it.
AJ drove up after a few minutes and I got in the car.
"You okay?"
"I need something to eat."
"Okay..."
I looked at AJ.
"Don't worry, I am gonna explain all this."
"Okay, so where are we going?"
"Anywhere other than McDonald's."
He gave me a mock hurt look and I tried to smile.
"Sorry, I'm just not in the mood for fast food."
"Okay, negative fast food then." He headed out of the hospital lot and onto the road. "So, where do you wanna go?"
"Some place where we can talk and nosy people won't try to listen in."
"Can do."
A few minutes later, we were in a restaurant, in the back. I had my hands wrapped around my soda glass and was staring at it.
"Mary, what's the deal? Why were you at the hospital?"
I raised my eyes and looked at him.
"I passed out earlier today."
"Why?"
"Doctor gave three reasons: one, I haven't eaten anything today. Two, I was dehydrated. And three." I paused, my eyes drifting back to my soda.
"And three?" he prompted gently.
"I'm two months pregnant," I murmured, glancing up at him. He raised an eyebrow at me.
"You're pregnant?"
I nodded. "That's what the man said."
"And Kevin is the father, right?"
I frowned at AJ. "Of course he is. I wouldn't cheat on him."
"Sorry."
The conversation stopped briefly when our food was brought out.
"How did this happen?" he continued when the waitress left. I gave him a look.
"Do you need me to give you 'the talk', AJ? Didn't Denise or Bob tell you this at some point in your life?"
He returned my look. "I mean, don't you two use protection or something?"
"Usually..."
"Usually?"
"Oh, c'mon, AJ, you know you've gotten caught up in the moment before."
"So?"
I rolled my eyes. "AJ, I don't need a lecture, especially from you, of all people."
He sighed. "Well, what are you gonna do?"
"I don't know... I mean, I don't want a kid right now. It's not like I don't love Kev, 'cause I do, but, I mean..."
"You do need to talk to him about this."
"I know." I moved the food around on my plate with my fork. "I could still get rid of it..."
"You mean an abortion?"
I looked up at him. "Just blurt it out so the entire freakin' restaurant can hear you!" I hissed.
"Sorry. But c'mon, Mary. Don't do that. That's not fair, to you, the baby, or Kev."
"I know that!" I snapped. "I'm not gonna get an abortion. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did that."
AJ sighed again. "Well, I'm sure Kev's thrilled."

Kevin
"I knew this was gonna happen," Brian muttered. "I don't think Aunt Ann is gonna be pleased. Neither is Tim, for that matter."
"Shut up. There's not a problem with this."
"Tell that to your mother."
"Oh, yeah, like you've never had sex."
"I never got anyone pregnant."
"She's my girlfriend, for God's sake!"
"She's your girlfriend. Not your wife, not even your fiance."
"I was gonna ask her to marry me, soon. I'll just have to speed up my plans."
"Oh yeah? Where's the ring?"
"It's at home." I frowned at him. "Would you like to see it?"
He gave me a look and I rolled my eyes.
"Fine, I'll show you."
"Where is she anyway?"
"With AJ. He called me."
"When?"
"When you were in the bathroom."
"Oh."

Back at the house, I showed Brian the ring. It was a one carat, heart shaped diamond, with a silver band. Mary hated gold.
"Okay, so you're serious," Brian said, looking at the ring. "When are you gonna do it?"
"Tonight, maybe."
"She doesn't seem too happy about it. The baby, I mean."
"I know," I murmured. "I hope she's okay."
I took the ring from Brian and looked at it. "It feels weird not being able to ask her father for her hand. Ya know?"
"I would give her away, but I could never pass for her father."
I snickered. "Why's that?"
He grinned. "Too short."
I rolled my eyes, laughing.

Part 3
Part 1
Index
My stories
Home