Frankie's vision was blurred as she opened her eyes and tried to determine her surroundings. She was no longer in the reunion hall, but what appeared to be a hospital room. Her eyes focused on the chair next to her bed, and she noticed her mother sitting there staring at her. "Mother?"
"Francesca, I told you not to go out," Bettina began to lecture. "You were dizzy before and now look what happened."
"What happened?" Frankie honestly wanted to know.
"You passed out in the middle of the room," Bettina replied.
"I did?" Frankie asked. "How do you know?"
"I filled her in," a voice sounded, as Frankie's eyes watched Kevin walk into the hospital room.
"I was talking to you and Heather, and then I went to get food, and then-" Frankie tried to remember. "And then, I was here."
"What's wrong with you?" Kevin wanted to know.
Before Frankie could reply, she saw Heather walk into the room.
"Kevin, what's wrong with her?" Heather questioned.
"You get out," Frankie demanded of Heather. "You're the reason I'm in this bed."
Heather raised her eyebrows in shock. "I don't think so, sweetie. You passed out in the middle of the room."
"You wouldn't leave Kevin and I alone," Frankie continued.
"Heather, maybe it's best if you were to go," Bettina suggested.
"Well, I'm not responsible for this," Heather declared, before flouncing out of the room.
"Heather!" Kevin shouted, as he ran after her.
Kevin followed Heather out to the parking lot. It took him a while to catch up with her.
"Heather," Kevin called out, finally making Heather turn around.
"What is it?" Heather asked.
"Where are you going?" Kevin wanted to know.
"Back to Florida," Heather replied. "It won't be long now until this town thinks that I made Frankie ill. Blame it on me!"
"I know that you didn't cause Frankie to faint," Kevin told her. "I'll make sure no one thinks that."
"I know people think the worst of me all the time," Heather began. "Even you said that if it weren't for this plan to get Frankie to admit to working with Vivian, that you'd want nothing to do with me."
"You need to stop doing that," Kevin warned her.
"Doing what?" Heather immediately asked.
"Playing the victim," Kevin replied. "Just like the way you spoke to Tracy earlier. You made it seem like she had done you wrong."
Heather was silent for a couple of seconds. "I was just speaking how I felt."
"Well, you 'felt' wrong," Kevin let her know.
"I have to go home now and prepare my explanation to Lalie," Heather stated, completely avoiding any further discussion of that topic.
Kevin watched as Heather walked over to her car, got in and sped off before turning back to the hospital entrance one more time, before going home as well.
Frankie, still in her hospital bed, watched as a doctor walked through the door.
"You've been experiencing dizziness and nausea?" the doctor asked as he walked over to the bed. "By the way, I'm Dr. Graham."
"That's right, Dr. Graham," Frankie replied.
"Just a simple case of nervousness could be the culprit, or perhaps not eating enough," Dr. Graham explained. "Have you been eating?"
"Of course," Frankie replied.
"Have you been experiencing any other problems?" Dr. Graham wanted to know.
"No," Frankie answered, as she seemed to remember something, but chose not to mention it.
"I suggest eating three balanced meals a day," Dr. Graham told her.
"I am," Frankie told him.
"If you still experience these problems in forty-eight hours, please come back for a complete physical," Dr. Graham advised her.
"Yes," Frankie said. 'To hell with the physical, I know what I have to do,' Frankie told herself in a confident tone.
The next morning, Lalie could not believe her ears after Heather had finished explaining what happened the night before. "She fainted?" Lalie asked in shock.
"Right in the middle of the room," Heather replied. "She was being really short with me when I brought up Vivian's name before that, but I never got a chance to elaborate because of what happened."
"What made her faint?" Lalie wondered.
"I'm not sure," Heather answered. "She was blaming me at the hospital."
"You went to the hospital?" Lalie asked in disbelief.
"I followed Kevin there," Heather replied. "That faint seemed pretty real to me, but I didn't cause it!"
"If anyone says that you did, just tell them the truth," Lalie advised her.
Heather looked at Lalie for a couple of seconds. "You mean, be honest?"
Lalie sighed. "You're right, bad idea," she said. "Don't worry, Heather. We'll get to the bottom of this!"
That evening, Frankie returned home from the pharmacy carrying a small bag. She quickly went upstairs and into the bathroom, where she shut the door behind her.
Frankie put the bag on the counter next to the sink, before sitting on the edge of the bathtub with both elbows on her knees. Her hands met by her lips. She knew what she had to do was the right thing.
Slowly, she rose herself from the edge of the tub and walked over to the bag. She took the contents of the bag out, revealing a home pregnancy test.
"This will give me all the answers I need," Frankie whispered, as her eyes slowly rose from the box to the mirror, where they met her reflection.
Kevin sat in his apartment, reflecting on recent events. His mind filled with thoughts from what happened at the cabin with Frankie to when Frankie fainted at the reunion.
As he stood up, the sound of someone knocking on his door echoed through his silent apartment.
"Hi, Lalie," he greeted, as he opened the door and saw Lalie standing there.
Lalie stood there grinning from ear to ear as she made her way inside the apartment. "Kevin, I think it's finally over."
Kevin shut the door and turned around to face Lalie. "What's over?"
"This whole Frankie situation," Lalie replied in a very happy tone.
"Heather and I were unable to get any information out of her last night," Kevin tried to explain. "She did seem uncomfortable when the topic of my mother came up, but then she quickly went to get food, and fainted."
"Maybe she pretended to faint," Lalie suggested. "It makes perfect sense. She knew that we were on to her," she continued. "It's not like anything happened between you two after that night at the restaurant. Right?"
Kevin once again thought back to the night at the cabin and waking up in bed with Frankie. "Not at all," he replied, with a little discomfort in his tone. "I mean, just that flat tire farce."
"And you told me that nothing happened before the night at the restaurant," Lalie reminded him. "You were just friends. I have an idea, now."
"Do tell," Kevin encouraged.
"I think you and I should go tell Frankie tomorrow morning that we are completely back together and that we're on to her tricks," Lalie told him, as she walked up to him in a sultry manner.
"Both of us?" Kevin asked.
"Both of us," Lalie repeated, as she wrapped her arms around him. "Just to emphasize the point. You and I are back together, and in love, and Frankie has to know that there's nothing she could do or say anymore that could change that."
"That idea sounds wonderful," Kevin agreed. "Why not do it tonight?"
"I have other plans for tonight," Lalie replied, smiling as she unbuttoned his shirt. "I want to show you how much I believe in us."
Kevin looked down at Lalie's fingers undoing his buttons, as she somewhat remembered Frankie unbuttoning his shirt after he had that champagne, but then he couldn't remember anything else. "You always come up with the best ideas," Kevin said to Lalie.
"Make love to me right now," Lalie whispered in a suggestive tone, as she kissed him passionately.
Frankie had just taken the home pregnancy test, and she once again sat on the edge of the tub as she waited for the time to come to check the results.
She felt nauseous again as she waited, but thankfully, the feeling soon passed.
She looked at her watch and realized the time had come for her to see whether or not she was with baby.
Taking a deep breath, she walked over to her home pregnancy test and almost collapsed when she saw the positive result. "I'm pregnant," Frankie muttered with complete nervousness. She felt fear and joy as she looked down at the positive sign.
"Francesca," a voice called out by the doorway.
Chapter 20
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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