Out Of The Dust

50

Miguel was sitting in his office for once. He took advantage of Daizee being out for the day to see what she had been doing with the AgraPark, and so far, he was impressed. He had been so distracted with things with his mother, the AgraPark was the last thing on his mind. He was proud of his sister for taking things over and handling the business. 

"Hey, it's the ME, want me to tell them you're out of office?" Erin said knocking on the door. 

"No, I'll- I'll take it." Miguel said and sat up straighter. Erin handed him the phone and he cleared his throat before speaking, "This is Miguel." He answered. 

His mind was swimming, the ME explained what they had found on Dita. Miguel had always believed she lit herself on fire, but hearing the ME say that her trachea had been crushed and that they believed she was strangled, was like his own air supply had been cut off.  The revelation opened up a whole new door of scenarios in his mind, all of them playing back to his sister. 

 The chair was uncomfortable. Every time she moved, it felt like the hard plastic was molding to the back of her thighs. Daizee also felt as though everyone had their eyes on her. Every person who was sitting in the waiting room of the OBGYN, some with their stomachs swollen and ready to pop, some who had kids of their own, and some who were sitting in a happy bliss with their partner. Daizee hated them. 

She watched the time click by slowly as she waited for her doctor to come and get her. Daizee wanted to hide away from everyone. She hated being out in the open like this. Nestor would been mad she was out on her own without any security, but she couldn't bring herself to ask him to come with her. It seemed as though he would be invading something, invading into a part of her she didn't want anyone to see. 

"Ortega, Daizee?" The nurse said and Daizee stood up quickly, not wanting anyone to recognize her, "Hello Miss Ortega, how are you today?" 

"I'm fine." Daizee grunted, hating the small talk the nurses try to do to make things less awkward. It wasn't like they weren't going to get a full frontal view of Daizee in about 15 minutes. 

"Doctor Mendoza is running a little bit behind, so we are going to have you change, take your vitals and labs." The nurse, who's name tag read, Amy, said. 

"Take what you need." Daizee said as she walked into the small exam room. She got dressed in the itchy paper exam gown and laid back on the table where they started to poke and prod at her. 

"We will be done soon, okay." Amy said and Daizee nodded, starring up at the white panel ceiling, "Do you want us to wait? Do you have someone coming to accompany you?" 

Daizee took a deep breath and shook her head, "No. I have no one." 

The exam didn't take as long as she thought it would. Doctor Mendoza, even though she was young, was very good at what she did. She came recommend by Emily, which was surprising. Daizee liked her, she wasn't one for all the awkward small talk, and got right down to her job. Once Daizee was dressed, Doctor Mendoza brought her into one of her conference rooms. 

"Despite the trauma that you've gone through, I'd have to say you checked out clean for your exam. I didn't find anything that was too alarming, anatomical. But, your labs were a little off." She explained. 

"If nothings wrong anatomical, why can't I keep a baby." Daizee asked softly. 

"Like I said, nothing is wrong anatomical, I can't see anything wrong. But your labs have a very big difference from when you're pregnant, to when you're not. Your adrenaline and cortisol are higher when you're pregnant, and for some reason, you have an influx of prolactin and a drop in estrogen. All those together-"