A Snapshot of Dixie

41: Our Next Chapter

TUCKER

Feeling a swarm of rising panic fill out my body, I hold Dixie close as we wait for the doctor to arrive. Bouncing my knee uncontrollably, I feel helpless, knowing I can't do anything to help her.

"Hi, Dixie Mae. I'm Doctor Fischer." An older gentleman with white hair and a round belly extends his hand out to Dixie.

"It's nice to meet you." Dixie quickly says, trying to catch her breath.

"I see you're still vomiting. Tell me what did you have to eat today?" I take the heaping full throw-up bag from Dixie and toss it in the trash next to me.

"Some toast this morning and we went to eat at..."

Dixie looks at me, clutching her belly and I take the reins on answering. "We had brunch at Jack's Pancake House. Dixie had a stack of flapjacks with raspberries and a plate of scrambled eggs with some bacon."

"Interesting. Did you have any eggs, Mister..." He starts to jot down something on his notepad, the sound of his ballpoint pen hitting the paper driving me insane.

"Tucker and no I didn't, but why is that interesting?"

"I can't be certain that they're connected but we've had a few other patients come in over the last few hours with the same symptoms. They all attested to eating the eggs at Jack's. The others tested positive for salmonella and I'm willing to bet you would too."

"Salmonella poisoning? Great." Dixie throws her head back and takes a deep breath.

"How do we treat it?" I ask, squeezing Dixie's hand.

Gosh, my poor girl. Although I had thought about getting a western omelet, I opted to go with Dixie and get a stack of pancakes, only mine were blueberry flavored. 

"Have you experienced any loose stools yet? The best thing we can do is give an anti-diarrheal but I'm not certain it's safe for you to take it with you being pregnant."

Jerking my head, I look at Dixie as her jaw drops. "You must have the wrong person. There's no chance of pregnancy here."

"Your blood test showed a positive pregnancy. I take it this is news to you?"

Dixie and I both shake our heads as the state of shock wears heavily on our faces.

"Do you remember when your last menstrual cycle was, Dixie Mae?"

Feeling a wave of heat travel through my body as Dixie thinks for a second, the room starts to spin thinking that this could be a possibility. I mean Dixie and I had the conversation a few times about wanting to have children but that was far down the road. Like after she finishes school and I figure out my life and we get married. So many things we have to do before we strap on that ball and chain.

"Gosh, now that I think about it I haven't had it since August. Holy shit!" Dixie's hand flies over her mouth as I do the same.

"Holy shit!" I repeat Dixie's words and scrub my hands over my face, not sure how to process all of this shocking news.

"Let's see it's nearing mid October so that would put you at about five weeks along. This puts the baby due somewhere around June. I can recommend a great OBGYN that can tell you more about it if you'd like. I'm not very experienced with these types of things."

"That's alright. We're not from here. I can give my doctor a call first thing when we return home."

"Alright. As far as the salmonella goes, maybe you got lucky and have a slight case of it. Your color seems to be good and the nurse said your veins looked good so I don't think you're dehydrated. Just make sure to drink plenty of liquids and get some rest. If anything changes please don't hesitate to come back in."