Living Or Dying

Chapter Thirteen

"Any chance you might be pregnant?" The doctor asked.

He was standing over Sherry. She was lying on a surgery table waiting to go into surgery. The doctor was there to fix her ankle. He had black hair with a white dusting. He was very tall and lanky. With his facemask hanging around his neck, Sherry could see his mouth. It was curled in a smile, and he had deep dimples. His beard had some scruff on it, he had been working the early shift.

"Y-yeah. I've had tests done. I'm pregnant." Sherry whispered back.

"Oh?" The doctor laughed. "Well then, we'll make sure to give you all the comforts of home."

Sherry smiled. This doctor was nice. She looked to the window in the room. It faced out to the hallway. Byern wasn't allowed in the room, so his face was pressed up against the window. She could see the condensation under his nose when he breathed. The doctor followed Sherry's gaze to the window, and caught on Byern.

"So, he the boyfriend?" Sherry shook her head. "Too bad, you'd make a wonderful family."

Cassandra saved Sherry from further embarrassment when she walked up to the table. "Dr.Pierce? We need to operate. Someone else needs this room soon."

The doctor nodded. Sherry held her breath. Cassandra smiled and moved a breathing mask towards her. "Breathe." The mask was on her face, and Sherry tasted the sweet gas. Her eyelids fluttered, and she was out.

When she woke up, Sherry was sitting in a hospital bed. Her head felt heavy, and the room around her was blurry. She blinked trying to clear it up. It took a few minutes, but soon she could make out just enough. Byern was sitting next to her on a chair. His head had fallen forward, and rested on her thighs. His eyes were closed. Every once in a while his eyelids fluttered, giving him the appearance of restlessness.

For once, he wasn't smiling. His expression was neutral. The dimples that frequented his face were resting, and his mouth was slightly parted. Sherry could see his lips moving, and he was mumbling. But there was no sounds to be understood.

Sherry shook his shoulder gently. Byern's eye lids fluttered open, and his hazel eyes were misty with sleep. He blinked away the mist to focus on Sherry. Her lips turned upwards in a gentle smile.

"Good morning, or evening I guess, judging from the clock." Sherry nodded towards the clock in the wall.

It was signaling the hours, and it was late out. The hour hand hit the Ten and the minutes were late. Byern looked over his shoulder to squint at the clock.

"Aw man, I missed my shift. You too, but you're new." Byern whined.

"Well then, I guess that means I'm more at risk of losing the job than you are!" Sherry laughed.

He grinned. His teeth were white and stung her eyes. Sherry blinked. Byern pointed down to her leg. There was a cast from the calf down. It wasn't a plastic cast, but made of plaster. And it was electric blue. It burned the back of their eyes, and imprinted itself in the two teen's minds.

"Wow. Bright." Sherry stated, plain faced.

"Yeah," Byern laughed. "It's my bet. On whether it'll be a boy or a girl." His hand went to Sherry's stomach.

She flinched at his touch, but his hand stayed. It warmed her from the inside out. Feeling his strong hands on her stomach. Her hair fell forward over her face. Hands went to her hair, but they weren't hers. She had her hands halfway up, to pull more hair in front of her face,but Byern had reached her face first. He pulled aside her hair like a curtain, clearly showing her cherry face.

"No need to hide." This time, the smile was small and warm. Sherry pulled back into herself. "Tell you what we should do. Go straight home, and steal a couple of drinks, no coffee. Then if you want, another episode of One Piece. Is that okay?"

Sherry nodded. Byern went to find a doctor. This was done with ease, and soon a wheelchair was secured. Wheeling her out the front door, Byern called his parents. Then he passed the phone to her.

"Hello?" Came Trisha's voice.

"Hello, it's Sherry. Byern and I were wanting a ride home."

"Hmm..." Sherry could hear the curiosity through the phone. "What happened? Why can't you take the LRT?"

"Well, my ankle is broken and I'm in a wheelchair. But Byern's okay."

Immediately there was a change in Trisha's tone of voice. It was very clear that a maternal instinct was kicking in.

"What happened? Are you okay? That's a silly question, how bad is it? Is your baby okay? What hospital are you at? Were the doctors nice? Were the nurses? I'll be there as soon as possible."

Sherry smiled. Byern gave her a look. She waved it away to sooth Trisha.

"I'm fine, and so is my baby. The doctor was nice, and the nurse was from the Care Center, so I knew her. We're at the Foothills Hospital's East entrance."

Immediately, Trisha hung up. A quick shout was given to Marcus and she was out the door. It took her minutes to pull up a map to the Foothills. Speeding down the roads, she barely managed to stay under the speed limit.

Her tires squealed in the parking lot. The small tan Honda Civic was stopped directly in front of the two teens. Byern grabbed the door handle and opened to the back. Sherry, jumping on one leg, seated herself in the back. Byern, after returning the wheelchair and grabbing some crutches, sat next to her.

The ride home was anything but quiet. Trisha pestered the two with questions. She refused to beleive the two even after they had explained to the best of their abilities. Throwing his arms up in despair, Byern turned to the window. A light rain had begun,and drew mazes on the window. He traced these with his fingers. His mouth was set deeply, and eyebrows turned together slightly.

Sherry looked out the opposite window. Her fingers stayed intertwined over her stomach. Waiting for the most tiny of movements. Her hands rubbed her stomach slowly, but no movements came.