Pregnant At Sixteen

Reena - Emergency Room

A beeping sound, that's the first thing my senses register. Next, my nose picks up the smell of disinfectant and a whiff of something raw that I can't really describe. Slowly, my eyes I flutter open but I have to squint them because of the natural light coming through the window blinds. It's not bright, which makes me wonder how long I've been asleep but before I can even come to a conclusion, the memory of me falling down the stairs comes rushing forward.

My whole body comes alive and for the first time, I notice that I'm not at home. The beeping sound is not my alarm clock and the smell isn't the floor outside my room that I had wiped to get rid of my mom's blood stain and vomit. No. I'm in a hospital and I feel like shit.

I sit up and groan when an ache sweeps across my back up to my neck and my shoulders. I hear the door open and when I peep up I see the last person I would ever expect.

Reed.

He's staring at me so strongly I almost wish I could vanish from the bed. His eyes travel from mine to my hand and his eyes darken with fury. When I look at it, I see why. There's an ugly bruise that goes up to my wrist. When I look back up he's moved closer and my chest feels heavy.

"Reena," he says and I blink. His brows furrow just a little and he turns around. "I'm going to get your mom."

Before I can object he leaves. Damn it! I hiss as I slowly lie back down and close my eyes. I really don't want my mom here right now because I don't really want to see her. I just need a minute or day. However, mere seconds later, I hear the door and I open my eyes to see my mother and my uncle, Dr. Wallace. I know what he's thinking, that he has to do something this time because things have escalated. I'm the one that's been beaten and bruised. He looks at me and I can see that he's angry but I also see the pity, I tighten my jaw looking away. I hate that look because it could have been avoided, I look at my mom and my anger grows tenfold. I really wish Reed was here, I'd rather deal with him than these two.

"Hello, Reena." Dr. Wallace comes over and sits beside me and he tries to replace his look of pity with a smile. But it only turns out to be nothing but a pitiful one.

He folds his hands in his lap and takes a deep breath. "You're lucky you came in when you did. Your head injury could have caused implications but thankfully it was just a loss of blood and a month of being in an induced coma."

"What," I say then clearing my throat when my voice comes out as soft as a whisper. "Induced coma - for a month?" I can't believe I've been out for that long. And I still feel tired.

"Yes. You were in intensive care." He sighs deeply, "Reena, you came in and had swelling around your brain so we had to. You had a little blood transfusion as well but otherwise from that, you are fine. It was a precaution for the brain to heal itself." He moves his head closer to my face, squints his eyes and stares into mine. "Your head injury was a bit scary," he says. "For the next few days, you're going to feel weak. Also, you might suffer from some nightmares." He pats my hand and smiles. "I'm going to refer you to a therapist I know that you can go anytime. While you're here under observation I want you to call me anytime for anything, please." He places a small black square buzzer on the table next to me. "I mean it. Anything, you press that and I'll be here."

I nod and he nods too. "You're gonna be feeling out of it for a while." his face grows sad and he sighs. "Reena you really took a terrible fall. When you came in it honestly took me awhile to get into action." he gives me a little smile and I drop my head. "You know you're like a daughter to me." I nod and he gently pats me on the shoulder.

"Don't worry you'll be out of here in no time and back to school." I look up and nod, and he moves to get up to leave.

My mom hasn't said anything yet and I'm thankful she's decided to keep quiet. My uncle moves to the door all the while avoiding my mom's face. I know they argued and it's what they always argue about. Me. Moving to live with him but mom says she doesn't want to cause any problems even though he's her brother and he wants to help.

As he's pulling the door to leave a nurse comes in, looks at me before quickly looking away and hands him some papers. She leaves while he reads them and I can see his body go rigid. "I need to talk to Reena." My mother looks at me and I bite my lip and drop my head. "Alone," he says and she opens her mouth to object but quickly shuts it and slips through the door.

My uncle turns to look at me and I can see why my mom left without even raising one finger. Dr Wallace face looks deadly like he's ready to snap someone's neck. Whatever is on that paper must be really bad. My heart starts to race.

"Reena. I'm going to ask you some questions." He looks at me and his face is very angry, "Please answer truthfully okay, I protect you."

His tone is so dark and angry, I wouldn't dream about lying to him.

I nod.

"Did Samual ever touch you?"

My body goes dead cold and all I can do is stare at him. What in the world is on those papers why he would even think that, and worse, ask it.

"No," I say and he moves closer.

"No what?" My heart is beating faster and I'm more confused than I've ever been in my life.

"No, he's never touched me." A tear slips down my face and I quickly wipe it away but he's already noticed and his face grows soft.

He walks up and sits beside me, taking my hand in his. "You don't have to protect him, Reena. He can't hurt you, ever."

I pull my hand from his and glare at him angrily. "I'm not protecting him."

He sighs deeply and looks down at the paper again. "Then explain to me how you are pregnant?"

My mouth drops open and I stare at him in shock. "Preg-what?"

He nods his head. "You didn't know?" He looks up, "Well, you are quite early."

"I'm pregnant?" I ask and he nods.

"Couple weeks."

Couple weeks?

Reed Max.

"Oh no."