OffSpring | ✎

iv

Chapter Four | Positive
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        THE NEXT few days came rushing through in a blink of an eye, over the course of time, I've spent majority of it at work: this sudden wave of sickness lasting longer than I expected. It became a struggle trying to piece together the cause of my deteriorating health while simultaneously keeping the rise questions of Maddie at bay. I only knew that she was worried for me. With an observant gaze and bright mind, it wasn't hard for her to pick up on my body language and connect things together, from the whiteness of my skin, the sullen sickly look in my eyes; down to my inability to speak to her.

She knew.

Work at the diner ended as usual, the day being harder than most while trying to hide the growing fact that my body wished nothing more than to lie in bed and take a year long rest. Since Maddie and I worked within the same establishment, it was quite a workout to abide to the customers and avoid her advances.

Despite it all, she followed me home, pestering me with questions and nags about my well-being. The ever growing headache I've been hiding came back tenfold, my brain feeling as if it was pulsating within my skull and thumping to the same beat as my heart. My keys jiggled as I unlocked my apartment door and rushed in, Maddie following closely behind.

"You la puta, what are you hiding from me?" she called out from behind me.

[bítch]

I sigh, flipping on the light against the wall as we walked over the threshold. Tossing my keys on the kitchen counter, they clinked as they landed on a pile of bills waiting to be viewed. My feet take me toward the sofa where I fall face first, sinking into the softness of the cushion with a groan, not bothering to remove my apron and work clothes. The sound of the front door shutting resonates throughout the living area, before I feel her presence crowding the area.

The need for air causes me to turn my head from the cushion, the glare of a thousand suns meeting my gaze as Maddie stares down at me with vibrant eyes.

My chest rises and falls as a breath exits me, heavy with unexplained tiredness, "I'm just not feeling good, that's all."

She doesn't reply, her gaze flickering up and down my form, her mind working up different possibilities for my sense of action. My need to want to hide from her. Even in her long sleeved white buttoned-up shirt and matching skirt with our job's apron, she stood like my guardian angel, her curls pinned up in a bun. She tongues her cheek, a deep frown marring her features while she begins to nibble on her lip.

"There's something definitely wrong with you."

"Maddie. ." I groan, shaking my head before sitting up and placing a pillow on the armrest of the sofa for a bit of elevation.

She begun to pace, a tactic she does when she needs to focus on her thoughts. Her feet create a path in the carpet, traveling back and forth in front of the coffee table. I shut my eyes briefly, her movements willing forth a wave of nausea.

"Think about it Kaitlyn!"—her steps stop as she pivots sharply in my direction— "I want you to really think about it."

"You've been sleeping longer than usual, not to mention you haven't been eating like you're supposed to."

My eyes slowly peel open to her calculating gaze. I regard her with ease, brows furrowed trying to figure out the meaning woven in her words.

"What are you getting at?"

A sudden knowing glint shines in her eyes with the small appearance of apprehension clouding behind it. "When was your last period?" she counters.

"Um. . around the beginning of last month."