Step Monster (Holby City)

Chapter 18

When Jac returned to her front room, she had Mo Effanga & Mr T with her, and he was holding a rather large, official looking brief case. I immediately felt uneasy, I immediately knew something bad was about to happen.

Jac came and sat down next to me on the sofa, and took my hand. I wasn't sure who needed more reassurance, myself or her.

"I need you to be really brave for me, pancake, okay?" Jac said to me, I could hear her voice wavering. I loved the nickname she called me. I don't remember where it came from, but it always cheered me up.

"...okay..." I mumbled uncertainly. I had no idea what was about to happen but I knew I wasn't going to like it, and judging by the behaviour of the people around me they weren't going to like it either.

Mo & Mr T took a seat in the chairs opposite me and Jac, who were sat on the sofa. They both had a grave expression on their face.

"Mr T & I are here to help you, but we need you to work with us, okay?" Mo said to me. I nodded. I wish we could just skip to the point.

"The first thing we need you to do is do a pregnancy test." Mr T told me. This came as a massive shock to me, I had never considered the implications of what 'he' had done to me. I guess I had blocked it out. I gulped and looked at Jac for reassurance.

Mr T handed me 2 pregnancy tests and I went to the loo and did what I needed to do. I came back a short while later and placed them both face down on the table. Now was the agonizing wait to find out what the result was. During this time, they all tried to reassure me, but it was pointless. I was scared stiff, I felt I knew what the result would be, but I hoped I was wrong. I didn't want to think about what would happen if I was pregnant.

Around 10 minutes later Mo turned over the tests and looked at Jac and Mr T and nodded. My heart sank, without even hearing the words out loud, I knew they was positive. I was 17, I couldn't be pregnant. I saw tears in everyone's eyes. If I had spoken out and told somebody sooner, it wouldn't have got this far. I couldn't help but feel that I deserved this.

Mo came and sat down next to me, took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Before we think about your options, we need to perform an ultrasound scan. This is to establish how far along you are, and if everything is as it should be and therefore what our options are." She said. I nodded. I didn't know what to say.

Jac got up from the sofa and brought me the blanket from her bed, I loved this blanket. It was a soft black blanket which smelt of Jac and comforted me somewhat when I was upset. I always snuggled with it when I slept over, which was more times than I slept over anywhere else other than school.

I lay down on the sofa and Jac knelt down next to the sofa and held my and stroked my forehead, while she spoke softly to me to help me stay calm. Mr T got a portable Ultrasound Scanner out of his brief case. The cold gel was applied to my stomach and I winced a little when the scanner probe was placed on my belly. I looked down, and my stomach was as flat as it has always been. I hadn't put on any weight, or shown any other symptoms of being pregnant, other than not having regular periods, but that was nothing unusual. I was struggling to accept I was pregnant. I closed my eyes and tried to pretend this wasn't happening, Jac gently stroked my hand with her thumb to comfort me. She couldn't do much to help me at the moment other than be there for me.

After a few minutes, my stomach was dried and I was allowed to sit up. I sat as close to Jac as I could be without being on her lap and Mo sat down next to us.

"We have a very difficult decision to make. You are pregnant. You are about 20 weeks along, which means whatever option you choose, it will not be straight forward as it could be." Mo said. She paused while Jac gave me a cuddle.

"You have 4 options." Mo continued.

"Option number 1 is a traditional abortion, which would involve us taking you to hospital and your details being recorded. This would involve you taking 2 tablets 12 hours apart and this would cause you to have a miscarriage over around 48 hours. You would need to be monitored in hospital throughout this because of your medical history involving your heart. Option number 2 is we can give you a hormone injection which will induce labour and will make your body deliver the baby prematurely. This usually takes around 3 hours from injection to delivery and is not an easy option. This would be significantly riskier, however if you had to hand pick the dream team to deal with this situation, were all here in this room. This will be incredibly painful and traumatic, but we can deal with that this afternoon. If you start to get any problems with your heart or any other side effects, we will have to call an ambulance. Option number 3 is we let nature take its course. It's unlikely at your age, and with your heart, you would be able to carry a baby to full term, however we cannot guarantee you would miscarry naturally and may have to intervene if this doesn't happen. Option number 4 is you keep the baby, no one is here to pressure you into doing anything you don't want to do. This is completely your decision. Every option here comes at an increased risk than it would be for somebody else because of your heart condition, but whatever option you choose we are here to help you." She said. It was at this point the gravity of the situation hit me, but I had no more tears to cry.

"Would you like some time to think?" Mo asked. I knew what I wanted to do.

"No I know what I want to do." I replied immediately. I don't think they were expecting me to react so quickly and calmly.

"Option 2, induced labour. I do not want 'his' baby, I do not want a baby at all. I will accept the risks, and if Jac trusts you, I trust you." I added flatly.

"Please. Lets just do it." I asked.

"Do not underestimate this as the easy option. This will be traumatic." Mr T told me in a serious tone.

"I understand, I just want this over as soon as possible." I pleaded.

Mo prepared the injection and I lay down on the sofa. I looked the other way and a little squeak escaped my throat when the needle went in to my arm. I sat back up and curled up into the corner of the sofa under the blanket.

Jac, Mo and Mr T started to prepare the living room for the events that were about to unfold.