Heart & Sincerity

17/ Doctor Appointments

Polly had entered the health clinic with her mother. Luckily for them the wait wasn't long after they checked in. The people they spoke to were very kind. It made their visit more welcoming.

Polly was escorted to a room while Alice stayed behind to fill out the rest of the paperwork. She sat in one of the chairs in the lobby. She was flipping the page on the clipboard when she saw movement across from her. FP was coming out of a room with a doctor. She watched as he was handed him a small plastic bag.

"Take one per day. It will get you back on track. You have missed months worth of these and you could have seriously gotten to a state where these pills wouldn't have been enough."

"It's a risk I had to take," FP sheepishly confessed. "Money's not a friend of mine these days."

The doctor gave him a sympathetic nod. "I wish you the best of luck."

"Me too," FP pocketed his pills. The doctor shook his hand and let him go his way. FP walked down the hall and unexpectedly saw Alice looking at him. "Alice?"

"FP, what are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I asked you first," She arched an eyebrow.

"Can't a man just make sure he's healthy?"

"No, you're right. I assume that that bag sticking out of your pocket says just that."

FP pushed the bag further in. "I've got a cold." He said. "So what are you doing here?"

"I brought my daughter in for a check up," Alice answered. "So what are you really doing here? You wouldn't just come in for a simple cold."

"That's not much of your business," FP didn't want to get into it.

"Is it an STD?"

"No, God, no." FP's eyes widened.

"I was just kidding," Alice laughed. "Really, what is it? You don't have to lie to me."

"It's just my prescription. I had to come pick it up."

"For what?"

"Someone's full of questions," He smirked.

"I told you why I was really here," She shrugged. "I'm just going to assume you have an STD until you state otherwise."

"I don't have an STD," FP made it crystal clear. They turned to see a nurse awkwardly walking by. FP grew embarrassed and Alice was holding back a laugh. "You're so vulgar." He whispered to her.

"So what I'm hearing is that you're sexually frustrated?" Alice continued to tease. He didn't look amused. "What? You don't have an STD."

FP sighed. "I just need these for my kidneys," FP ended up explaining, in hopes of these jokes coming to an end.

Alice's face grew serious. "Oh my, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I just need to take these daily."

"I'm so so sorry about the joke. I didn't know," She stuttered through the guilt.

"It's okay, of course you didn't. I just didn't want to talk about it."

"If you don't mind me asking, what's wrong with them?"

FP rubbed the back of his neck. "They're not filtering my blood correctly so I have to take some pills."

"How serious is it?"

"I don't know. It's been a while and I've been getting by." The reveal brought an awkward silence between them that he was trying to avoid. "Anyway I should get going."

"Your son once mentioned he was checking up on you. I wouldn't have known it was for something like this."

"He's a good kid," FP nodded. "Thanks for sticking up for him."

"He's an angel," Alice warmly smiled. "He's got a future in writing ahead of him. I do see him taking charge while I'm gone."

"What do you mean?" His eyebrows furrowed.

Alice realized what she let slip. "Ah, well I'm going to be leaving for a while."

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah, I'm going to go with my daughter. I need some time away from this place."

"How long?" He nonchalantly asked.

"I don't know," Alice was unsure. "I just know I need to do this."

"Oh," Disappointed clear in his voice. "That's good. I guess."

"I think so," Alice said. She looked down at the clipboard in her hand. It reminded her about Polly. "I should go see how my daughter is doing."

"Yeah, yeah, I have to go anyway."

"Bye, FP." She offered him a smile.

"Bye, Alice." He watched her walk down the hall before he made his way out.

Alice knocked on the door and could hear Polly inside. "Come in, mom." She peeked in and saw the large image on the screen.

"How's it going?"

"Pretty well. We were just getting started."

"Come in, ma'am." The doctor waved her in. She waved the wand over Polly's belly as she looked around. Alice walked up to her side and held her hand. "Do you hear that? Those are the babies' heartbeats."

Polly listened closely. She felt like she was going to cry. "That's amazing." She was consumed by the sound.

"Heartbeats?" Alice questioned.

"Yes, she is having twins." The doctor nodded.

"She's what?"

"I'm what?"

"You see these two things on the screen," She pointed it out for them. "Those are two heartbeats."

"Jason is a twin," Polly laughed nervously as she looked at Alice just as stunned.

"It's just...wow." Alice felt happy for her grandchildren regardless. It was way too soon to start being a grandmother, but seeming as she was getting two grandchildren very soon she felt like she already loved them so much.

"Congratulations," The doctor smiled to ease them up. It was big news after all.

"I don't know if I'm ready for two. I wasn't even ready for one," Polly looked at her mother terrified.

"It's going to be okay, honey. You will have a lot of support from us when the time comes. I promise you, Polly. You're getting choices."

"I think the Farm will make sure of that." Polly nodded in agreement.

"How long do you plan to stay there?" Alice asked.

"I'm not sure. I was going to figure it out once the baby...well babies are born. You'll love it though. The place is a personal haven."

"Would you like a few copies of a sonogram?" The doctor chimed in.

"Yes, please." The two women answered her.