Murder was the Case they Gave Me

Chapter 7

"Hello there, I am Dr. Kim," the lady with the dark hair in front of me introduced, my new doctor. Dr. Ramirez ended up having a family emergency, leaving us with Dr. Kim instead. "How are you doing today?"

            "Um, I'm okay," I said. "Just nervous, you know."

            "That is understandable," she said. "Is this your partner?"

            "This is my brother," I introduced.

            "Henry," he said, shaking her hand before sitting back in his chair.

            I didn't want to go to my appointment alone, but Adrianna had a big presentation at her work that she couldn't miss today. My brother offered to take me instead and promised to leave if I ever felt like I wanted him to. Although I would like the privacy alone from my brother, the thought of being completely alone made me feel even more vulnerable.

            "Will the father be joining us?" She asked curiously as she washed her hands.

            "No, he's at work," I lied.

            "Well, I hope I get to meet him soon," Dr. Kim said. "I'm sure you're probably nervous and have a lot of questions. Don't be afraid to ask them, there is no such thing as a dumb question. Trust me, I have heard it all."

            I nodded, fiddling with my shirt hem.

            "Was this a planned pregnancy?" She asked.

            "No, it wasn't," I admitted. "But I do plan on keeping it."

            "Well, that's nice to hear," she said with a small smile. "There are pamphlets up front to give you more information and you can ask the nurse at the desk and she could probably even give you book recommendations on which ones are good when first getting into a pregnancy. This wasn't planned so I' sure you're not ready, these materials will help you to truly prepare."

            "We'll be sure to grab them on our way out, thank you," Henry said.

            "How have you been feeling, Miss Robinson?" She asked.

            "Nauseous," I said. "I've also been getting pretty tired. But I've been under a lot of stress recently due to some personal reasons, is that okay?"

            "Well, stress is never good for the body," she said. "And it really isn't good for the fetus either. So, you should try to keep the stress down to a minimum. Look online for different relaxation techniques that help you. Maybe try some yoga or meditation. Some people even look towards a therapist to help them deal with the stress, that could be something that is helpful for you. There's this stigma around seeing therapists that should really go away, they're there to help you. People really shouldn't care so much about what people think as long as they're getting help."

            "Maybe we can try to look into it," Henry said.

            I knew the option wasn't really viable, it's not covered by my insurance and it would be too expensive on top of all the other medical bills I was going to have to be paying now.

            "I have one question," I said. "I'm a painter, is it oaky for me to be around all of the paint fumes?"

            "I would try to limit the fumes as much as possible," she said. "Try painting with a window opened or painting outside. Try choosing paints with low-VOC or zero-VOC, the solvents in the paints could be bad for the fetus."

            "Okay, I'll try to paint out in the garage with the door open," I said.

            "Are you a smoker?" she asked.