RULE NO.25

28.Vertige

"I am so sorry" I say on a whisper.

"No, it's okay. Clean up and get back into bed while I clean this mess" she replies, obviously meaning business.

I do as she says, laying in bed wondering what type of bug I've got meandering in my system.

A few minutes later, i feel the side of my bed dip as Grace sits. I must have dosed off while she cleaned.

"Are you feeling better?" She asks, putting a hand to my temple and then my forehead.

"Mmhmm" I reply, still feeling a bit groggy.

"But you aren't even running a temperature. Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well?" She asks, sounding worried.

"To be honest, I had no idea I was feeling sick. Yesterday I felt a bit off with a few bouts of lightheadedness but I just put it down to stress, you know?"

"Mmhmm" She replies, looking at me oddly. You know the look parents give you, wanting you to finish your lie, even though they know the truth, but they know you don't know that they know.

"Why are you giving me the mum's look" I ask her.

She doesn't reply, just extends her hand and grabs one of my boobs, more like pinches it, but it hurt like the devil!

"Ow! What in the blazing hell did you do that for?!" I yell, feeling really incensed.

"That fucking hurt" I say on a whisper, then I felt my eyes brim with tears.

What in hell?

Why am I crying?

"How do you feel?" She asks softly, rubbing a hand against my cheek.

"Like I want to punch you and roll up and cry at the same time" I say in a barely audible voice, feeling my lower lips wobble. I feel so miserable!

"Well, that's probably because you have a bun in your oven" she says, looking me in the eye as if gauging my reaction.

"Is that supposed to mean something, you know I've never been one to bake" I reply absentmindedly.

"Well, you know...you're in the 9 month marathon" she says awkwardly.

"Grace, are you coming down with a fever? You know I can't run to save my life" I tell her, starting to get slightly irritated at her odd attitude.

"You are pregnant Bri!" She yells, then covers her mouth as if she hadn't just thrown a bomb big enough to blow up the world!

"What did you just say?" I ask her, eyes wide from shock. One would think my ears should also be able to reflect their shock from hearing such abominable words.

"I am so sorry for saying it like that, you were acting so dense, but it's probably the baby frying your brain" she practically blabs.

"Baby? Who is having a baby? No. I can't. It's not me" I say, my voice bordering on hysteria.

"Snap out of it!" she yells, shaking my shoulders for emphasis but it's like there's a cloud shrouding my brain, then I start to laugh.

Grace looks like someone who's smelt fart with the way she has her nose and brows folded. She probably thinks I am mad.

"Why the hell are you laughing" she asks, sounding genuinely confused.

"Because you said someone is pregnant and that person is obviously not me" I reply, sounding as serious as a heart attack. At this point, if she even tries to pin this miraculous pregnancy on me, someone is going to wish they were dead.

"Wanna bet?" She asks with a brow raised and a curl to her lip.

"Have you forgotten I have been having a lot of Ghanaian jollof of late?" I ask her with a raised brow.

"Well, that's because you are in bloody Ghana!" She yells, sounding really frustrated.

"I probably ate too much of it, you know. My system is probably trying to clean it's self" I say, sounding more like I am trying to convince myself of that fact.

"You've probably been craving those because of your preggo hormones" she mutters and I feign momentary deafness.

Grace just rolls her eyes and barges out of my room. About 30 minutes later, she comes back with a small bag in hand with the symbol of the rod of asklepios on it. She went to the pharmacy? What for?

Before i can even ask her what it is, she throws the package at me, missing my head by an inch.

I open it to find a hcg test. Really? I thought she had let this go?

"Before you say anything, just humour me. Imagine the good laughs we'll have in the next few months as you rub the negative result in my face or maybe then, we'll be able to find out for sure what's wrong with you. Just humour me okay?" When she says it like that, I can't refuse.

So, I head into the bathroom and do the needful, then come back out with the strip in hand and place it on my vanity. The instruction says to wait for 5 minutes.

I sit down on the bed, trying my best not to show how nervous I really feel.

"Mind if I check it?" Grace finally asks, I just shake my head. Watching her reaction for any sign of impending doom.

She raises her brow...then bites her lip...then purses her lips.

I jump off the bed and snatch the thing out of her hand, wanting to see for myself before her reactions drive me mad.

I wish I hadn't.

A big blue plus sign is all I see before all goes black.

"Bri!"