Growth (Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott fanfic)

Chapter 9

I hurriedly shut my car door, locking it and rushing into the doctor's office.

    "Hi, I'm River Willson and I have an appointment with Dr. Martin at noon," I inform the receptionist.

    She types on her computer and hands me a clipboard with a smile. "Just answer these questions and hand it to the nurse when she calls your name."

    "Alright, thank you."  I turn around towards the waiting area and scan it to find Chase and Ryan already sitting beside each other. Ryan has his arms crossed and he's  glaring at me whereas Chase is staring at me with the same blank stare from the other night, yet I can still see the judgement in his eyes.

    "Sorry I'm late," I mumble, sitting down in the chair across from Ryan and diagonal from Chase.

    "Oh, no worries, we were just catching up like old friends do," Ryan tells me  sarcastically.

    I can't help but wince at that and lean in towards the two, lowering my voice. "I'm sorry. I really didn't know you two were best friends when I slept with both of you."

    "Just fill out the form," Chase nods towards the clipboard in my hands, turning his  head to avoid eye contact with me.

    I sigh but direct my attention to the clipboard, unsure of what else to do. I don't want to step on their toes anymore than I already have. This is such a delicate and hard situation to be in and it disgusts me that I'm mainly to blame for it.

    "River," the nurse calls out. I stand and follow her down the hallway, Ryan and Chase close behind me. "How are you today?"

    "Good, how are you?"

    "I'm doing well. You can hop up on the examining table there and you guys can sit in those chairs right there. So I'm just going to ask you some questions before the doctor comes in to make sure you and your baby are doing well." I nod, watching her log in on the computer. "Have you noticed any spotting?"

    "Yes I have."

    "And would you say that it's excessive or a normal amount?"

    "A normal amount," I respond unsurely.

    Ryan and Chase are staring at me as she's asking questions and it's making me nervous. I know they should be here, considering this appointment is mostly about them, but it's kind of uncomfortable for them to hear about my body, even though they've already seen it.

    "How has your morning sickness been?"

    "It's been getting better," I answer.

    "How many times a week would you say you're getting morning sickness now?"

    "Probably three," I answer.

    "You're throwing up three times a week?" Ryan interrupts.

    "Um, I'm getting nausea like twice a week and then I throw up once a week," I answer. He looks baffled but sits silently as I answer the rest of the nurse's questions.

    "Okay, Dr. Martin will be here shortly to check on the fetus and conduct the paternity test."

    We sit in an awkward silence as she leaves the room. I don't want to say anything- I already feel like I have to walk on eggshells around the two of them because of this messed up situation, I don't want to say anything that makes me get on their bad side even more.

    "Have you told your parents yet?" Chase asks out of the blue.

    I look at him in surprise at the question but quickly remember that on one of our dates I told him that I don't really talk to my parents, plus they live in Minnesota so I don't see them that often either.

    I shake my head. "Not yet."

    "Why not? You're in your second trimester already," he points out.

    "I'm scared," I confess.

    "Why are you scared?" Ryan questions.

    "My mom can be, um, quite judgemental," I play with a loose thread on my jeans and luckily the door opens before I can be pushed further.

    "Hey RC, it's great to see you again. I see that we are conducting a paternity test, you two must be the potential biological fathers, it's wonderful to meet you. I am Dr. Martin," the bubbly doctor introduces herself. Ryan and Chase introduce themselves less enthusiastically.

"So, how a paternity test works while the pregnancy is still occurring is that we take a needle and insert it into the stomach to get some amniotic fluid. We take swabs from both of your cheeks to get your DNA and run some tests to see who's DNA matches the amniotic fluid. First, we need to make sure the fetus will not be harmed during this so we'll do an ultrasound to check on the fetus, alright?"

    We all nod and watch as she sets up the ultrasound. I push up my shirt to just under my bra and pull the bottom of my pants down slightly to give her room to spread the gel.

    "You're starting to show," she notes delightly, applying the gel gently.

    "I know, I can barely fit in my jeans anymore," I laugh at the memory of when I tried last week and ended up giving up because it sucked all of the energy out of me.

    "You're going to have to start looking for maternity clothes soon." Her face drops and I glance over at Chase and Ryan. Both of them are leaned forward, eyes on the ultrasound screen. Chase is fiddling with his thumbs nervously and Ryan is glancing between the screen and the doctor now, trying to figure out why her face dropped. She turns on the sound and my baby's heartbeat echoes throughout the whole room.

    It sounds normal to me so I take comfort in it, and then I remind myself that I'm not a doctor so I don't actually know what's going on.

    "Heartbeat sounds good," she notes. "So, I'm detecting a low amount of amniotic fluid. This can be traced back to placental abruption which is when the placenta peels away from the inner wall of the uterus. It  appears to be small, but I wouldn't want to risk a paternity test out of fear of taking that amniotic fluid away from the fetus when it  needs it most."

    "Of course," Ryan mumbles. I see Chase nod out of the corner of my eye.

    "RC, on these notes it  says you've been spotting. Consistently or once in a while?" Dr. Martin questions.

    "Once in a while, not even that often," I protest.

    "Have you experienced any abdominal pain?"

    I shake my head silently.

    "So it seems like this is a mild case of placenta abruption so you don't need to be hospitalized. I would just recommend coming to see me more often so that we could keep an eye on it, like every other week. I'd also recommend drinking more fluids and if you have any consistent bleeding or abdominal pain, call me immediately. I'm sorry we  couldn't do the paternity test today, everyone, but the fetus' safety comes before anything at this point."  She prints out some papers for me and directs the three of us out of the room.

    I immediately schedule an appointment for two weeks from now with the receptionist, reading the papers slowly as I make my way into the parking lot.

    "RC," a voice calls out. I look up to see Chase and Ryan standing, waiting for me. I guess the look on my face says it all because Chase pulls me into a tight embrace, holding me as the tears start to fall.

    "I'm sorry," I sob, "This whole thing is messed up. I'm not even ready for a baby and I don't know who the father is- and you guys still don't either- and now my uterus is messing up it's only purpose."

    "It's okay, RC," Chase mumbles into my hair. "I'm not happy to be in this situation, and yeah, I'm not happy with you, but I'm going to be there for the doctors appointments and for you."

    "Why?"

    "Because you need some support. And it might be my child. And if it isn't, then I was there for my best friend's child."

    "Took the words right out of my mouth," Ryan agrees.

    I can't help but laugh at that, wiping the tears from my eyes. "Thanks, guys."