Colleagues with Benefits

Chapter Nine

It was around six in the morning when I started to get dressed. I had a pretty good sleep which consisted of no vibrations from my pager.

Thats a good sign, all of my patients are stable and alive as of right now.

I don't usually call them patients, its what they are, but they don't need to be reminded of it everyday. So I call them my little people, who have big hearts.

Some of these children undergo such tough surgery yet still come out the operating room smiling. It warms my heart and reminds me why I do what I do.

Most of them get really excited when they figure out that I'm deaf, so I try to sit with some of them and teach them the alphabet for fun.

I have had only one patient before who was deaf, and it was during my residency. She had type one diabetes and was struggling.

I grew attached to her after a while and made sure I stayed with her for at least one hour everyday during my lunch, just to talk to her. 

Her sign language was superb, she even went too fast for me sometimes!

Her smile made my day everyday. I was both sad and relieved when they discharged her from the hospital.

Shaking my thoughts away, I started to make myself some breakfast. It was around seven thirty and Ariana still didn't get out of her room. I knew her shift was from 8am-3pm, so she should be out of bed by now.

I knocked on her door expecting her to open it but when she didn't, I got worried. It took me a couple of minutes to find the spare key to her room but when I did, I wish I never opened it.

Her bedroom was vacant but the bathroom door was open. She was clutched down on the toilet, with both of her hands on it barfing. I ran over and held her hair up with one hand, and rubbed her back with the other.

Once she finished I cleaned the bathroom while she showered, she tried to protest but I didn't want to hear it.

There were only three possibilities as to why she was throwing up.
A) she drank too much last night
B) she has the stomach flu
C) she's pregnant

I knew how to handle A and B, so I was hoping it was one of those. Though I wouldn't mind a little Ariana running around the house she was still not ready. I know her, she wanted to get married first and this just wasn't the right time.

Once she got out the shower I handed her some pjs and a cup of hot tea. She immediately started crying, her lips were moving but I couldn't understand what she was saying so I just hugged her.

" I have to go to work. " she said before looking at the clock. " shit I'm late, chief is going to kill me. "

"No, no don't worry about it. I told chief that both me and you wont be in and called in a favor for someone to cover your shift. " I signed back.

Then she just started to stare at me, she was looking deep into my eyes, it made me feel uncomfortable so I cleared my throat.

She sighed then went to her bed and put on one of my favorite movies on Netflix. I just stood there and watched.

" Come watch with me, I might fall asleep on you though. " she then started to pat on the space next to her.

I didn't hesitate before climbing into her bed.

**

Ariana fell asleep about twenty minutes into the movie and I took the opportunity to go to the pharmacy.

I got her some medicine for the vomiting and a pregnancy test just in case. I put the pregnancy test under my bed and decided to wait until she told me that she thought she had was pregnant so I could give her one of my "spare" tests.

It was around lunchtime when she woke up and I had made some homemade soup.

I placed two plates on the table and called her over to eat, it looked like she was going to cry again when she saw the food. We hadn't eaten like this, like a family, in a long time. I knew she missed it and I sure as hell missed it too.

We ate in silence before she waved her hands to catch my attention. She didn't have to say anything, I knew she thought that she was pregnant too.

" I just wanted to tell you how appreciative I am for you, even though we are in a fight you still cared for me. " she signed.

" I will always care for you, I dont care what happens in the past. If you need me ill be here. " I signed back. Emphasizing on the " ill be here" part. 

That took her over the edge and she started to cry again, but this time I cried with her.

**

We ordered Chinese takeout  for dinner, we had been watching Netflix since lunch and had a bit of small talk, but it was kind of awkward.

The question was lingering in my head all day, was she pregnant?

Once we finished eating Ariana caught my attention again and said " I know what you want to ask, and I think I am too. "

I rushed over to my room and grabbed the pregnancy test.
" Im not going anywhere, I'm here. " I signed while handing her the box.

She looked down and a tear rolled down her cheek before she grabbed it and went to the bathroom.

Those two minutes were the longest two minutes of my life. We were both standing by the sink with the test on the corner of it.

" You have to tell me, I cant look. " she signed before closing her eyes.

I read over the instructions again, one line means that you aren't pregnant, two lines means that you are. It was pretty simple yet I thought it was complicated.

Here goes nothing, was the last thought I had before glancing over at the test.

****
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