Herophine: Second Chances

Chapter 17

Hero's POV:

My thoughts are racing as I step onto the sidewalk just outside of the hotel. The humid Georgia air hits my lungs, despite being almost 10:00pm, making it even harder for me to catch my breath.

When I heard Jo so miserable and sick in the bathroom so early this morning, my first thought was that she could be pregnant. I'm not even sure my eyes had even opened at that point, but my brain told me that things were too good to be true; not using a condom and never pulling out the dozens of times we had had sex since we've been together.

I remember thinking the first night we reconnected that I should ask her about it. But, she didn't seem too worried after the damage was already done. So, me being the selfish asshole that I apparently am, I just continued to do so, over and over and over again.

I struggled with how to bring the topic up to Jo. I didn't want to upset her more than she already had been because of me in the last couple of days, but I couldn't sit back and say nothing. I could be partly responsible for whatever is wrong with her lately.

I quickly walk to the nearest 24/7 drugstore I could find online, just two blocks down from our hotel. Traffic has died down for the night and I meet only one other person passing by on my endeavor.

When I exit the elevator onto the fifth floor back at our hotel, I take my time walking down the long hallway to Jo's room. My life, as I know it, could change forever in a matter of seconds.

I insert the spare room key she had given me weeks ago and push the door open. Everything is the same as when I left around thirty minutes ago. The lights are all off in the main areas of the room and I can hear the faint sound of the TV on inside the bedroom.

I make my way across the suite, for the second time tonight, clutching onto the bag the clerk gave me, holding what I had purchased inside of it.

Jo must have heard me come in because she is propped up against the headboard and looks in my direction as I enter the bedroom.

"That was quick," she says, I assume trying to make light of the situation.

"I bought two...just to make sure," I say, opening the plastic bag and taking out the pregnancy tests. Jo takes them into her hand and removes the covers from over her body. She slowly slides off the bed and I sit down on the side of it.

"I'm nervous," she says quietly, standing in front of me.

I reach with my right arm and place it around her waist, pulling her closer to me. Once close enough, I place my other hand on her neck, forcing her eyes to look at mine.

"Whatever happens, I'll be here."

I can sense that she wants to cry but is holding back. She leans down and kisses my lips lightly and I watch her as she turns away and walks into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Fuck. My heart is racing. Here we are, thousands of miles away from home, with just each other to deal with this. Whatever 'this' turns out to be. I begin to run scenarios through my head of what I'll say when she comes back with the results. If she's not pregnant, we may be the luckiest people on the fucking planet. If she is...we have quite the road ahead of us, that is if she wants to actually have the baby.

The longer I sit on the edge of her bed, I can feel my palms beginning to sweat and my heart racing faster and faster. My mind, however, is in a completely different universe, more thoughts flooding in by the second.

After what seems like hours, I hear the door to the bathroom across the hallway open and my eyes immediately jump from my gaze on the wall in the direction of Jo walking out through the doorway. She's carrying both tests in hand and has not looked up from the floor. She looks so small, so timid as she makes her way back into the bedroom and I feel like everything around me is moving in slow motion. Thank God. I don't know if I'm ready to know what my future holds quite yet.