We're going to need more than five minutes

What does it say?

[A/N: Short one this time, but didn't want to leave you hanging for too long 😁]

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She looked at her friend as if she had lost her mind for good and was getting seriously red in the face. „Are you insane? I'm not pregnant!!"

„Really? And how do you know, have you already done a test?"

„I don't need to do a test, I know I'm not pregnant! I can't be pregnant."

„And why not?"

„I broke up with him."

„Yes, like, ten days ago! But before that you've been humping each other like rabbits for months, and without using protection if I'm not mistaken. So as far as I'm concerned, you can absolutely be pregnant, and I think you are."

„No!", she shook her head heavily and got up from the table, „That's ridiculous, stop saying I'm pregnant!"

„You may not want to be right now, but that doesn't mean it can't still be true."

The other three women had to hurry to follow her into the house where Lana sat down cross-legged with her back towards them on the couch in the living room, crossing her arms in front of her chest – ignoring her open blouse and sore breast. She felt tears burning in her eyes, but she didn't want to cry. Not now! This was all a bad dream, nothing more. Bex was wrong. She must be! This couldn't be happening...

„Lana, listen to me, please!", she sat down next to her, upon which Lana demonstratively turned her head in the other direction, „I know exactly how you feel... when you were describing your symptoms earlier, I've just been there, you know? I felt exactly the same. The hormones, the emotions, the indecisiveness, feeling like a stranger in your own body... let alone the tiredness and exhaustion, the nausea and the sore, swollen breasts. What else should it be, honestly?"

„I don't know, I don't care! And I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Bex sighed and turned to the others: „Would one of you be a dear and get something from the bathroom, bottom drawer underneath the sink. You'll know it when you see it."

Antoinette nodded and was on her way.

„If that's a pregnancy test she's getting you can keep it, I'm not doing it", Lana stated briefly.

„Wether you do it or not, that won't change the result, you know. Just because you refuse to do the test... that's like Trump saying that if we want fewer COVID cases we just need to test less. It's nonsense."

Finally, Lana looked back at her friend and colleague. „So you're honestly telling me that while I was breaking up with my boyfriend, the man I love more than anything, while I was breaking his heart and my own, all because I can't give him a family anymore, I was actually already carrying his child?"

„Well, that does sound crass, but actually, yes. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. And even more than that – those suffocating feelings you have felt which ultimately made you break up with him... those could have just been pregnancy symptoms, nothing else."

„That is utterly ridiculous! I want to go home", she got up from the couch, but Trish grabbed her arm.

„I think Bex is right", she said, „Why not do the test, mhm? At least then you'd know."

„I just... I don't even want to know!... I can't... I can't do this, this can't be happening...", she mumbled, her eyes welling up again.

„I know, honey", said Bex, gently caressing her friend's hand that she was now holding, calmly looking into her red eyes that looked back at her completely terrified, „But do you honestly think I would cause you pain like this if I didn't seriously believe that I'm right? And you know what I think? I think you know I'm right too. You know your body well enough to know something's off, don't you? I think you've felt it for a while. Maybe you even knew what was going on already, either subconsciously, or you were purposefully trying to push it away... all of which I understand! But in the end, that's no solution, is it?"