Willfully Blind

CHAPTER 22 Fear of the Unknown

Lisa wandered around the CVS for fifteen minutes looking for a pregnancy test, unwilling to ask for help for some irrational fear that the employee might notice she wasn't wearing a ring and judge her. Even she realized how ridiculous she was being. That aside, Lisa continued searching for the test until she stumbled upon it in an aisle she was sure she'd passed at least once already. She noticed that one test was twice as expensive as the other and tried to figure out why. Finally determining that it didn't matter, she still bought the most expensive one. Her stomach was still doing flips, and she just wanted to go back home and lie down.

Being pregnant by Dirk, especially in their state, was downright disturbing. She had awakened earlier from her nap and ended up having to make a mad dash to the bathroom to throw up. Instantly, she thought the worst since she never threw up. She could count the number of times in her entire life, in fact, on one hand. After brushing her teeth, she had lain back down and fifteen minutes later ended up back in the bathroom puking all over again.

"Please, God... not now," Lisa said aloud. She got back in her truck and started it up. Trying to imagine Dirk having to rise to the responsibility of being a father was inconceivable. Drawing in a deep breath, Lisa tried composing herself. For the first time since she could remember, she felt scared. She considered calling her mother but knew hearing her mouth would not be worth the support she would provide.

"Let me call Tangie." Lisa fished her cell phone out of her purse. She was confused that her phone didn't accept her password when she attempted to use it. Stupid phone. She was seriously thinking about going back to her Android, after having allowed Dirk to convince her to try the new iPhone. Not giving it a second thought, she tried to use her thumbprint to unlock the phone, the message, try again, popped up. After multiple attempts, Lisa held the home button and attempted to use her voice command.

"Tangie," she said, waiting for the telephone to ring.

"I don't have a phone number for Tangie," Siri responded.

"What the hell..." She flipped the phone over and found her insignia missing.

He must've taken my phone. Shutting her eyes tight, she tried to recall Tangie's number. Envisioning what she thought was her number, she hit the home button and spoke the number she believed to be Tangie's. After three rings, Jamie answered.

"Hey, Jamie, it's Lisa. Is Tangie there?" she asked, holding her breath.

"Hey, Lisa. Yep, she's here. Hold on a minute...Tang! Telephone." Lisa was relieved to hear Tangie's voice.

"Hello?" Tangie answered, sounding slightly out of breath.

"Hey Tang, it's Lisa. What's up?"

"Not much. Just raced up the stairs from the basement, trying to wash a few loads. What's up with you?"

"Umm...I kinda need a favor. Can you meet me for about thirty minutes? I got something going on, and I really need your support right now." Lisa managed to blurt out in one breath.

"Oh...okay. Where do you want to meet? You at home?" Lisa reminded Tangie of the quickest way to the condo and explained that she would meet her outside, thinking it would be better, just in case Dirk had returned already.