The room tilted for a second. That’s the best way I can describe it. One moment I was standing beside the coffee machine at the office, feeding paperwork into the tray. The next moment the floor felt like it shifted under my feet.
“Laura?”
I grabbed the edge of the counter.
My coworker Megan looked at me from across the office. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said quickly, but I definitely wasn’t.
A wave of dizziness passed through me. My stomach rolled like I’d just stepped off a carnival ride.
Megan walked over with a worried look. “You look pale,” she said. “You sure you’re all right?”
“I’m fine,” I insisted.
She studied my face for a moment, then grinned. “Honestly, you look like you’re pregnant.”
We both laughed. The idea was ridiculous.
Still, the comment stayed in my head longer than it should have.
Around 4:00 that afternoon, I stopped by the CVS on 1st Avenue on my way home. I told myself it was just curiosity, a silly little check to prove Megan’s joke was wrong. The pharmacy aisle smelled faintly like cleaning products and plastic packaging.
I grabbed a pregnancy test and tossed it into my basket along with toothpaste so it wouldn’t look obvious.
Back home, I set the small white stick on the bathroom counter.
“Just for peace of mind,” I muttered to myself.
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