“You ready?” he asked and Pandora looked around at him. He wiggled his brow and she grinned, nodding. The door to the elevator opened and he looked both ways. His smile broadened and then he ran down the hallways with her giggling in the wheelchair the whole time.“Doctor Parks?” someone called, making him come to a halt, ending the exhilarating ride.“Yes?” he answered.“Is this Mrs. Leonard?” a woman asked but there was a lightness in her voice.“Ah, Emily, this is Pandora Leonard. Pandora, this is Emily.” It took Pandora everything not to groan. She recognized the woman immediately.“Pandora?” Emily sounded surprised to see her. “Hi,” she carried on.“You know each other?” Dr. Parks asked.“We went to the same high school,” Emily answered for both of them. “Well then, Emily, can you take her to her room and get her settled? I will be in to hook up the IV myself in a few minutes. I am going to go and get the scanning equipment ready for me to do a full scan on her,” Dr. Parks said
Pandora was lying in the hospital bed, where she had been hooked up to an IV for over an hour. She still hadn’t wrapped her head around the truth that she had two babies in her belly, not one. Dr. Parks explained that they were lying back to back and were identical, sharing one placenta. He also said that was why he had missed seeing one of the two babies on the first scan.“Have some lunch, Pandora,” Emily said, walking in with a tray. She placed it down on the table and then wheeled it over to her.“Do you want me to call your father?” she carried on as she poured out some steaming water over a tea bag. “No, I will do it,” she answered, her voice sounding far away.“Just press the buzzer if you need anything, okay?”"Okay," Pandora replied as she walked out of the room. "Come on, Pandora, pull yourself together," she said harshly to herself. She moved from the bed, and got her cell phone out of her bag, before sitting back down. "Shit," she hiss seeing that she had over ten missed
Finally, she plaited her hair and Emily helped her into the bed.“Get some rest, Pandora,” she ordered as she moved out of her room. Pandora closed her eyes, hoping Nina was right and sleep would make everything better.“Pandora,” she heard someone singling. As the voice stopped, she felt someone touching her face. She slapped the hand away and she heard the person chuckle. “Pandora,” they sang again and she frowned because the voice sounded a lot like Ron, Kiera’s boyfriend. She opened her eyes and sure enough, he was smiling at her.“What?” she asked slowly, sitting up. “Keira got stuck at work with an emergency. Sia is also booked all of today, so I came instead. I’m the only bum you know, girl.” Before Pandora could say a word, he was speaking again. “I brought you some clothes and a real nightgown… None of these hospital things,” he said, passing her the bag. She was surprised to see that none of it was hers. It was all new with tags. “Thank you,” she said, smiling at him.“I
Pandora felt her heart beating strangely. It was almost as if it was trying to escape her chest. The room felt so much smaller than it was as if someone took half the size and took all the clean oxygen with it. "Pandora, slow breaths," Dr. Parks said and she shake her head. It was always clear that Miriam didn't like her, but she never liked any woman her son went with. Pandora never took it personally, but to have her come to the hospital and say those things. "How did she know I was here?" Pandora asked, 'Someone I trust must be talking to Derrik. Who the hell would do that?' her mind screamed at her. "Pandora!" Dr. Parks yelled, drawing her out of her thoughts. "It's okay. I'll make sure she doesn't get in here again." He stopped and swallowed. "She was downstairs when I brought you here this morning. I saw her again this afternoon when I was having my lunch; she asked what ward I work for. I didn't think anything of it... I'm sorry." Pandora shook her head at him. "It's okay
Pandora chuckled but nodded at her. "As for the sickness, it's just a part of it. I'm sure your own mom has told you this already, but it comes with the territory." Pandora dropped her eyes and shook her head. "My mom is not in the picture," she said without pause as if she could tell her anything. Benjamin's mom stopped walking and hugged her tightly. "Oh, my dear child, I am so sorry." Pandora patted her back, feeling a strange warm, and unconditional love from her hug. Benjamin's mom pulled back and winked at her. "Come on, dear. By the way, I'm Lana," she said as they started walking again. "Pandora," she replied, smiling back at her and she gave Pandora a small nod. "Mom? Pandora?" Benjamin said as he saw both of them walking toward him. "Ben, this poor girl was sick in the bathroom. I am just helping her back up here." Benjamin gave Pandora a frown and took over from his mom to hold her up. "I think we need to try another injection," he said and Pandora nodded at him.
"Well, thank you, fate," Pandora chuckled and Benjamin joined him. She stopped eating, leaving a little on her plate. Right away, she took deep breaths, trying to think of something else. "Lie back, Pandora," Benjamin ordered and she opened her eyes to look at him. "Lie down, and let's see if we can get you rested enough to sleep." Pandora just stared at him, wondering what he was talking about. "Just trust me," he said. This time, Pandora bobbed her head and lay down. "Close your eyes," Benjamin said and then she felt his hands on her stomach. "Just trying to get Bean and Curd to relax." "Okay," she sighed. "Now, you two are going to let your mommy keep this food down. If you do that, then I promise tomorrow I'll bring something yummy and maybe even a little unhealthy for you." Pandora snorted but her eyes stay closed. "Hush, Pandora, just go to sleep," he whispered to her, and then she heard him hum a soft tune that made her quickly drift off to sleep. - - - - -It had been
"Good man," Walter said, patting Milton on the arm. "Leonard," a woman called out and she look over and let out a long breath. "It'll be fine, I'm right here," her dad said as he guided her into the courtroom. She got to the table she would be sitting at, and Milton pulled out her chair, helping her to sit. "I am so happy my daughter met a guy who knows that he may be born male, and with age, he became a man but chooses to be a gentleman." She frowned at her dad, wondering what he was going on about. Just as she was about to open her mouth to talk, she was cut off by a harsh voice she had begun to hate the sound of. "No guy can treat her like a lady… she's a bitch." Pandora kept her face turned away from Derrik, but her dad jumped up. "Watch it, boy!" "Screw you, Walter," Derrik mocked like a little child. "Move over to your own desk now, Sir," a court official said, and Derrik huffed loudly and walked away. The court was called to order, and they all rose as the judge enter
Once they were in his office, he spoke again. "Take off your sweater for me." The whole thing came out with a chuckle, but he cleared his throat and carried on talking. "So I can check your blood pressure." She did what she was asked, but Benjamin walked out of his office. Before she could freak out thinking that he had left her alone, he walked back in with two plates of food. "Here," he said as he handed her a plate. She looked up at him but his smile stopped her from talking. "I need to feed you in case you try to eat me." 'Shit, I said that? To a guy? Uh no, a man! Who would take that as a clean comment?' Her inner tirade went off. Benjamin chuckled again. 'Fuck it,' she thought, 'this is not the first time you've been embarrassed around him, it's just becoming a fact in your life!' "Stop overthinking and eat, Bean and Curd are hungry. I can tell." "They are," she agreed as she started eating. "This is soooo good," I sang as she stuffed another spoonful into her mouth. "You