Unwanted Pregnancy

NATALIE 

“Congratulations, you're pregnant.” 

The doctor's words hit me like a bomb. 

I looked up from where I was seated. “Wh—what did you say? I don't understand you.” 

Doctor Margaret looked at me. 

She glanced at the report on her desk before meeting my gaze. “You're pregnant, Miss Natalie. What is there to not understand?” She pushed the report to my side, all I could do was stare. 

The report wasn't a lie. 

It was not close to being a lie. 

“I—” my words failed me. “I—” My mouth opened but my words failed me again. 

“Congratulations,” her words cut short my thoughts. The right thing to say was far from me. The right reaction to give was far from me too. All I did at that moment was think about my life, and what I had done to myself by getting pregnant. 

For that man—

For Adrian. 

All these while, I had tried so hard to concentrate on my work and not think about him. But fragments of the union we shared did not stop popping into my head. I could not ignore the thought of him, even until now, there were more than enough reasons to think about him. 

How did this happen? 

Adrian was the owner of this child, but I could not place a hand on what exactly transpired. 

“Miss Natalie?” 

I snapped out of my thoughts. 

My eyes at this point were teary, I looked up at Doctor Natalie who stared at me. 

“What's wrong?” She asked. 

What was not wrong? I asked myself. 

My legs had turned weak, weak that I could not stand. Because I had more than enough reasons to leave the office, and the hospital in total. 

It dawned on me now. 

I had gotten pregnant as a result of the moment I had with Adrian two months back. 

A night when he had come home as a drunk man, suddenly finding me attractive for the first time in his life. How could I not want to make use of an opportunity like that? But how was I supposed to understand that I would be pregnant? 

“Are you okay, Miss Natalie?” 

There was no need to be dramatic in the presence of a total stranger. With immediate effect, I wiped my eyes and looked up. “Yes, ma'am, all is well. But are you sure about this?” The smile on my face was a fake one. One thing I wished for was to be done with this moment, forever. “Are you sure I'm pregnant? I mean, this report is for me?” 

“I know my job, Miss Natalie,” the older woman was angry by my remark. “It'll take nothing, nothing at all to run another test. Is that what you want?” She scoffed. “But you should also know that tests are run more than twice before the results are announced to patients.” 

Then this was real. 

It dawned on me. 

I was pregnant. Not just for any random man, but the same Adrian who walked out on me, our marriage weeks ago, without bothering to reach out to me so that he could know how I was faring. 

Finally, I managed to stand up. 

As I picked up my handbag, I spoke. “Thank you.” There was no need to take the report with me. Especially when I knew the baby wouldn't be kept. Adrian wasn't going to let me have this child. There was no need to tell him about it. 

On my way out of the office, there was nothing I didn't think of. Starting from a night that could have been avoided, down to an innocent child who would be terminated against their wish. 

Why did I do this?

Again, tears fell down my face. 

What was I going to do? 

I walked on, trying to mind my business. I couldn't, not in the meantime because there was commotion in the hospital premises. 

People ran around, as though they had seen a celebrity. I became interested in this and stopped in my tracks. My ears craned and I looked around, walked a little, and stopped among many people who spoke in loud voices.  

“She's in there—” a young lady pointed at a door. Who was in there? Since the door wasn't far from me, I moved in its direction. 

Others were standing there, after all. 

When I caught up with the door, I took a peep. In the ward was a beautiful woman. She lay on the bed and spoke to a nurse who took notes. Who was she? I looked at the crowd behind me as I wondered what exactly was going on. 

Or what was about to happen. 

“She was brought in this morning,” someone said. “They say her boyfriend is coming over.” 

So why should she care?

Why should they care about a pretty woman in that ward? I looked at the door of the ward. 

It was open and I could see her face clearly. 

The woman, whoever she was, looked beautiful. 

It was a rare kind of beauty I had seldom seen. The nurse who took notes a while ago, walked out of the ward. The door shut again and no one had access to her face unless, of course, they went closer to take a peep—something I wasn't going to do. Not for a woman who was like me. 

I had my issues to sort out, after all. 

But it was impossible to walk through. According to a few women who spoke in low tunes, a man was on his way. He was the boyfriend of the woman in the ward, but why should I care? 

Why should it bother me? 

I was still in my thoughts when everyone went mute. I looked up, ready to see whoever the mysterious man was, and at least, make my way out of this hospital so that I could think of a way to sort out the mess I was in. 

But my jaw dropped. 

Adrian was walking through the crowd.