Page 9 of Worth the Risk

“Listen, Zoey, I need to take a raincheck on dinner tonight.”

“Why?” There was no way to keep the disappointment out of my voice. “I thought you were coming over right after work. I was going to make you dinner since you cooked for me last week.”

He hung his head for a moment, like he could hardly stand the weight of something that I couldn’t see pressing down on him.

“I want to, Zo. I swear. But I have to go to dinner with some board members. I just got the invitation this afternoon, and since I’m going to the island next week, this may be my last chance to kiss some ass before they vote on who to give the director of residency job to.”

His reasoning made sense, but there was something off about him. He wouldn’t hold my eyes for long and the way he kept fidgeting with things in front of him, straightening papers that he’d already gathered in a neat pile and shifting the cup of ballpoint pens from one side of the desk to the other.

He almost seemed nervous. Maybe guilty.

I didn’t know for sure what was going on in his head, but this wasn’t the place to get into an in-depth conversation about our canceled date night.

“Okay, I get it.”

And I did. The job was important, and an opportunity to gain favor with members of the board was worth taking.

But that didn’t negate my disappointment or the feeling I had that something was wrong. There was something about him that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, a feeling that he was closed off from me in a way that he’d never been before. I couldn’t explain it, and I didn’t like it one bit.

I wanted to reach out for him, to connect in some physical way.

Instead, I offered a strained smile and told him to call me later. When I walked out of the office, my heart throbbed in my chest. I tried to tell myself that I was overreacting, that one canceled evening didn’t mean anything, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a distance forming between us that maybe had always been inevitable. After all, how long could we keep doing this in secret?

I went home in a gloomy mood, telling myself that I would have a real conversation with Ford about all of this tomorrow. I’d put it off long enough.

Those thoughts lingered in my mind as I stripped out of my scrubs and showered. I’d lived in my own place for three years, but my apartment had never seemed so quiet and lonely. I wasn’t looking forward to spending the evening by myself while Ford was out at dinner with a group of old men that made important decisions for the hospital.

I was tired, as I had been so often lately, so I wasn’t interested in going anywhere. I decided to invite my best friend over instead. Maybe we could watch a movie.

Wearing my most comfortable sweats, I headed to the kitchen with my phone in hand. I sent a text message to Ruby. She and I had met in college, bonding because we were both studying nursing. We both ended up at Lakeview, but she worked in the labor and delivery department.

She responded right away, confirming that she’d be here in fifteen minutes, so I put down my phone and opened a bottle of tea, my favorite. I took a sip while thinking about placing a massive Chinese food order to be delivered. Ruby and I could demolish a hell of a lot of eggrolls and noodles while watching whatever rom com was on one of my streaming services.

But the moment the taste of the tea hit my tongue, I forgot all about dinner and Ruby coming over. Cringing, I swallowed the tea and smacked my lips. The taste was so off that I was sure it must have expired.

Squinting at the date on the bottle, I was confused to see that it hadn’t passed yet. Taking another small sip, I wrinkled my nose and poured the rest of it down the drain.

The metallic taste lingered on my tongue, and I didn’t understand it. How could a bottle of tea go bad two weeks before its expiration date?

Confused, I grabbed another one from the refrigerator, but it tasted the same. I gagged as I poured it down the drain.

Filling a glass with water, I chugged it instead. The taste was still there, but not as strong.

Then, it hit me. Dysgeusia.

I’d heard of this before. If a woman came into the ER and described a sudden metallic taste in the mouth, the first thing I’d do would be to ask if she’d missed any periods.

Because dysgeusia was a common symptom of early pregnancy.

Oh my God.

Chapter Four: Zoey

“Ibought two tests,” Ruby said when she walked through the door.

I texted her after I had the shocking realization that I could be pregnant. Since she was already coming over, it made sense for her to stop by the drugstore and get what we needed. Besides, she was the only person that knew I was dating Ford.

She had a white plastic bag in her hand, and seeing it made my pulse skitter. This was really happening.