Although this was her last semester prior to graduation, the first week back to school, for Victoria, was academically no different than any other semester. She had four classes. Her classes were Monday through Thursday. She had two on Monday's and Wednesdays, and two on Tuesday's and Thursday's. The first day of classes her professors went over their syllabi and class expectations. Although she had four classes, her course load wasn't heavy.
Even though college life kept her busy, the events of Christmas vacation and even more her last day, with Alan, were never far from her mind. Not a day went by that she didn't think about him. The thoughts would come when she lay in her bed at night.Her father had always been her best friend, but over the break, as a result of her attempt to do something nice for him, they had become lovers.
She never imagined their relationship transitioning the way it did and now she didn't know what to do about it. She knew for certain that she loved Alan, and not just as her father, but as a man. She also knew that his marriage to her mother was, for all intents and purposes, a sham. She'd witnessed her mother in a very compromising position with her nurse and Victoria had never looked at her mother the same again.
She and Alan stayed in contact as much as their busy schedules permitted. He, being a professor, himself had a pretty busy teaching schedule, but he always found time to call her. Their calls were always warm, pleasant and full of longing one for another. The way they spoke, with one another, one would never imagine it was a father talking with his daughter. Their conversations were more those of two people very much in love with one another. It was these thoughts that kept Victoria comforted as she studied for exams.
Her friends on campus had noticed the change in her demeanor and often teased and prodded her to find out what had happened, who had caught her heart over Christmas Break.
With loads of reading, researching, and homework, the first few weeks of the semester seemed to whiz by to Victoria. Before she knew it, February was upon her. As she sat in her Thursday afternoon class listening to Dr. Bennett's lecture her head started to feel a weird dizzy feeling. Then her mouth began to water as a wave of nausea rushed through her body. Arrested momentarily by this feeling Victoria tried to shake the feeling by breathing deeply in through her nose and out through her mouth. Always attentive to his class, Dr. Bennett noticed Victoria, "Ms. Spencer, are you okay over there?" He asked quizzically.
"I think I need to ask to leave class. I'm feeling rather sick at the moment," Victoria cautiously answered.
"Please, do what you need to do." Dr. Bennett admonished.
Victoria grabbed her things and walked out of class. As the nausea intensified, she quickly made her way to the women's restroom where she barely made it before she got sick. Kneeling before the toilet, Victoria felt wretched. Barely back to school a month and I'm already sick, she thought to herself. Gathering her stuff, she left the stall and went to wash her hands. Looking at her reflection, in the mirror, she noticed how pale she was. I need to get myself hydrated she mused as she finished washing her hands. Making her way back to her dorm room, which she shared with her best friend Tasha, she lay down, in her bed, and went to sleep.
She'd barely been asleep but a few hours when a wicked second bout of nausea overtook her and she had to rush from her bed to the bathroom in her dorm room. Tasha was in the room at the time and when Victoria emerged from the bathroom, Tasha looked noticeably concerned.
"Hey girl, are you alright?"
Victoria lay back down on her bed, "I think I've got a virus. It hit me hard in Dr. Bennett's class." Victoria replied.
"Well, don't give it to me," Tasha chuckled as she got up and came and sat next o Victoria on Victoria's bed. "Would you like me to go pick you up anything? Maybe I can get you some orange juice or chicken soup or something."
"Maybe just some ginger ale perhaps." Victoria answered feebly.
"Okay, well I'm going to go get it. Don't you go dyin' on me or anything while I'm gone," Tasha teased.
Victoria smiled weakly as she watched Tasha walk out the door. Shortly thereafter she fell asleep, where she slept for the night.
The weekend would be full of the same for Victoria. The nausea and vomiting increased and she developed a fever. Ever being the faithful best friend, Tasha kept vigilant watch over Victoria. She kept a bucket beside the bed so Victoria would not have to rush to the bathroom. She kept their dorm room dark and quiet, gave her Tylenol around the clock and applied cool compress rags to Victoria's head to help break the fever. After a rough weekend, the fever finally broke on Sunday night.
That Monday morning, Tasha accompanied Victoria to the campus nurse. The nurse seemed nonplussed by Victoria's symptoms as she asked her routine questions. But she ran some customary blood and urine tests on her anyway. She told Victoria to keep herself hydrated and to stay up on her vitamin C. It was more than likely a bout with the flu and would have to run its course.
Victoria and Tasha returned to their dorm room. They had been back for about an hour when Victoria's phone rang. It was the nurse and she needed Victoria to come back to the clinic, today. Feeling a little alarmed Victoria asked Tasha to please accompany her again. When they arrived, the nurse called Victoria in and told Tasha she'd have to wait.
Once Victoria got seated on the exam table, the nurse turned to her asked her, "Ms. Spencer, what was the first day of your last period?"
"Huh?" Victoria said looking puzzled at the nurse. "What does my period have to do with the flu?"
With a knowing smile on her face, the nurse replied, "Nothing actually Ms. Spencer. You don't have the flu. What you do have though is a baby. You're pregnant Ms. Spencer."
If Victoria had been feeling sick before, she was really feeling sick now. Sitting there dazed she couldn't believe what she thought she just heard the nurse say.
"What did you say?" Victoria asked shocked.
"I said, you're pregnant Ms. Spencer."
The nurse watched as Victoria's face expressed a myriad of emotion. She wasn't surprised. She'd told many a college girl the same thing she was telling Victoria. "Now, as I asked you before, what was the first day of your last period? I'm asking because that is how we calculate when this baby will be due."
Victoria could barely think straight as she thought about when her last period was. As her mind tried to process what she'd just heard, she started calculating and realized it was at the beginning of December. She'd had her period before she came home on break. Oh my god. Why it just now dawned on her she would never be able to explain to her self, but it flooded to her in a rush. She'd gotten pregnant over Christmas break, and this baby was she and Alan's, her own father. As this was all registering to her, she told the nurse the date.
The nurse said a number of things to Victoria, none that she honestly heard. The nurse handed Victoria a business card with the name of an OB/GYN doctor who she could follow up with. She then told her the nausea and vomiting was morning sickness and would probably pass by the end of her first trimester. With that, she wished Victoria well and dismissed her from her office.
In shock, Victoria walked back out into the waiting room where Tasha was. Tasha knew immediately by the look on Victoria's face that something was very wrong. "Whatever it is, we don't have to talk about right now. Let's just get you back to the room."
It wasn't until the next day, after class that Victoria told Tasha. "Let's go get some lunch," Victoria said. They settled on Chinese take out and went back to their dorm room. Sitting cross legged across from one another, on their respective beds, very stoically Victoria said to Tasha, "I'm pregnant."
Tasha almost choked on the rice she was eating. Her already big brown eyes opened wide as saucers. "Victoria? Are you serious?"
