The Divine Whisper (12 page)

He had looked into her file for information, but closed it back up again.
“You might become more tired, and more emotional. Those are both common, as well. Around twenty weeks, we will do a sonogram to check the growth of your baby. That will also tell us if everything is developing as it should.

Nicole nodded through his entire explanation.
“What about lack of energy? Some days, I just don’t want to get out of bed, or when I do, I just want to get right back in ten minutes later.”

The doctor stopped to think for a moment.
“I’m not going to say that it’s uncommon, but it’s early enough in your pregnancy that I would like to check your iron levels.”

“Okay.”

He smiled as he straightened, and walked over to the counter. After scribbling a few things in her file, he turned to look at her. “Is that all?”

“Yeah, I believe so.”

Turning back to the file, he wrote a few more things down, and tore out the page. Handing it over, he flashed a smile that could melt hearts. “If you can think of anything else, you can call at any time.”

Taking the paper, she smiled back.
“Thank you... for everything.”

He then looked directly at her and said, “I mean it.
Call, if you need anything.”

His tone caused a shiver to course through her and she felt her face start to heat.
Words were lost to her, so she nodded in agreement. What was wrong with her? She berated herself for her foolish thoughts, even as he directed them around the corner.

“You okay?”
Trinity’s words shook her out of her wayward thoughts.

Laughing it off, she smiled up at her friend.
“Yeah. Just fine.”

Before she knew it, she was walking into a stark white room with bright blue chairs.
The immediate goose bumps on her arm signified how cold the room was compared to the other parts of the doctors’ office.

A woman with bright red hair, wearing latex gloves and tangerine scrubs was standing in front of a machine on the counter.
“Have a seat. I’ll be right with you.” Over the noise of the machine, she spoke and gestured to a blue chair.

Once sitting, she looked around the room, and took in her surroundings.
Trinity stood with her arms crossed over her chest, near the door, and was giving her a sympathetic look. Before she could ask what the look was for, the woman walked over.

Immediately, Nicole noticed how the woman was chomping on her gum, and cringed at the sight.
Chewing as she talked, the woman held out her hand. “You got papers for me, sweetie?”

Handing over the paper the doctor had given her, she watched as the woman scanned the paper.
The more she watched, the more it reminded her of a horse, but remembering how nice the woman had been, Nicole decided to let it go.

The nurse stepped away, but came back not two seconds later.
Except, when she came back, she was holding two empty vials and what looked like a very large capped needle.

“What the hell is that?”
Nicole felt her heart rate pick up considerably.

At the woman’s confused look, Nicole looked back down at the needle then back up again to the woman’s face.

“No one said that I had to give blood.”

The woman had the nerve to smile, and when she talked, it sounded as if she were explaining the situation to a child. “We have to take a blood sample to check your iron levels. It’s the only way.”

“No!
I thought you needed another urine sample, or something. I don’t do needles!”

“It’ll be fine.
You’re okay.” Trinity had quietly approached from the side.

“No,” she ground out as she looked up at her friend.
Turning to look back at the woman, she was more forceful in her answer. “No!”

Once again, the woman smiled sympathetically at her, and placed her hand lightly on Nicole’s arm.
“It’s okay to be nervous; not everyone is comfortable around needles. How about I talk you through everything I do?” As she talked soothingly, she tried to wrap a large band around Nicole’s upper arm. “Now, I’m just going to—”

Being talked to like a child was getting on her last nerves.
Nicole spun her hand around and was now gripping the woman’s arm. “Watch it. Did you ever think that there might be a reason that people don’t like needles, huh? When someone says ‘no’, the answer is no. You should be ashamed of yourself!” Having said her piece, Nicole let go of the woman’s arm and stood up.

Gathering her personal items, she decided there were a few more words that she had to get off her chest.
She turned around to do just that when she saw the look on the woman’s face. It was a look of anguish.

“You’re right.”
Her voice was barely above a whisper. She didn’t move from the spot in the middle of the room, and continued to stare at something over Nicole’s shoulder. “How could I be so insensitive? I’m sorry.”

When the tears started to fall, Nicole wondered if she had might have gone too far.

“I’m so sorry!”
The tears were at full stream as the woman outright balled. “I feel so ashamed,” she blubbered. Placing her hands over her face, she ran, crying from the room.

Both Nicole and Trinity looked at each other.
Confusion was evident on both faces, but it was Nicole that spoke first. “That was weird.”

“Okay, it wasn’t normal, but you shouldn’t have been so hard on her.
I’ll go find her.” Trinity turned to walk out of the room and Nicole grabbed her hand.

“Wait!
You don’t need to do that. We’ll just leave.” Being petrified of needles, she would say or do almost anything not to be stuck with one.

Trinity shook her head.
“This is something that needs to be done, for your baby’s health, along with your own.”

Nicole tightened her grip on Trinity’s arm.
“You don’t understand! I freeze up just from looking at needles.” Her voice broke with her need to make her friend understand. “For once, I would like it if you could feel even just a remote amount of what it’s like for me!”

There was a pause between the two of them.
Nicole stood there and watched Trinity, and waited for her to finally say something. The emotions that crossed her friend’s face were difficult to understand. Her eyes had widened but then quickly scrunched down to make her look confused.

Unexpectedly, Trinity looked down at her hand, then to her face with a look of sheer panic.
“Gemariah…” The whispered name was dragged out, and made Nicole’s blood run cold.

“What?” Nicole croaked.

“Gemariah.
He’s the baby’s father.”

“What?”
Nicole’s grip instantly released Trinity. “That’s insane! We hate each other.”

Trinity took a step towards Nicole, and grabbed her shoulders.
“Don’t lie to me. I have to know. Gemariah’s the father, isn’t he?”

Nicole stared up into Trinity’s eyes.
Her mind screamed, “Deny, deny, deny,” but she couldn’t bring herself to lie. Her body sagged with the weight of her regret, and she dropped her head to look at the floor. Fighting the tears, she slightly nodded her head.

Trinity immediately released her shoulders and took a step back.

Without looking up, Nicole backed up, and slumped into the seat she had previously vacated.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. It was a stupid mistake.”

“When?”

Looking up, she noticed that Trinity looked furious. In a million years, she never would have guessed that Trinity would be this mad at her. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears threatening to come. “After your barbeque… the night he took me home.”

Trinity gasped and her hand flew to her forehead.
“You had been drinking that night. I’m going to kill him!” The malice in her voice thoroughly shocked Nicole.

“It wasn’t because I had been drinking.
I just…” She paused to find the right words. “I was so sick of feeling alone. Me and you had just fought, and things that were said had been going through my head. Then he and I fought, which wasn’t too surprising, but I was just so sick of feeling miserable. Therefore, when he kissed me, I didn’t stop him, and then things went too far.”

Nicole watched as Trinity shut her eyes and crouched in front of her.
“This is all my fault. I’m so sorry. I should have taken you home that night like I promised.”

“No!
You’re not listening to me. This is
my
doing. I can’t even fault Gemariah.” Nicole waved her hand through the air to wipe away the thought. “I knew what kind of man he was and that he was a jerk… even before the horrible stuff he said to me afterward.”

Trinity stood back up.
“What do you mean?”

“Nothing.”
Nicole pursed her lips and shook her head. There was no point in making Trinity hate someone she considered a friend.

The silence stretched on, both of them lost in their own thoughts.
Nicole thought back to that night, and cringed at the memory. How could she have given herself to someone so horrid? Every time they were around each other, he tried to make her feel horrible about herself. What kind of father would he make? Would he always belittle them and treat them like he does her? Thinking back to the first time she met him, she wondered if he could stop himself from physically harming the child. When it came to her child, she wasn’t about to find out!

“You can’t tell him about the baby!”
She blurted out, sounding almost hysterical.

“Nicci…”

“No! He can’t know it’s his!”

Trinity looked at her knowingly.
“Has there even been anyone else?”

Sighing, Nicole looked away.
“No.”

After a moment, Trinity clapped her hands together, startling Nicole.
“Fine. I won’t tell him about the baby, on one condition.”

“What?”
Nicole asked warily.

“You let me go get the nurse to draw your blood.”

Nicole felt the panic rising inside, and it must have shown on her face, because Trinity quickly spoke up again.

“I will be right here to hold your hand, and you can look away, but this is something that you need to do.”

“But—”

“Do we have a deal?”
Trinity didn’t even let her finish.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Nicole shut her eyes before quickly opening them again.
“Fine. Deal.”

******

“Look at how many complaints this area has gotten lately compared to all the others.” Gemariah pointed to the map he had brought up on his tablet, and indicated the cluster of red dots north of the city.

Standing by the conference table, Malachi looked up and glanced at the tablet in Gemariah’s hand.
“That could be anything. What were the complaints?”

Zooming in to view the area closer, he tapped the corner of the screen, and brought up the list.
Scrolling down, he skimmed down the list. “Late night noises, neighbor issues, typical for any subdivision.” Scrolling down further, he started to see a pattern. “Holy Hell, a lot of domestic violence complaints.”

Malachi took the tablet for a closer look.
After a minutes worth of scrolling, he started to nod. “Okay, it might be something to look into, but I want you to be lead on it.”

“Can’t.
I’m already planning the mission into the tower. I have no time.”

“You’re right.
Put Tori on the Tower, and you head up this.” Malachi gestured with the tablet to indicate the subdivision.

“No way!
I’ve put too many hours into the tower already. This doesn’t need me!”

Malachi didn’t say anything right away, but instead stared at the screen.
As if coming to a decision, he quickly looked back at Gemariah. “The tower can be put off for another week. Use this week to investigate the subdivision. I’ll trust you. If you think it’s nothing…” Malachi paused, and gave him a knowing look. “then I’ll figure something else out, but it’s up to you to make sure.”

Yeah, Gemariah got it.
With that much domestic violence, it was his job to make sure it wasn’t Ramiel. His great-grandfather got his kicks from tempting mortals with moral guilt, and it ate at Gemariah every time he found families destroyed in the wake of the fallen angel. He always felt a sense of responsibility to clean up the mess.

Gritting his teeth, he nodded his head, acknowledging Malachi’s reasoning.
When he looked up, what he saw brought a smirk to his face. “Yo man, what did you do?”

They both stood there and watched as Trinity tore through the office, ignoring the curious stares in her wake.
She was pissed, and Gemariah was glad he wasn’t Malachi right then. Patting Malachi on the back, he chuckled at his friend’s terrified expression. There weren’t too many things that could scare Malachi, so that was a treat.