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"Everything's fine," I gasped exhaustedly. I was sitting on the white tiled floor in front of the toilet, leaning against the bathroom wall to my right. Tiredly, I wiped the sweat from my forehead. "It'll get better soon, I'm sure."
"It'll get better soon? It's NOT getting better, Isabella. For days now, you've been nauseous in the morning before you've even eaten anything. And now the smell of fresh coffee is making you sick, even though it's already afternoon."
"I'll go to the doctor tomorrow." Exhausted, I clung to the radiator next to me and pulled myself up. Slowly and with great effort. It was as if all the strength had drained from my body. What damn virus had I caught?
"Maybe it's just stress," I added, listening to my own words. I wanted to convince Hayley, but just as much, I wanted to convince myself. I couldn't seriously be getting sick now. I had to get my life back on track! And that certainly wouldn't happen if I was lying in bed drinking liters of herbal tea.
At the thought of tea, a new wave of nausea surged up from my stomach. I closed my eyes briefly and held onto the radiator. If I waited, it would surely pass. And without me having to throw up again.
What's wrong with you, Isabella? You were never sick before. Yes, you once broke your leg, but that's something completely different. Damn it, you traveled through India and ate everything you could find there. You drank water from everywhere and you NEVER felt this sick. What's wrong with you now?
"I can tell you what's wrong with you," Hayley grumbled then. She was still standing outside the door.
"Have you ever worked for a doctor? Or can you see the future?" I asked exhaustedly. I slowly felt my way to the sink, turned on the cold water, and scooped it onto my face with both hands. Then I rinsed out my mouth. As the sour taste on my tongue subsided a bit, I finally felt somewhat better.
"No, I've never worked for a doctor. But I have eyes in my head and I can do math."
"What do you mean?" I slowly walked to the bathroom door. Hayley was leaning against the wall opposite.
"Could you be pregnant, Isabella?" Hayley's question hit me like a bolt from the blue.
"What?" I asked weakly.
"Could you be pregnant?" Hayley repeated slowly, looking me in the eyes.
"No. No way. I'm on the pill, have been for years." I took a deep breath. Pregnant? What a ridiculous idea. Of course I wasn't pregnant. I just had some particularly nasty virus that I had caught God knows where.
"And you've never forgotten to take the pill?" Hayley persisted.
"Never. I take it every evening at 8 PM."
"Always?"
"Always," I confirmed. "If I'm at a restaurant or out somewhere, I just quickly go to the bathroom and take care of it there. It's not a problem at all."
Hayley pondered. "And was that the case at the bachelorette party too?"
"At the bachelorette party?" I turned pale. "There..." I fell silent.
"Yes?" Hayley looked at me expectantly.
"Well, I had drunk quite a lot... And... I think I didn't take the pill until the next morning. When I woke up in the hotel room."
"The next morning!" Hayley shook her head. "That's not a morning-after pill, Isabella!" She gave me a stern look.
"Do you really think those few hours... and it was just that one time..."
"Just that one time." Hayley groaned. "Once is all it takes. When was your last period?"
"I don't know. With all the stress from the apartment, the move, and the job search... I haven't really paid attention. It's been a while. They'll probably come later." I nodded emphatically. Yes. Surely that would be the case.
"Or not at all for the next few months. If you take the pill half a day late, it simply doesn't work anymore. It says so in every package insert."
"Yeah...," I mumbled. "But I... I'm surely not pregnant." Hayley came toward me and grabbed me by the shoulders.
"Isabella. You can't know that. Based on everything you've just told me, there's definitely a possibility. So I'm telling you what we're going to do now: I'm going to run to the pharmacy and buy a pregnancy test. You're going to take it. Then we'll know whether you're pregnant or not."
I didn't know what to say. The chaos in my head was greater than in my old apartment right before the move.