Page 35

CHAPTER

NINETEEN

EMMA

It’s been three weeks since the championship game, and to say things have been hectic would be an understatement.

Between all the excitement around campus and my golf season starting, Archie and I have barely had time together.

I mean, we still stay together pretty much every night.

The only time we don’t is if I have a big test or heavy studying to do.

I can’t focus when he’s around. He’s hot and an incredibly sexy distraction.

He left three days ago for the combine in Indiana. The amount of training he had to do to prepare was insane.

I talk to him every night, and we text during the day when he can, but he’s tired.

He’s had some meetings with his agent, who he can officially meet with now that he’s no longer a collegiate athlete. His agent is telling him that there are several teams that want to meet with him and are anxious to get his scores from the combine.

The golf team is in Arizona for a tournament, which is helping me stay distracted from not feeling all that great today.

I’ve been pretty lucky that I’ve been able to keep playing, but I’m going to have to come clean with my coach about the pregnancy.

For my uniform, I’ve had to get larger sizes two times now, and I’m surprised they haven’t questioned my weight change.

My height and body shape have definitely benefited me in making my belly easier to conceal, but I think that time is over.

I’m in the third rotation on the course, paired with Peyton and a girl name Sarah from Arizona State. The sun is pretty hot today, which isn’t helping with me not feeling good.

Peyton takes her shot, and then the girl from Arizona takes hers. I pull out my driver and tee and walk over to the tee box. After I set my ball, I look out at the course and determine where I need to aim in order for me to get close to the green near the hole.

I take a few practice swings, then step up to the tee.

Then I spread my legs slightly and tilt my hips back.

Pulling my club back, I take my swing and feel a twinge in my lower belly when I rotate my hips.

I nearly drop my club, not because of the pain, but it startles me so much, and I feel a wave of panic rush through me.

As I walk back to the cart, I hold my lower belly, no doubt showcasing my bump to Peyton and Sarah.

“Em! OMG! You’re bleeding.”

Just as she says it, I feel a trickle of blood run down my inner thigh. I’m trying not to panic, but it’s kinda hard not to.

“Pey, I need you to get Miranda for me.”

I sit down on the cart bench as Peyton and Sarah stand near me.

I watch as Peyton gets on the walkie-talkie to call for Miranda.

In all the reading I’ve done about pregnancy, I’m trying to scroll through my memory to see if I can think about what to do until I can get to a doctor.

Putting my feet up makes sense, so I pull my legs up onto the short bench.

At the very least, if my blood pressure is elevated, it should help with that.

But now I feel like I’m moving toward panic mode. I need to get ahold of Archie.

“Okay, Em. Miranda is on her way. I should let Coach know too, right? Or does Miranda do that?” She’s biting on her thumbnail and staring at me with big eyes.

Sarah is just standing there, eyeing me. “So, this isn’t your period?”

I shake my head. A pain shoots through my lower belly, and I clutch it and bend forward.

“Emma, you’re pregnant, aren’t you?” Peyton asks.

I sigh and look at her. “Yeah, I am. About twenty-six weeks.”

“Twenty-six weeks! Why didn’t you tell us? I live with you, for fuck’s sake, and I just thought you were in that new relationship glow, not a pregnancy glow! You have been in baggy clothes all the time though lately, so I guess this is all making sense now. But, Em! OMG, you’re pregnant!”

“Look, Pey. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys, but I still haven’t told Coach yet. Archie and I needed to get some things figured out before we made it public. But right now, I’m kinda freaked out, so can we talk about this later?”

“Totally! Yes, totally! Oh God, I’m sorry. What can I do?”

“Can you find my phone? I need to text Archie.”

“He’s in Indiana, right? Oh shit, Em. Can he get here?”

“I’m not going to ask him to come, but he needs to know what’s going on. He might not be able to answer right now, but I need to tell him.”

Miranda pulls up in a cart and rushes over to me with her medical bag in hand. “Emma, what’s going on?”

“I’m bleeding, and I have some lower abdominal pain.”

She nods. “Okay. Ladies, can you give us some privacy?” She turns to look at Peyton and Sarah. “Actually, you should just take my cart and go to the next hole.”

“Yes, of course.” Peyton hands me my phone, and she and Sarah walk to the other cart and get in. “Em, text us later, okay?”

“Thank you. I will.”

“Emma, you need to tell me some more information so I know what’s going on.”

“I’m twenty-six weeks pregnant. I haven’t had any issues with my pregnancy, but I haven’t been feeling all that great today.

After my last shot, I felt a twinge in my lower belly.

When I was walking back to the cart, Peyton called out to me and pointed out that I was bleeding.

I felt the trickle of blood as I was walking. ”

“Okay, let me take your blood pressure. I want you to drink some water too. It could be a few different things, but this is not my area of expertise, so we should get you to a hospital to get you checked out.”

She puts the cuff around my arm, and I feel the pressure as it inflates, then slowly deflates.

“Your blood pressure is normal, so that’s good. Let’s get you back to the clubhouse and make arrangements for you to get to the hospital.”

“I’m not going to have to get in an ambulance, am I? I don’t love the idea of everyone seeing me leave that way.”

“Maybe. I need to let Coach know too. Have you told her about the pregnancy yet?”

I shake my head. “I haven’t. It gets a little tricky with my scholarship, and I was hoping to play as long as I could and thought I maybe had a few more weeks to figure it out.”

“I see. Okay, let’s head out. Drink the water slowly.”

We make our way to the clubhouse, and as we get there, Coach is already there, waiting for me.

“What’s going on, Emma?” Her hands are on her hips, and I can’t say she looks pleased.

“I’ve been feeling a little off all day today and had some cramping and now some bleeding.” I’m not sure why I can’t just say that I’m pregnant, but the words feel stuck.

She nods and then she waves her hand toward my body. “Go on. Tell me everything.”

My eyes start to tear up, and I just look at her. I truly hate disappointing people, and I’m not a deceitful person, but this whole situation has put me majorly out of my comfort zone. Even though it’s turned out to be a happy thing, I’ve spent the last few years playing on this team.

“I’m pregnant.”

She puts her hands on her hips and looks down and sighs.

“Oh, Emma. Those are not the words I wanted to hear. But we need to get you to the hospital, so we can have this conversation later. I’ll come check in after the tournament.

I’m going to have Miranda get you over there, and she can go with you.

” Walking over to me, she puts a hand on my shoulder.

“I hope everything is okay. We’ll talk later. ” Then she turns and walks away.

Twenty minutes later, I’m loaded into an ambulance and on my way to the local hospital with Miranda. Once we arrive, they keep me on the gurney and take me to one of the rooms in the emergency room area.

I’ve texted and called Archie, but he hasn’t answered. I can’t remember what skills he will be tested on today, so it’s better if I just have all the information first anyway.

After all my vitals are taken and they’ve hooked me up to an IV, I sit and wait for what seems like an hour. Good news is, the cramping has stopped, and I’m no longer bleeding.

A doctor walks in, looking down at a tablet. “Emma Tucker?”

“Yes.” I shift on the bed to sit up a little bit.

“I’m Dr. Jones. I’ll be taking care of you today. So, I see that you’re twenty-six weeks pregnant. You haven’t had any complications during the pregnancy, which is good. You don’t drink or smoke, right?” He looks at me and rests the tablet against his stomach.

“No. Even when I wasn’t pregnant, I didn’t drink much, and I was never a smoker. I’m a golfer on my university team, so I’m in pretty good shape.”

“Okay, good. I’m just waiting for the blood work to come back to rule out anything serious, but in the meantime, I’m going to have you get an ultrasound, so we can see what’s happening with that little one in there.

” He taps on the tablet and then holds his stethoscope in his hand for a second.

“Go ahead and sit up for me if you can.”

He holds out his hand, and I take it and pull myself up. Not something I would usually need help with, but I feel like I need to be cautious.

“Okay, deep breath in.” He holds the stethoscope to my back.

I breathe in.

“Good.” He moves it around to the front, above my heart.

“Everything looks and sounds good, but like I said, I want to rule out anything serious with the blood work and the ultrasound. My guess is that you were probably a little dehydrated. Traveling, being out in the sun, physical activity—you can dehydrate faster than normal. Which can cause some cramping. As for the blood, likely related to the cramping. I’ll be back in when we get some results.

Just try to rest.” He taps the bedrail, then turns and walks out.

Not even five minutes later, a younger girl—probably close to my age—comes in, attaches my IV bag to a hook on the bed, and tells me she’s taking me to get an ultrasound. Once we reach the sonography room, she locks the bed in place. “I’ll be back to get you when she’s done.”