291 Future parents 1

9:57 AM

Liz and Max got into the apartment with two bags filled with breakfast items from the nearby bakery.

"Thank you for coming to check on Ash, Liz…" Sabrina said while giving Liz a big hug.

"Don't mention it. I'm happy to see that he is doing well. It will take a few minutes, how about you put the coffee on?"

"I'm starting the coffee!" Max said from the kitchen.

Max and Liz come on every two-to-three days since Ashton returned from the hospital with the main goal for Liz to check his condition. Max and Liz always bring food and stay longer to chat, and they know where everything is and don't wait for Sabrina to serve them.

"Max got the coffee…" Sabrina said smugly. She is happy that Max is acting freely. Over the years, since she got her apartment, Max visited only a handful of times, but now he and Liz are visiting frequently. She likes it.

Sabrina gestured to Liz toward the bedroom where Ashton is. "He is awake."

Under Sabrina's watchful eye, Liz did a quick check-up on Ashton. She flashed a light in Ashton's eyes, made him stand and spread his arms, touch his nose with his eyes closed, etc.

"You are doing great." Liz announced when Ashton did all those without problems.

"Any discomfort or nausea?" Liz asked while gently applying pressure where his ribs were broken.

"No, I'm fine." Ashton assured Liz. "I can walk, and as long as I don't make sudden movements, I don't feel any pain." He gestured toward the left side of his torso where he has cracked ribs.

Liz was happy to hear this. "When your cast comes off, we will do another scan to ensure everything healed properly, but if you don't have discomfort, everything is fine…"

By the time they finished, Max was setting up the table with plates and mugs.

Ashton walked out of the bedroom, and Sabrina was holding onto him.

"I can walk on my own, thanks. I'm fine. There is no need for you to support me." Ashton wanted to prove that his recuperation is going well. Sabrina is always extra-clingy when Liz is visiting, as if Sabrina fears that Liz will request for Ashton to go back to the hospital if he does not get enough care at home.

"I know you are fine. You proved it last night that you are fiiiineee…" Sabrina said in a singing voice.

Liz shot Sabrina a side-glance with discomfort obvious on her face. "I can hear you…"

It's one thing when it's girl-only talk, but the guys are right there!

"Don't worry…" Sabrina said with a mischievous grin. "I didn't make him work too hard. I was on top."

Liz pressed her palms against her ears. "Ah, I really don't want to know the details…"

"What details?" Max asked when he walked out of the kitchen. He heard Liz's last comment.

Liz waved her hand, indicating to Max to drop the topic. "You don't want to know."

"We found something new. It looks like a regular dinner roll, but inside it has cheese and ham." Max announced proudly while gesturing to one of the plates.

Ashton nodded in approval. "I love stuffed breads. They are the best."

They started chatting and Ashton took one of the stuffed dinner rolls, cut it in half and gave one half to Sabrina.

Sabrina took the pastry and when it reached close to her face, her nose scrunched, and she dropped the pastry before dashing to the bathroom.

"Is she OK?" Liz noticed that Ashton is worried, but not surprised.

"Uhm… last few days, Rina has an upset stomach." Ashton explained.

"Diarrhea?" Liz guessed.

"No…" Ashton gestured from the stomach upward, toward the mouth.

"But she didn't eat anything." Liz noticed.

Ashton didn't understand Liz's comment. "What do you mean?"

"If the food is causing her an upset stomach, and she vomits, she needs to eat that food first. She only touched it with her hands." Liz explained.

Ashton was not sure where Liz is going with her comment. "Yeah. Sometimes she just smells it and it triggers her. But she is not vomiting. It's just nausea and she goes to the restroom just in case..."

Liz didn't talk about it further. She waited for Sabrina to return.

Liz noticed that Sabrina is slightly pale. "Are you OK?"

"Fine, fine. I think I caught a virus, or my cooking is messing with my digestion."

"You are cooking?" Max was amused.

"Only for Ashton." Sabrina responded while her glare reminded Max not to make fun of her.

Liz was not convinced that this is a simple case of a bad food. Food poisoning is something that happens soon after the food was ingested and once person vomits all out, it's over. Unless it's viral or maybe some bacteria invaded Sabrina's body.

"There is a stomach flu going around. Let me check you." Liz got up and ushered Sabrina into the bedroom.

After a quick examination, Liz established that Sabrina seems to be fine. Sabrina does not have a fever. Symptoms caused by a virus or bacteria don't clear up so quickly. And the only thing Sabrina has is sensitivity to smells, to the point of triggering nausea.

"When was you last period?" Liz asked.

Sabrina paused. "I'm not sure."

"You don't track them?"

"Not really." Sabrina admitted while avoiding Liz's accusing gaze.

Liz was not sure how to respond to this. "You are a sexually active young woman. You need to track them."

"I was not sexually active until recently. Not with a man at least…" Sabrina half-whined and paused. She leaned closer to Liz and spoke in a whisper: "You don't think that… I'm pregnant?"

"What protection are you using?" Liz whispered back.

When Sabrina didn't respond after five seconds, Liz's eyes widened.

"You are not using protection? Sabrina… Do you want to get pregnant, or are you just not thinking?"

Sabrina exhaled. "I… It's crazy, OK? Things happened quickly, and then Ashton was attacked, and I didn't have the time to think about those things. Don't people who want to get pregnant take months of trying?"

Liz blinked while wondering, what kind of logic is that? "On average, yes. But there are also people who get pregnant on a first try."

Sabrina waved her arms, indicating to Liz to calm down. "OK. Let's not blow this out of proportions. We don't know that I'm pregnant. It could be a virus or something bad I ate. Since Ashton was attacked, I'm under a lot of stress. It's possible that is messing with my system, right?"

Liz agreed with Sabrina. There is no point in talking about pregnancy if Sabrina is not pregnant.

"Do you have a test at home?" Liz asked. She saw that Sabrina shook her head. "I will go downstairs and grab one from the store."

"Can you not tell anything to the guys? At least until we are sure?"

"Absolutely." Liz assured her.

Liz went to the store and told Max to keep Ashton company. "Sabrina is resting. Don't disturb her. I'm going to fetch something from the pharmacy downstairs and will be back in a few minutes…"

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