Page 42 of Exile
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Marie asks as I ditch my Brewed Awakening apron and grab my purse out of the small cabinet we have in the back to store our personal belongings. It’s the day of my IUD insertion, and Marie is hovering around me like a mother hen.
“I’m a big girl, M. I can take myself to the doctor.”
“You should at least have Dom go with you so he can drive you home in case you’re in pain after.”
I actually haven’t mentioned my IUD appointment to Dominick, but I don’t tell her that, afraid of the can of worms it might open. He and I haven’t spoken any more about the night of the pregnancy scare, but with the fervent way he’s been making love to me every chance he gets, I’ve been hesitant to bring up using a more effective form of birth control, worried about the fight it might trigger between us. I know he’s eager to start a family, but I’m hoping he will be fine just practicing while I finish getting my degree. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.
“Oh, he couldn’t get off today. I promise, it’s no big deal. I took some Tylenol, and I’m heading home after, so I’ll be fine.”
“Alright, if you say so. I’ll see you next week. Text me if you need anything!”
Sitting in the doctor’s office waiting room, my phone buzzes in my pocket with a text notification.
Tall, Dark and Pumpkin Spiced: Hey, Kitten, I stopped by the coffee shop to see if you wanted to grab lunch, but you weren’t there. Where are you?
Me: Sorry, I have an appointment. Must’ve forgot to tell you. Raincheck?
Tall, Dark and Pumpkin Spiced: What kind of appointment?
I bite my lower lip, debating on what to tell Dom. This isn’t something I planned on getting into with him over text.
Me: You know, girl stuff. I’ll be home in a couple of hours. Love you.
I add on a few hearts and a kissing emoji to make my text seem less evasive. Just then a heavy-set woman with fiery red hair, in a set of navy scrubs, pokes her head into the waiting room to call my name.
“Malcolm?”
“That’s me.” I close out of the texting app and tuck my phone back into my pocket so I can follow the nurse back to the exam room before I can let my nerves get the best of me. She leads me through a set of maze-like corridors with doors that all look the same before stopping in front of an open one with a yellow flag flipped out next to it. There’s a scale she has me step on before handing me a little plastic specimen cup.
“Hi, sweetie, I’m Angela. I’ll be the nurse during your exam. First, I’ll need you to pee in the cup so we can do a quick pregnancy test. There are wipes to use in the bathroom; leave the cup in there once you’re done. When you’re finished, you’ll come in here, strip down and put on the gown. It will open to the back. I’ll be back with Dr. Torres, and she will do a quick pelvic exam before inserting the IUD. Do you have any questions?” I shake my head, and Angela leaves me to my business.
Sitting on the exam table, wearing the stiff patient gown, I can hear my phone buzzing in the pocket of my jeans like there is an incoming call. After two seconds of quiet, the buzzing starts up again. “What the hell?” I slide off the table and fish my phone out of my jeans pocket to see an incoming call from Dom, and a notification for a missed call from him. Before I get the chance to answer it, a soft knock at the door lets me know the doctor is here. This time I shut my phone off completely before putting it away and climb back onto the exam table.
“Hi there, I’m Dr. Torres. You must be Serena?” I reach out to shake the young doctor’s hand. She looks like she could be in her late twenties, tops, with her gorgeous tawny skin, warm honey-colored eyes and a kind smile that must put so many patients at ease, but she carries herself with the confidence of a woman who’s been in her line of work a long time.
“Nice to meet you, Doctor. You came highly recommended by my friend, Marie.”
“Ah, yes, Marie, pregnant with the baby yeti. She told me she was sending a friend of hers my way.” I laugh at Dr. Torres’ completely accurate description of my friend and find myself immediately at ease in her presence. “Alright, so I’m going to do a quick pelvic exam before we get started. This will likely be pretty uncomfortable for you since you haven’t gone through childbirth yet, so feel free to take some ibuprofen after to help with the pain. You’ll feel a slight pinch and maybe some cramping afterward. You may also experience some spotting or light bleeding for a few weeks after the IUD has been inserted, but that is completely normal.”
Once Angela the nurse joins us, we get started. The whole procedure takes ten minutes tops and winds up being exactly how Dr. Torres described it. A slight pinch with some cramping afterward.
“Alright, so this will be good for the next five years. If you experience any sharp pelvic pain or uncontrolled bleeding, contact my office, okay? You don’t have to stop and check out—you’re free to go.” I nod my agreement, and she leaves me to get dressed.
On my way out of the clinic, I’m busy looking over the discharge instructions given to me, so I don’t see who is standing by my car in the parking lot. It’s not until I’m in his shadow that I look up and see Dom leaning against my driver’s side door, his face wearing a thunderous expression.
“Is there something you need to tell me, Serena?” His voice is cold and sends a chill of fear down my spine. Shock doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel, finding him standing by my car waiting for me outside of the clinic.
“What are you doing here, Dom?”
“I asked you first, Kitten. Is there something you need to tell me?” He steps forward, looming over me, forcing my back against the car, caging me in with his body. He’s so close to me, his belt with his holster presses into the soft, tender flesh of my now cramping belly. I can feel the heat of his anger radiating from him.
“I told you—I had an appointment. I just got done. Why are you here?” Dom ignores my question, zeroing in on the paper in my hand with my appointment summary. He snatches it from my grasp and begins to read it.
“Hey! That’s mine!” I try to grab it, but he captures my hands in one of his while he holds onto the paper and continues reading.
“What. The. Fuck.” The fury that flashes in his eyes when he looks at me sends me cowering, pressing my back further into the cool metal of my car. “Why did you have an appointment for an IUD insertion without telling me about it? Don’t you think this is something we should have discussed together first?” His grip on my wrists tightens to the point of being painful, and I let out a whimper in response.
“Dom, you’re hurting me.” My eyes burn with unshed tears. I try to pull out of his hold but his grip is vise-like. The more I try to squirm free, the tighter it becomes.