Hourglass Squared by K. S., Megan C. Smith Page B

toting around toddlers as well. It was a mecca of motherhood and new life, and most of the women were strutting around, smiles on their faces, glowing with joy. Just as the door closed behind Josh and me, one of the toddlers passed by, his peanut butter and jelly sandwich smeared on his face as he took another gigantic bite.
    The green nausea rose quickly up, racing the rising vomit. I cupped my hand over my mouth and bolted for the bathroom, careful to not run anyone over or trip over anything. Clinging to the toilet, I dry heaved repeatedly, unable to stop the onslaught of nausea as it hit me in waves. My body finally withered with exhaustion when it realized there was nothing in my stomach to empty. I reached into my purse and pulled out my pack of saltines, slipped one in my mouth, and ground it between my teeth before swallowing. With a shove on the toilet seat, I pushed myself back up to a stand. The stall door lock slid open, and I walked over to the sink to rinse out my mouth.
    As I walked back out to the lobby, my eyes quickly met Josh's scrutinizing glare as he strode over to me. "Feeling fine, huh?" He was ticked; he knew I had lied earlier and was not happy about it.
    "I am. It was the peanut butter. It just caught me off guard," I amended. Grabbing up a magazine, I flipped it open and stared at a page, hoping he'd drop the interrogation.
    After about five minutes, Josh spoke up again, his voice eerily calm. "So what do you think about the correlation between circumcision and erectile dysfunction?"
    "Say what!" I screeched, whipping my head to look at Josh as he stared back at me.
    "That article, you've been reading it for about ten minutes. I figured you'd have come up with an opinion by now. No?" Josh's eyebrow lifted in question as he waited for my answer. Just as fast as I looked to him, I averted my eyes back to the magazine, where sure enough, there were graphs and medical opinions defending their stance.
    "Brooke, talk to me. You can't keep going on like this," he pleaded. Pulling in a deep breath, I contemplated what to say to Josh. What could I say? Unknowingly to him, we had tried every treatment under the sun, and while I was losing weight, between my vitamins and supplements, I was still nutritionally healthy. According to my doctor, I just had to keep drinking fluids and be watched closely as we waited for it to pass.
    "Brooke Worthington?" a nurse called from the opened doorway.
    I leapt to my feet and strode across the lobby toward the nurse like she was my salvation, because in this moment, she was saving me from a tyrant, my husband. With a friendly smile, she greeted me and led me toward the triage area so that she could get my vitals and weight as Josh watched.
    "How was her weight?" Josh asked from beside me as he massaged his temples.
    The nurse flipped a sheet of paper and then looked back to him. "It's actually gone up. The doctor will be happy to see that."
    Josh's face lifted as a small grin spread across his face, nodding in approval.
    "Come on. Let's get you two into a room."
    The rest of the appointment was uneventful. My doctor reviewed my chart and told me that she was hoping the weight increase was a turn in the right direction, but it had me puzzled. At this point, I wasn't even showing, and if someone didn't know I was pregnant, they'd never be able to tell. I had been puking just as much as I had been the last five months, but I couldn't discuss that with her without worrying Josh. As we stepped out, I made a mental note to schedule my next appointment while he was out of town so that I could have a one-on-one with my doctor.
    Back at Hourglass, Savannah greeted me in the lobby. "Hey, how was your appointment?"
    "Fine, I gained, so hey, that is something." I dug around in my purse until I found what I was after. I pulled out another pack of saltines and began to chew them. "So what's going on? Why are you waiting for me here?" I asked, pulling Savannah in for a hug.
    "Well, Monica