Chapter Seven

~Nicole~

Normally I was a bit of a morning person. I woke up without trouble, rarely ever snoozing my alarm clock, and making sure I had plenty of time before work to get a solid meal in. But now, as consciousness stomped over me like a steamroller, I did not feel like a morning person at all.

My head was swirling like it had been stuck in a toilet while being repeatedly flushed, and speaking of toilets, I felt like I needed to both ralph and use it for other purposes. But what beat out all of those sensations was the violent and intense need I had for water.

I opened my eyes and was nearly blinded by what I was guessing was the noonday sun. Wait… last I remembered it was just after eleven. How was it the next day already?

I didn’t know, but I managed to get onto my hands and knees before crawling to the tiny kitchenette of the hostel. None of my roommates were home. Had they already headed out for the day? Normally I was the second one to leave and arrive; I’d never had the space to myself.

It wasn’t until I greedily drank water straight from the faucet that I realized I shouldn’t even be at my hostel at all.

…what had happened to the hotel?

That’s where I had been… right? I had met a guy, a tall, handsome, charming guy and proceeded to have the best sex of my entire life. That was about the last thing that I remembered, so what happened after that?

I had absolutely no idea.

Fighting to my feet, I looked in the mirror above the sink. Yowch. I had definitely been put through the ringer. Still, it was nothing that a little sleep and a whole lot of hydration wouldn’t fix.

…and maybe a shower.

I chuckled lightly at that, brushing my hair out of my face. But as I did, I couldn’t help but notice a sparkle on my hand.

“Wait, what?”

Putting my hand in front of my face a strangled sort of gasp/scream escaped my mouth. Sitting on my finger, covered in beautiful, sparkling diamonds, was none other than a gaudy wedding band.

“Oh god.” I whispered.

What had happened last night? I remembered having sex, and running around his massive room like an idiot, but that was it. Did we even use protection?!

My breath started to come in quick pants. While I had been on pills before I had moved, I’d run out and I didn’t have a primary doctor set up in Vegas yet. Oh god, what if I…

No. I would go to the corner store and pick up some plan B and that would be that. It wasn’t like I would ever see that man again anyways. What was his name? It had been something fairly white bread, but classic. In an understated sort of way.

Josh? No, too common. Jake? No, not that either. Jim? Way too informal for someone like hi- Wait! That was it, James!

Now I remembered. And I recalled once that the receptionist had said his name, but I couldn’t recall for the life of me what his last name was.

What was I going to do? Obviously, we had somehow gotten black out drunk and had done the Vegas thing to get married. I had always heard fables about it, but I didn’t think that was something that you could actually do or that anyone would allow. And yet, there was a ring on my finger that would probably pay a couple months of bills.

I got dressed hurriedly and went to walk to the corner store, my fear compelling me quickly. But before I could even reach there, the more logical side stopped me.

Did I want to take that pill?

Of course, I did! I was a twenty-three-year-old irresponsible kid. I wasn’t ready for a child! A baby needed love and support and not a stupid mother who got drunk and hitched in the city of sin. I wasn’t going to be good enough to provide for the life, not to mention that I would be doing it on my own. I didn’t even know what state James was from, let alone his last name or what his business was.

But that was all fear and insecurity talking. When I tucked those away, and looked beyond that, the question still remained: did I want to take that pill?

No. While I was totally about available birth control and Plan B being available for accidents, I knew that if there was indeed a life growing inside of me against all of the odds stacked against it, that I wanted to keep it.

That revelation hit me like a MAC truck and I doubled over, crying my eyes out. It was equal parts fear, relief and anger, all of them coalescing into some sort of hyper emotional soup.

I don’t know how long I crouched there in the hall of the hostel, weeping like it was going out of style, but eventually the sobs stilled, and the logical side of my brain kicked in.

If I was going to take this gamble, I needed to treat my body better, just in case, which meant I needed some water.

And maybe a slice of bread.

Heading to the kitchen, I grabbed what I needed then made my way back to my room. I supposed I was still in a bit of shock, my brain trying to keep up with the decision my heart had made. I sat there for a long time, sipping my drink and nibbling at some crackers that had been in the communal snack bin, before I came to another conclusion.

If I was going to be a single mother, Vegas was not the place for me. I needed somewhere with more education resources, help programs, and less extreme temperatures.

“Then you know what you have to do,” I told myself, getting to my feet and gathering my meager surroundings.

It didn’t take long to have everything packed. It felt almost surreal putting everything away, but I knew what had to be done. And even if I wasn’t pregnant and I was over reacting to everything, I still needed to go somewhere with better job opportunities. Vegas had, unfortunately, been a bust for me.

Checking my phone, I looked at the cheapest bus tickets and where they would go. After a little bit of research on the cities that were available, I headed to the front desk to check out with the hostel-mother.

I had started over once before, I could do it again. But last time, I hadn’t been nearly so terrified.