I shrugged. I didn’t care what they did, as long as they could stop the rolling and cramping of my stomach. He hadn’t mentioned an IV yet, but I was starting to hope for one. Maybe they could give me anti-nausea medicine.

I peed in the little cup they gave me and let them take a blood sample, then Alex and I settled in to wait. The TV in my little room was broken, so I closed my eyes and drifted off while Alex played on his phone and absentmindedly ran his fingers through my hair.

About an hour later, I opened my eyes as Dr. Landry came back into the room.

“Blood tests were all normal,” he said, smiling at me. “And it looks like you did test positive for pregnancy.”

“No.” I chuckled a little, my voice hoarse. “No, I have an IUD. You must have mixed it up or something.”

“I can assure you, we didn’t,” Dr. Landry said kindly.

“I have an IUD,” I said again, my words slower and overenunciated.

Dr. Landry’s eyes met mine, and he gave me an understanding smile that I wanted to knock off his face. “I assure you, the test was positive. I’d like to do an ultrasound to see how far along you are and check on that IUD.”

“Why would we need to check on it?” I asked. “It’s clearly not doing its job.”

“Sarai,” Alex said, his hand covering mine. “It’s okay.”

“Are you kidding?” I spun my head to look at him and immediately regretted the movement. Alex had the little kidney-shaped tray under my chin as soon as I started dry heaving again.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes with that ultrasound machine,” Dr. Landry said, stepping back out of the room.

“This isn’t possible,” I mumbled, breathing heavy as I tried to calm my nausea with shallow breaths through my nose. “I have an IUD.”

“Let’s just get the ultrasound,” Alex said, his voice subdued. “Then we’ll see where we’re at.”

“It’s not going to show a baby,” I said, scoffing. “They screwed up somehow. I have an IUD.”

I felt like if I said the words enough, told enough people that I had an IUD protecting me from this exact scenario, then I would be in the clear. I wanted children, but I didn’t want them yet. I barely had time to eat dinner; I really didn’t have time for a child. I didn’t graduate until June, and after all the hard work I’d put in, I had to graduate in June.

The doctor came in, rolling the ultrasound machine, and squirted some goo on my belly. Then he was shifting the little wand against my skin, pressing and twisting it until a very faint heartbeat came through the system. I stared uncomprehendingly at the screen.