“You are pregnant,” the doctor said, typing a few things into the machine. “Let me get some measurements, and then we’ll check on that IUD.”

Fuck the IUD. Who the hell cared where that useless thing was?

“Look at that,” Alex said, whispering in my ear. “That’s our baby.”

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t.

“I’m going to put you at about seven weeks, four days,” Dr. Landry said. “That would put your due date in mid-July. The eighteenth.”

“After you graduate,” Alex said, squeezing my hand.

“I don’t understand how this happened,” I said dully, staring at that little flicker, flicker, flicker on the screen. “We were careful.”

“If your IUD isn’t where it’s supposed to be, it wouldn’t work correctly,” the doctor said, moving the ultrasound wand around as he stared at the screen. He was patient with my arguments and denial, but there was a thread of exasperation in his voice.

“Sarai,” Alex said, his voice low. There were a million questions in the way he’d said my name, but I wasn’t ready for any of them. I wasn’t ready for this. The pillow made a swishing sound as I dropped my head against it and stared at the ceiling.

“Ah,” the doctor said. “I see the problem. The IUD was displaced. It happens, but not often. We can take it out in a few minutes.” He stood up. “And I’d like to give you some fluids before we send you home.”

“Thanks, Doc,” Alex said.

It was silent in the room as soon as the doctor left. I was numb, barely able to feel the blanket that covered my legs or Alex’s fingers brush over my knuckles. Even my stomach seemed to have stopped churning.

I let the nurse hook me up to an IV without even looking at her, choosing to continue staring at the ceiling instead even though the fluorescent lights made my eyes burn.

“You’re scaring me,” Alex said after the nurse had gone. His voice was soothing, comforting even, but it still grated. “Sarai, this is good news, right? I mean, this was the plan. A little early, but we talked about having kids.”

Plans. I wanted to laugh. I was the planner. Alex seemed to just take each day as it came, but I didn’t do anything on impulse. I scheduled every piece of my days, spent hours making sure that everything I needed to do was written in my calendar, knew exactly how much money I needed each month to cover bills, food, fuel for my car, and possible unexpected expenses.