There! I told you I wasn't lying!

It wasn't as if what was really going on with me physically didn't cross my mind but I was in major denial mode so I didn't give it a lot of thought.  I wasn't worried about my physical state as much as I just had an intense feeling of aloneness.  I was so new to this place and so far, nothing was going right.  I hated Ft. Riley and it was making me hate the Army too.

Not long after I arrived the ER it was discovered I was badly dehydrated and that didn't surprise me at all considering I couldn't even remember the last time I had food or drink.  They immediately started an IV drip to get me loaded back up with fluids.  Like I stated in an early post, as soon as they heard I had recently returned from overseas they honed in on that, asking me numerous questions in regards to foods, farms, animals, plants, etc.

"No, I have not been on any farms.  No, I have not been to a petting zoo.  I only ate the food that was served on the plane and no, I did not bring any produce or plants into the country with me.  No, I did not drink from any drinking fountains. No, I was not around someone that could possibly have been on a farm.  No, I did not leave the airport when I had a lay over. . . . "  TOO MANY QUESTIONS!!!

After a quick exam the doctor said they were going to run some tests and they'd be back and I should rest.  And rest I did.  I immediately fell asleep which I must have really been tired because I remember the room being extremely cold and thinking I'd never be able to rest in such a refrigerator.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

What seemed like the longest nap of my life but was probably only minutes, the doctor and nurse came back in.  At first I was groggy from my sleep but then I was fully alert to hear the news . . .

That Staff Sergeant Jerry Newsome and I were going to become parents.  A baby.  I was pregnant.

I was a little numb to the news at first, maybe scared and uncertain.  I had no earthly idea what was next --who to tell, who to call . . . it wasn't as if I could pick up a cell phone and reach anyone.  In fact, it wasn't as if I could pick up any phone.  I had no phone.  I had no means to call because on the Army phones we weren't allowed to call long distance and I certainly could not make an overseas call to Newsome.

The doctor told me I needed to finish the bag of IV fluid so they were going to keep me a little longer.  He also gave me a referral to follow up in the OB clinic.  After that the doctor and nurse left and there again, I sat all alone.  When the ER released me, someone from the reception station came to get me and took me back to that NCOIC's office.  The SGM was gone, thankfully, but the other female Sergeant was there.  They both stood there, skeptical looks on their faces as they asked me what the doctors said.

And I didn't want to tell them.  This was my news and I didn't want these strangers to be the first people I told.  It was none of their business.  I kept thinking to myself, "This isn't fair, this isn't how this is supposed to be."  On the other hand, if I didn't give them something I might have been in trouble with SGM.  As it was, they only half believed I really was sick.  For that reason I wanted to tell them.  I wanted to stick it to them like, "There!  I told you I wasn't lying."