Free The Hysterics by Kristen Hope Mazzola

shoes, she put her hand on mine. “That’d be great.”
    I waited while they drew blood, talked to her about the intimate details of her missed period, discussed the last time she had sex, and did a timeline of how far along the baby was. Finally they ushered us into a private room.
    “The doctor will be in shortly. Make yourselves comfortable.” Handing Fallon a cloth hospital gown and a folded papery sheet, the nurse instructed, “Put the gown on, open to the front, and drape this over your lap. The doctor will need to do a pelvic exam before the intrauterine ultrasound.” The nurse shut the door quietly, leaving us in stale awkwardness.
    “Dunbar?” The sound of the nurse calling Fallon’s real last name rang over and over in my head.
    “Yeah. I am legally still Fallon Dunbar, so I have to fill out medical crap with my real name.”
    “Ah.” I slouched into the rolling chair in the corner, not knowing what else to do.
    FALLON
    “Well, this is mortifying.” I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t thought about this before I had Dane come into the room with me. Of course the doctor would have to do an exam, and of course I was going to have to get naked in front of him, and not in a good way.
    “Do you want me to go back to the waiting room?”
    Dane sat in the corner, barely looking at me. I knew there was something on his mind and this was a really hard situation for him too, but for much different reasons. I wished I knew the story; I wished I really knew Dane. He was like a mysterious rock star angel that had been sent for me just in the nick of time.
    “No, stay. Even though this isn’t how I pictured you seeing me naked for the first time, it’s nice to have the company. Besides, the nurse who was taking my vitals in the hall said that we’d be able to see the heartbeat today. I don’t think I can go through that alone.”
    He walked up and kissed me on the forehead while wrapping his strong, tattooed arms around me. “You pictured yourself undressing for me already?” He laughed a little as he spoke, lightening the mood, which I appreciated a lot.
    I nodded into his chest before reaching up and kissing his soft lips briefly.
    “I’ll turn around, you let me know when you’re covered up, and then I’ll sit right next to you.”
    The thin gown draped over my shoulders, barely covering my boobs as I lay on the table feeling completely exposed, just waiting for the freaking doctor. Dane wheeled over next to me and gripped my hand.
    “Are you at least a little excited?” he whispered before brushing the back of my hand with his lips.
    I nodded as a smile and a tear slid down my face. “I really am excited. Scared shitless that I’ll screw this kid’s life up, but really excited to try to be the best mom I can be.”
    Dane’s eyes softened at the corners as he pursed his lips into a small smile. “I think you’re going to be an amazing mom, Fallon.”
    There was a small tap on the door as a blue-haired woman came through; I couldn’t really believe my eyes. Most of the time when people refer to ‘blue hair’ they mean gray and old age, but my doctor was only a few years older than me with bright, electric, actual blue hair in one of the cutest short bobs I had ever seen. She had dark olive skin and piercing ice blue eyes. She was only a few inches taller than me, the perfect mix of fit and curvy. She was way too hot to be a doctor; she looked more like a freaking model or a front woman for a band. And then it hit me: she was the lead singer of a band I had met a few years back while in Buffalo doing a charity tribute concert for John Lennon’s birthday.
    “Molly? From Wicked Cadence?” My eyes were wide as I took in her features and tried not to sound completely baffled.
    She blushed. “Have we met?” She stared down at my chart and her eyes got wide. “What the hell?”
    I nodded, “Feel like you’ve seen a ghost?” I tried to not chuckle, failing miserably.
    “Well, your secret