(no subject)

[fiery_ring]

Carlotta didn't know what date she was supposed to have her period. But she knew it had come and gone.

Her feelings had turned from terror and emotion to a deep, almost numb terror. She had been starting to feel like she was walking through a bad nightmare, day after day, unable to tell anyone in case that made it all officially true.

And one night, she just couldn't cope any more. She took the bottle of whiskey from Will's caravan - bought before rationing kicked in - snuck it into her pocket and headed for the bar. She'd be back and sober before anyone would miss her.

When she gets to the bar, she goes straight up to her room, and has a couple of drinks. Slowly, her world starts to calm down.

She lies on the sofa for a long while. Then as she gets up to go to the bathroom, her world begins to spin. She feels something hit her head, hard, then everything goes black.

Comments

[fiery_ring]

"Yes, but it only has to kill me once." Carlotta says, not looking up at him.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Do you guys need a hand?" Guppy asks, seeing them as he comes up the stairs. "I mean, fetching as the toilet paper is, it's probably not going to last long."

[ostro_goth]

"We were seeking you," Teja says. "There was no other thing to cover her wound."

[wheatencrown]

"Yes, thank you. She's had a scare and hurt her head. Please reassure her that she's not pregnant or hurt."

[fiery_ring]

Carlotta is glad when she gets put on the bed. Everything is still very fuzzy.

[guppy_sandhu]

"How much have you had to drink, Carlotta?" Guppy asks, checking her over.

"Enough." Carlotta moans, wincing as he shines a torch in her eyes. She isn't easy to keep still when he scans her either.

"Keep still for me." Guppy says, gently putting his hand on her head.

[ostro_goth]

"Cannot you measure how much she had?" Teja asks. "The police in Italy can."

[wheatencrown]

Demeter moves to hold her hand,

"If it hurts just squeeze my hand. You were worried."

[guppy_sandhu]

"I'm going to take bloods in a minute." Guppy says. "I think she's both drunk and a bit concussed. Was she knocked out?"

He scans her abdomen, and then takes some bloods. He checks the results carefully.

"Okay, we might need to repeat this explanation when you're sober, but I can assure you that you're not pregnant, and never have been. There's absolutely nothing in your womb that shouldn't be. You do however have high levels of pregnancy hormones in your blood."

As Carlotta nods vaguely, Guppy looks to Demeter and Teja for more information.

"Do you happen to know; is Carlotta very obscessed or very frightened about getting pregnant at all?"

[ostro_goth]

"I think she is scared of it, understandably so, as she is but lately married, and both her mother and her mother's mother died in childbirth," Teja says.

Whatever his opinion, he will stand on Carlotta's side.

[wheatencrown]

"So she's been fretting herself into thinking she is and afraid to ask anyone for help. When I found her, she'd knocked her head against a table,"

Demeter carefully runs a hand through Carlotta's hair, she hates seeing her hurting so.

[guppy_sandhu]

Carlotta has mostly dozed off at this point. She's really tired right now.

Guppy nods.

"There's a condition known as pseudocyesis, or hysterical pregnancy, which both the scanner and I agree she's most likely experiencing. It's a largely psychological condition. Hopefully now that she has proof she's not pregnant it will sort itself out, but if it continues she may need a psych referral."

[ostro_goth]

"I think there is no such thing in her world yet," Teja says.

[wheatencrown]

"Names change but I've known women who've gone through it when they felt they had to be pregnant. It can be a scary thing. I'm glad she'll be well."

[guppy_sandhu]

"There's nothing physically wrong, other than the concussion." Guppy says. "But that doesn't make her symptoms or feelings less real."

[ostro_goth]

"But how can we help her, if she is still frightened?" Teja asks.

[wheatencrown]

"We'll stay with her as long as she needs us to."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Well, I'm not a psychiatrist, but taking her fears seriously is a good start." Guppy says. "Even if it seems weird or out of proportion."

[ostro_goth]

"It is not something that I know much of, being a man that has never had wife and children, or a sister," Teja says.

[wheatencrown]

"We listen to her, Teja. And remind her not only of her strength but that she's not alone and that we'll always be with her."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Just remember that she's more than a baby-machine." Guppy says to Teja. "She's clearly been self-conscious about all this or she'd have told you two earlier."

He carefully cleans and dresses her head wound.

"Do you want to stay in with her? She's going to need observing overnight but she should be fine."

[ostro_goth]

"Of course she is!" Teja says, offended. "And of course we shall!"

[wheatencrown]

"I think we should. Thank you, Guppy."

[guppy_sandhu]

"No problem." Guppy says.

He knows Teja is offended, but he caught a snatch of the conversation before he caught up to them on the stairs. And really, discussing how Carlotta will one day bear a child is really not helpful to her right now.

He finishes cleaning Carlotta up, and hangs around with them through the night to make sure she's all right - admittedly asleep on the sofa in the office for most of it.