CHAPTER 49: 7

The weeks passed quickly, and the crisp autumn was upon them. Soon the Colorado mountains would be blanketed in snow, and the ski resorts would be firing up for the busy season. It also means the wedding season was over. The business was about to drop off, and Mackenzie would have to live off her savings. It was not that people did not get married in the winter. Just fewer did. Mackenzie would be able to work but not as much as she would like.

Unfortunately, work was the farthest thing from her mind lately. The anniversary of her parents’ murder was nearing, and each year it left her feeling anxious, haunted, and on edge. On top of that annual nightmare, Mackenzie had been just all-around ill for over a week. Gordon had been great. Each day after work, he came over and made her homemade soups and stocked the fridge with ginger ale. He would spend the night and lend a hand by cleaning up and doing her laundry. Then they would cuddle on the couch and watch TV. Even as sick as she was, Mackenzie enjoyed the times when she could fall asleep in his arms on the couch.

Mackenzie shot out of bed and into the washroom, where she dropped to her knees, hugging the bowl and vomiting. It was not long before Gordon stood beside her. Sitting down on the edge of the tub, he swept her long hair up and out of her way to keep it clean. “You’ve been sick for a long time,” he commented.

“It is flu season,” she reminded him. People always got sick when the weather turned cold.

“I guess, but maybe a doctor could give you something to help settle your stomach and help you sleep better. If you could sleep better, you might recover faster. The body heals itself faster if you can sleep,” she just groaned at his comment. “What if I take the day off? I can drive you to the doctor.”

“There is no need. I can drive myself.”

“Are you sure,” he asked.

Mackenzie smiled up at him weakly. “I’m a big girl; I can tie my own shoes and everything.”

He grinned at her. “Alright. Do you want me to make you some coffee before I leave?”

She frowned. “I don’t think I could keep it down.”

“You are going to go to the doctor, right?”

“Yes.”

“Promise?”

“Yes,” she laughed, getting up. “You nag worse than a woman.”

“I nag because I care,” he said as they left the washroom.

“I think I’m just going to try and get a little more sleep,” she said, crawling back into bed. “I’ll go when I get up,” she promised.

Gordon took hold of the blanket and pulled it up around her tucking her in, so she was nice and cozy, then he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “I’ll see you tonight,” she listened to him leave as she dozed off once more.

As promised, when she woke from her nap, Mackenzie showered and got dressed. Then she drove herself to the doctor’s office, where she had to wait an hour to been seen. As she sat in the uncomfortable chairs in the packed waiting room watching as a mother with three sick young children, do her best to entertain them in the agonizingly long wait. She was playing a cute little game she called “What am I?” Where she would give her children three clues as to what she was thinking of, and they had to guess what it was. The winner of each round got to start the next. It was extremely cute, and even some of the other waiting patents had joined in the game. Mackenzie could not help but think it was an ingenious way to keep bored children from going stir-crazy.

When she was finally called, Mackenzie followed the nurse to a private room where she sat and looked at the medical posters on the wall. One was an example of COPD, another of sleep apnea, and a third appeared to be colon cancer. There were also signs posted about the fees the doctor charged for filling out forms, doctor's notes, and copying or transfers of files. Mackenzie was so bored as she wanted she read each wall three times before the doctor finally came in.

He asked her why she had come, and she told him. He asked the usual questions then told her he wished to rule things out, so he was sending her for some lab work. Complete blood work and a urinalysis. He told her to go next door to the lab and get it done, then to come back tomorrow for the results. Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

She spent the next two hours waiting in the lab. Once she completed her testing, she went home to nap again. She had no idea how long she had been asleep when her phone rang. She reached for it and answered. “Hello?”

“Mackenzie Starr?”

“Speaking.”

“I’m calling from Dr. Chow’s Office. The doctor would like you to come back in. Can you be here in an hour?”

“Will I have to wait?”

“No, we will fast-track you.”

Mackenzie became concerned. If they were willing to fast-track her, then something must be serious.

“I’ll be there,” she promised, hanging up. Mackenzie was scared, so she called Gordon and asked if he could close up early and go with her; she did not want to go alone. When he heard the fear in her

voice, he promised to come right over.

As good as his word, Gordon was at her door in thirty minutes. Though they had not done the typical get-to-know-you conversations, Mackenzie had come to enjoy her time with Gordon and having him close made her feel safe. Over the last month, Mackenzie had grown attached to Gordon, and she often thought about having that in-depth talk he wanted to have weeks ago. Still, she did not want to lie to him, but she was not allowed to tell him the truth.

She had been in witness protection for so long. She could not tell him the truth, and she did not want him to fall for the lie. She was trapped in an imposable situation. They took Gordon's car to the doctor’s office. With the weather cooling, he had retired his bike until spring. Mackenzie enjoyed his car; it was a gorgeous Camaro, and it was just like new right off the lot. He certainly knew how to care for it. Not wanting to be sick in his cherry ride, she rolled down the window, hoping the fresh air would keep her from throwing up on the dashboard.

When they got to the office, the nurse walked them back into one of the private rooms. She sat up on the exam table while Gordon leaned against the walk next to the table. They did not wait long before Dr. Chow came in with a tablet in his hands. “Welcome back, Miss. Starr. We have your test results back, and I must say they are highly concerning.”

“Concerning?” Mackenzie asked.

“Yes.”

“Concerning how?” Gordon asked.

“Well, your blood work had uncovered some unusual cellular activity. For example, your white blood cell count is off the charts. We expect to see it elevated when fighting off an illness, but these levels are astronomical. The baby is fine, but….”

“Wait!” Gordon snapped. “Did you just say, baby?”

“Yes,” Dr. Chow said, looking at his file on the tablet. “I’d say, Miss. Starr is two to three weeks pregnant,” he then looked up at the shocked look on both their faces. “You didn’t know?”

“No. It’s not possible that she is pregnant,” Gordon stressed.

“He had a vasectomy,” Mackenzie explained Gordon’s confusion. “Is it possible to still get pregnant with a vasectomy?”

“It’s extremely rare, but it does happen. If the procedure was not done properly, it could fail. It is an oddity, but it is possible.”

“No, it is not possible!” Gordon snapped at the doctor. “It’s not possible that I got her pregnant. It’s just not,” Gordon then looked at her questioningly. “Who else have you been sleeping with?”

Mackenzie was shocked; he would suggest she was seeing more than him. “No one. Your stupid vasectomy must have failed.”

“It isn’t possible,” he was so certain he could not be the baby’s father.

“If I might finish,” Dr. Chow said. “As I said, your white blood cell count is way too high, and you have been producing a growth hormone-like I have never seen before. Honestly, I don’t even think there is a name for this hormone. Normally pregnant women produce a lot of human growth hormones to help build the baby, but this growth hormone that is surging through your body… it’s not human. I don’t know what it is,” Mackenzie saw the question and then a look of panic. He knew something they did not. “I would like to admit you to the hospital for further testing.”

“Is that necessary?” Mackenzie asked.

“No, it’s not,” Gordon answered for the doctor, and he took Mackenzie by the arm and helped her down off the exam table. “Thank you, doctor, but I think we will be fine. Come on, let’s go,” Gordon ushered Mackenzie out of the office and out to his car. They drove home, and Gordon never spoke. He just stared straight ahead with a freaked-out look in his eyes.

When they reached the apartment, Mackenzie wanted answers. “Don’t you think maybe I should have gone to the hospital?”

“You can’t go to a hospital, and you can’t go to any more doctors. Ever.”

“Why the hell not?” He looked anxious, like he did not know how to tell her what he knew. “Gordon. What are you not telling me?”

“I didn’t know it was possible. I didn’t think it was possible. This has never happened in the entire history of my kind. How is this even possible?” He seemed like he was still trying to wrap his mind around her being pregnant.”

“Not possible because of your vasectomy?” Gordon cringed with a guilty look on his face. “You did have a vasectomy, didn’t you?”

“No.”

“No!”

“I lied. I just didn’t want to wear a condom.”

“God damn it, Gordon!” She screamed.

“In my defence, I didn’t think this would happen. I didn’t even know it was possible.”

“You didn’t know unprotected sex led to pregnancy.”

“You don’t understand, Mackenzie. This has never happened ever. It shouldn’t be possible.”

“Why not?”

“Because we are not even the same species!” He yelled at her.

Mackenzie stared at him blankly. “What?”

He took a moment to compose himself before speaking once more. “You and I are not the same species. I’m not human, Mackenzie.”

She was not sure how to deal with what he said. “You’re not human?”

“No.”

“I see. What are you?” She had not thought he was the crazy kind, but right now, he sounded seriously mentally ill.

Gordon sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. “Ok. We don’t usually go tell humans about us, but given you are pregnant with… God knows what; I’m going to tell you the truth. Please don’t freak out. Ok, there is no easy way to say this. Do I’m just going to say it? I… am… a Lycanthrope.”

Mackenzie stared at him blankly. “What the hell is that?”

Gordon rolled his eyes. “Don’t you watch movies? Werewolf. I’m a werewolf.”

Mackenzie laughed, but when she realized he was serious, she became concerned. “Oh God, you really think you are a werewolf? You are the one that needs to be in a hospital because you are crazy. Gordon, werewolves are not real. They were made up by Hollywood.”

“We are real. We are nothing like what Hollywood makes us out to be, but we are real.”

“No, they are not.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“I believe you believe.”

“Ok,” Gordon took a breath and looked right at her. Suddenly his amber eyes lit up like beacons in the night, he snarled, and she saw fangs as his face twisted into something horrifically inhuman. Mackenzie screamed with horror. It only lasted a few seconds, then Gordon’s face returned to normal. “It’s ok, Mackenzie; it’s just me,” he reached out for her, but she slapped him away and ran to the safety of her bedroom.

She slammed the door and locked it. Then she pushed her dresser along the floor in front of the door to barricade herself in. She backed up as far away from the door as she could get until her back hit the wall. She slid down and hugged her knees as she stared at the door with fear.

It was true. He was not human.

There was a knock on the door, and then she heard Gordon’s voice. “Mackenzie, please, don’t fear me. I won’t hurt you. Please come out, and let’s talk about this.”

Mackenzie’s hands folded over her belly. She was pregnant by a werewolf. Good Lord, what was growing inside her? Eventually, things on the other side of the door went quiet, and Mackenzie sat on the floor, trying to wrap her head around the information she now had. She did not know what to do. She was scared. She dropped her head in her hands and cried. Distraught by what she now knew, Mackenzie laid down on the floor in the fetal position and sobbed until she was so worn out that she fell asleep.