41-Doctor Ramirez

**Saviera's POV**

Doctor Ramirez comes into the room with a nurse and shakes our hands. She isn't my regular doctor that I see for annual exams. She has much better reviews and ratings than my old doctor when it comes to pregnancies and deliveries, so I decided to switch. She's in her mid thirties probably and seems really nice. The nurse looks like she's just observing. Maybe she's a student or something.
"Hi, I'm Doctor Ramirez. How are you all doing today?" She greeted. Zuri and Daveed both said "good" at the same time and Doctor Ramirez looked at me. "And how is mom feeling? Any morning sickness?"
"I'm actually really good. I had morning sickness at first, but now I only get nauseous occasionally or when I smell something that doesn't sit right with me." I'm so glad I don't feel as bad as I did at first. Maybe the stress made it so bad at the time and it's gotten better recently because I've been less worried.
"That's good. If you need anything for the nausea, just let me know and we can go over options to help relieve that." She sits at her computer and asks me a bunch of questions about my body and health. If I smoke or drink, any past STDs, disabilities, what my diet consists of. That kind of stuff. She then asked Zuri and Daveed to step out of the room for more confidential questions. They both seemed confused, but they left the room.
"Now I need to ask questions about your home life. Do you feel safe at home?" She asked. I look past her and see the same question on her screen, so I know it's something she asks all of her patience.
"Yeah. That's actually where I feel the safest." She types my response on her computer. She then asks if I am or have been abused mentally, physically or verbally not only by those within my home, but outside of my home. My mind instantly goes to Rhett and Ethan and I feel my eyes water. It wasn't technically abuse, but it was traumatic and things could have gone so different. It's impossible to forget just how close death was that day.
"I've never been abused in my relationships or by family, but I did go through something really traumatic recently. I get nightmares and I'm too scared to leave the house by myself and I'm not comfortable driving either." She asked what happened and I told her the whole story.
"I'm glad you're talking about this. Your mental health is just as important as anything else. Without a healthy mind, your body and baby could be effected. I'm going to refer you to a psychiatrist so that you can get the help you need. It isn't within my scope of practice to diagnose things like PTSD or other trauma related issues, but I do think this is what you should do." She writes down the name and number of the psychiatrist and hands it to me.
"Thank you. You're right, this is probably for the best." I respond. We wrap up that part of the questions and she tells me to get completely undressed and put on a gown. When I finished, she asked if I wanted Daveed and Zuri to be in here for the rest of the appointment , so I told her yes and they all come back in. She checks my vitals and logs it into the computer.
"First I'm going examine your body and make sure your breasts are free of any abnormal lumps. I need you to sit up nice and straight for me and lift your arms out to the sides." She put on her gloves and checked from my jaw line, shoulders, chest and armpits.
"Everything feels fine. Go ahead and lie back, put your feet here." She pulls out the stirrups for me to use and shines a light where she will need it. "I need you to let your knees fall open and relax your body. I'm going to insert the speculum now. Breathe in." I breath in and to my surprise I'm not in a huge amount of pain. A little discomfort, yes but this is usually really painful. Where has this doctor been my whole life? "Now exhale. Very good. I'm doing a quick swab and now you are finished." My other doctor never talked me through the exams. I'm so much more comfortable with Doctor Ramirez. I'm so surprised at how painless that was.
"Wow, that usually really hurts, but you were so careful." I look at Zuri. "You need to switch to her. Our last doctor is way too rough."
"Yeah I'm amazed too." She responded.
"This is how it's supposed to be. It's my job to care for you, not harm you. I'm glad you feel save here. Now, to the fun stuff. Let's check on this baby." She gives me a smile and lowers me down. "Go ahead and get your regular clothes on and I will be back in shortly."
I get on my clothes and sit back up on the table.
"Are you feeling okay?" Daveed asks.
"Yeah I'm good. Just ready to see the baby." We hear a knock on the door and I tell the doctor she can come back in.
She wheels a machine in for the sonogram and tells me to lie back and show my stomach.
"The gel is not cold, so don't worry about that. I have this nifty warmer here." She points to a holder for the gel that apparently keeps gel warm.
"Woah, that really is nifty." Daveed said and the room fills with giggles.
Doctor Ramirez squirts it on my belly and quickly finds my little baby. "You're measuring only four weeks, which sounds accurate. The heart is strong and healthy as well. The BPM is one thirty-six." She goes on to show me where the placenta is and printed off pictures of the baby. He or she still looks like a little bean. She wipes up the gel and hands me the copies of the sonogram pictures.
"Thank you so much. I can't wait to send this to my parents and sister." I hold it close to my chest.
"You're welcome. If you have any concerns, do not hesitate to call. Do you have any questions?" She asked. I shook my head no and she walked us out. She had her receptionist schedule my next appointment and we left the building. I have plenty of time to ask about home birth and all that stuff. I'm just ready to go home.

**Zuri's POV**
I go into work and finish out my day. I'm only working a half day since I took the morning and afternoon off, but I'll be staying until we close. Thankfully the day went by fast because I'm a mess today. I think being with Sav and Daveed is the best choice for me. Yeah I feel a really strong attraction for Rory and he's such a great guy, but not being with Sav is killing me. I thought I was so certain when I decided to be with Rory, but it's not what I thought it was between us. I think I was hurting and he was filling a void in my heart. Walking away from Sav was the hardest thing I ever did, but I thought it was right at the time.
Rory will find someone who only has eyes for him and she's going to have all the time and energy in the world to focus on their relationship. That's what he truly wants and that's what he deserves. While sav was in the room with the doctor, Daveed and I stepped out and we had a pretty good talk. He told me that his mother said love is something that you choose. Love isn't always happiness and sometimes it's hard.
I get off of work and Rory is waiting outside the office.
"Hey. What're you doing here? I was about to come to the clubhouse to talk to you." I said.
"I wasn't sure if you were coming back today, so I wanted to catch you. And I wanted to apologize for this morning. It's not fair for me to get mad at you about Daveed. I just hate that you're not completely mine. I'll try to be more understanding from now on." Oh my gosh. Why is he so sweet? I wish he was an asshole so it would make this easier for me.
"Come sit with me. Let's talk." We walk over to the picnic table outside of the office and take a seat. "Rory, I don't think we should keep seeing each other. Like you said, you're competing with too many people for my heart and I can't let you ignore your own boundaries just to make things work. You should never settle for something that you aren't comfortable with. It's going to make you resent me later and I don't want that for us. Maybe we aren't really meant to be together. I know for sure that I can't lose Sav and I can't just be friends with her. I'm still in love with her and I don't see that changing."
"So what was this all for? I brought you into the clubhouse, introduced you to everyone and did everything in my power to make you happy." Now he's mad. I can tell he's trying to keep his cool.
"I'm sorry, Rory. I shouldn't have came on to you when I was still hurting over someone else. My judgment wasn't clear at the time." I can barely look him in the eye. I feel like such a bitch.
"So you're going to just be with Sav and let her and Deveed still be together or are you planning on being with them both again?" I was hoping he wouldn't ask this question. I don't want to cause issues with him and Daveed.
"Sav and Daveed are a package deal. If I'm with one, I'll be with the other too like before." He runs his hand down his face and stands up.
"Okay Zuri. Have a good life." He starts to get on his bike and I can feel the anger radiating off of him.
"Rory please ride safely. I know you're mad at me, but I don't want you to get hurt." I beg him.
"Don't worry about me. Go home." He speeds off and goes well over the speed limit.
What a mess. I need a drink.