46-Fainting Zuri

**Saviera's POV**

Daveed and I drop Zuri off at work because her car is still at the apartment. This morning I called the psychiatrist and set up an appointment for next Monday, so hopefully, I get the help I need and make progress soon. Daveed has to go to work for his last day today, so I'm going with him and hanging out in his office. Even though he put in a two-week notice, the semester is over after today and the next one won't start until after his two weeks is up anyway. I think it's time for me to start looking for a job now. Working at the bar again isn't an option because I don't think my anxiety will allow it. I can't keep sitting around and living in fear though. I need to drive again and run errands without depending on someone else to take me.
He hands out the finals for the students and I'm sitting in his office bored out of my mind. I see a pencil on his desk and suddenly feel like doodling, so I look for some paper. He doesn't have a printer in here, so maybe there's a notebook or something I can use. I open a little drawer and see some files on the top, but there's a notebook under them. When I pick up the notebook, I notice a picture beneath it.
It's Daveed and Isabella at Disney World, looking into each other's eyes with huge smiles on their faces. They both look so madly in love that it makes my stomach turn. Why does he still have this on his desk? I take a deep breath and remind myself that this was from another time in his life that doesn't exist anymore. The way he looked at her this morning was nothing like the way he's looking at her in this picture. I tuck it back where it was and open the notebook to start drawing. The longer I sit here, the more I feel like I invaded his privacy by opening his desk drawer. It's as if I saw something that was not meant for me to see. I shake off the feeling and act like I didn't see the picture. His class finally ended and thankfully it was the only one he had for the day.
"Hey, baby. Are you hungry?" Daveed comes into his office and starts packing up the rest of his personal belongings.
"I'm always hungry, I just don't know what I want." I kind of don't have an appetite at the moment.
"Okay. We can do pizza or we can cook something at home if you'd like that instead. Maybe something more healthy?" I like that idea. We've been eating out and ordering delivery a lot recently for convenience. He starts opening drawers and reaches the one with the picture. He sorts through the files and throws them away. When he reaches back into the drawer, he pulls out the picture and makes a face.
"I forgot this was in there. I don't really use that drawer." Then pitches the picture into the trash.
"When did you put it in there?" I ask.
"I'd say it's been at least a year. Maybe even more. That's the drawer where I just stash things that I have no use for. I must have put the picture in there at the time because a part of me still held on to her. Eventually, that feeling faded and I forgot about putting it in there." I realize I was being childish for having any kind of jealousy when I saw the picture. He's moved on.
"So, about that food. Let's cook something at home." I decided to change the topic and he gave me a small grin.
"I like the sound of you calling it home." He makes me melt.

**Zuri's POV**

**One month later**

This last month has been the best month of my life. I've learned that you can't make rash decisions while hurting because sometimes our own emotions can fool us. I think back at the time I spent with Rory and I'm not going to lie, he's so sexy and the sex felt great, but it was the lust that I felt for him while also being hurt that made me cling to him so much. I nearly believed I was in love with him and almost convinced myself that Sav and I were nothing more than best friends. I was out of my ever-loving mind until I had the last therapy session with the club psychiatrist. He helped me see things that I was refusing to see and didn't have a biased bone in his body. I can't appreciate him enough for giving me the genuine help that I needed. He said, "As a psychiatrist, I can't tell you what to do. But as a friend? I'm going to tell you that you need to face your true feelings and stop being so afraid of this emotion you have for Daveed. Maybe loving him wasn't a part of your plan, but sometimes things don't work out the way we plan it. As a friend of Rory's, I think you shouldn't keep dragging him along and using him to mask what you feel just because it's a more convenient route. He loves hard and I think it should be done before he gets any more invested."
Now, I can proudly say that I am so deep in love with both Sav and Daveed. Isabella removed herself from the mortgage the day after she found out Sav was pregnant and left to stay with her friend. Sav is about ten weeks along now, but still no baby bump. I can't wait to feel the baby move and see her waddle around.
I look at the time on my phone and it's only seven in the morning. Daveed and Sav are asleep on the edges of the bed while I'm taking up the whole middle part. We quickly learned that for some reason, we sleep better with me in the middle. They love to sleep on the edge of the bed and I hate it, so this is how we do it now. Sav has another baby appointment at ten o'clock this morning, so I set my alarm to go off in an hour so I can go back to sleep. I'm extra tired this morning, which is probably because of the things Sav and Daveed did to my body last night. Those two can put a woman to sleep by themselves, but together? Mind-blowing.
By nine-thirty, we're freshly showered, dressed, and out the door. I'm taking another half day at work today and staying until we close the office so that I don't miss her appointment, but the more the day progresses, the worse I start to feel. My head ached a little this morning, but by the time we got to the doctor's office, it turned into a full-blown migraine. Daveed asked me if I was feeling okay, so I told him I just had a small headache. I should have taken something before we left the house. We were sitting in the waiting room for about five minutes and Dr. Ramirez called us back to an examination room. As soon as I stood up from my chair, everything went black.
My eyes are closed, but I hear beeping and I know I'm lying down in a hospital bed. I move my head and feel a little better, but everything seems fuzzy.
"Zuri? Are you awake?" I open my eyes to see Sav with red, puffy eyes looking scared to death.
"I'm awake," I whisper and squeeze her hand. I notice an IV in my arm, I must have been dehydrated. "Where's Daveed?"
"He just went to the vending machines to get drinks and snacks. God, Zuri you scared the shit out of us. How long were you feeling sick?" She asked.
"Not long. I've been tired recently, but the headaches just started today. We were already at the doctor's office by the time it got really bad. How long have we been here?"
"It's three o'clock now, so about five hours. Don't worry about that, just get as much rest as you need." Five hours! I don't even want to go back to sleep. And I need to call Doctor Drew.
"I need to call Doctor Drew. I'm not tired now, just feeling a little weak. Has the doctor been in here to give any answers yet?" Daveed comes into the room and looks so relieved to see me awake. He cracks open a bottle of water and asks if I was thirsty. My mouth is super dry, so I gratefully take it and chug.
"Don't worry, I already called him and he's giving you some paid time off until you feel ready to work. And yes, the doctor's nurse took blood samples and ran some tests. The doctor said you're severely anemic and we will have to pick up two prescribed vitamins for you to take every day." Sav answered. Anemia? Do people just randomly become anemic overnight or am I just special? And again, I have the world's best boss.
"Two vitamins a day? So one for Iron. What's the other?" It's probably vitamin C to help my body absorb the iron. I guess I should have thought about that before I asked.
"The other is a prenatal vitamin." A big smile forms on her face and I look from her to Daveed, who also has a huge smile. He walks to the other side of the room and comes back with a single yellow rose and a pair of tiny Winnie the Pooh baby slippers.
"Congratulations, mommy." Daveed softly kisses my lips. My heart swells and my eyes water. Sav leans in and kisses my temple while still holding my hand. I'm going to be a mommy.