“Don’t beat yourself up for trying.”
“Thanks.” Libby hugged her knees. “Thing is, even in my darkest times, when I hated Nick and I didn’t want him to touch me, it wasn’t the intimacy of sex I missed the most. It was sleeping in the same bed. You know, feet and legs entwined and the weight of his arms wrapped around me, keeping me warm and safe.”
Alice made an odd sound and quickly turned her head, staring out to sea.
“You okay?”
Alice sniffed. “I miss that so much.”
“I thought you and Dan—”
“That’s just sex! Rule Four is no snuggling allowed.”
Libby hurt for Alice. “Keep dating. Like you say, it’s a numbers game and eventually you’ll meet someone.”
“The one guy I fell for makes Nick look like a saint.” Alice’s voice thickened. “And now I’m never going to find anyone, because the tea leaves and the tarot cards—”
“Stop right there!” Libby hated this sort of nonsense and she hated it even more for upsetting her twin. “Alice Hunter, there’s no science behind tarot cards or tea leaf readings. Those people listen and ask you questions based on what you say and what you need to hear.”
Alice bristled. “Explain this then. I didn’t tell Tansy Donovan I was sick, because I didn’t know. But she predicted this months ago. Anyway, why would I want to be told I was sick!”
“Sick?” Libby scanned her twin’s healthy complexion. “You’re not sick. What are you talking about?”
Alice pulled some creased papers out of her bag and shoved them at her. “I’ve got … p-p-premature ovarian insuff—My eggs are stuffed! I can’t ever have a b-baby.”
As Alice sobbed quietly, Libby’s gaze frantically sought the three most important results on the page. She rechecked them—the high follicle stimulating hormone level, the low estradiol and the normal thyroid function. Her heart sank.
“Oh, Alice. I’m so sorry. I—” Her eyes landed on Alice’s blood type. “Hang on. This is wrong. It says here you’re B positive.”
Alice blew her nose. “Is that bad too?”
“No, it’s just wrong.”
“How do you know?”
“Honestly, Alice! How do you not remember your blood group?”
“Honestly, Libby! How do you not remember that cerise is reddish pink? Oh, right, it’s because it’s not important to you. I don’t need to know my blood group.”
Libby didn’t agree, but for the sake of not arguing she got to the point. “I’m A positive and so are Mom and Dad. It means you can’t be B positive.”
Alice’s hand shot out and gripped Libby’s wrist. “Are you saying these aren’t my test results?”
“No. I’m saying sometimes mistakes are made. Keying in errors. Maybe the lab technician got distracted and typed in the wrong blood group. And if that happened, we’re going to have to report it, because if you’d been about to get a blood transfusion, a mistake like this could kill you.”
“They must be someone else’s results. I told Lacey Chu I still get periods,” Alice said triumphantly. “So, what do I do? Last time it took ages to get a second appointment with her.”
“I’ll write you a slip for the same tests.”
Alice was already scrambling to her feet. “Can you do it now? Please?”
Libby checked the time. “I’ve got my bag in the car so I’ll take your blood and phone the courier. You’ll just have enough time to catch him.”
“Thank you! When will you get the results?”
“Usually by this time tomorrow. I’ll call you.”
“It will be good news,” Alice said firmly. Defiantly.
“Al, wait. Don’t get your hopes up when the only mistake might be your blood type.”
But it was too late. Alice’s eyes shone and Libby could tell she was back chasing rainbows and unicorns like only Alice could.
Alice glanced at the kitchen clock for the tenth time in thirty minutes as if looking forced the hands to move faster. She’d called the clinic at two o’clock, but Penny said she didn’t have the results and Libby would call. Three hours had crawled by since then. Alice understood her twin’s job could go from mundane to high octane in a second, but why did there have to be an emergency today?
“That’s right, Alice, it’s all about you,” she told McDougall and a loudly meowing Tubby. Both were mooching at her feet hoping for fallen treats from the kitchen counter.
She thought about Brutus, who needed the food but wouldn’t eat, and Dan’s fussy cat who ate only tuna. Neither of those pets exactly welcomed her into their homes. The night before, Dan’s cat had hissed at her. Granted, it hadn’t been a Thursday, but after Libby’s discovery of the wrong blood type, she’d gone to Dan’s seeking some celebratory sex. Not that she’d told him the reason. And he hadn’t asked.
Dan not asking suited her perfectly.
The few times she’d experienced a hot flash in Dan’s company, he hadn’t seemed to notice, which was exactly as it should be. Exactly as she wanted it. Just thinking about the excruciating afternoon with Harry sent violent heat scudding all over her again. She tugged open the freezer, welcoming the cloud of icy cold. Lacey had given her a prescription for hormone replacement therapy patches, but she was yet to get it filled. Initially, she’d been lost in shock over Tim and her diagnosis but after Harry’s comment about HRT, she’d been planning on going to the pharmacy. Then Libby’s awesome news about the incorrect blood group had her delaying again. After all, she might not need HRT.
Then why do you have a bag of peas on your neck?
For some other reason. One that won’t affect my ability to have a baby.
Alice dropped the peas back into the drawer and closed the freezer. As horrible as it was that Harry had recognized the hot flash, she was grateful to him for showing her a fast way to halt them. Not that she’d ever tell him that. One didn’t talk about such things with the boss! She was still smarting about being paid to listen to Holly and advise on periods. At the
