Known
II
"Mariana?" She was on her phone, standing outside of Josue's room. Before I could say anything else she pushes open the door and waves me in.
It's a private room. A shade of light grey. The blinds are drawn. The only light comes from the overhead lamp above Josue's bed
He's lying down. Eyes closed. Bare-chested. Fingers interlaced. Reinaldo touches his left big toe through the blanket, which startles him.
"Hey lightweight. Boy, if you can't handle a cafe mocha, how am I going to introduce you to an espresso?"
"Funny. You've got jokes."
"What happened? You can't go half an hour without needing my help? You pregnant?"
"Bastard." They chuckle.
"I have no idea. I had every intention of going to the supermarket after leaving you, but as I was climbing the stairs out of the train station, the world began to spin. Before I could call Mariana, I passed out. A Good Samaritan picked up my phone, dialed for an ambulance and then called Mariana.
You and she are my emergency contacts. Your numbers are the only ones that can be called without having to unlock the phone. The person saw the tittle 'Wife' and called her.
Anyway, my blood pressure was checked, my temperature was taken, both seemed normal. Blood and urine samples were next. We're waiting on the results for those."
"Okay. Let's say for the sake of argument that you're not pregnant, what could it be? You're not diabetic so that rules out a low blood sugar episode-"
"We hope. Analyses are still pending."
"Right. You're only forty-eight. I'm going to guess that it's not a heart issue. Especially since you like to exercise."
"Thank you, doctor."
"Shut up. What if-"
"Here we go!"
"Shut up. What if you got abducted by aliens and they probed you and you really are carrying a being?"
"Then I'll name him after you. We'll call him Aldo for short."
More chuckling.
"Hon. The doctor's here." The door pops open. In enters Mariana accompanied by a woman and two men.
"Hello Mister Peralta. My name is Dr. Stevenson. You've already met my colleague, Doctor Sanjay and this is your nurse Mr. Alvarado."
Wow, she's gorgeous! Concentrate.
"... analyses show no significant abnormalities, so we're going to send you home. Doctor Sanjay will return with the necessary paperwork for your discharge. Before I go, however, let me ask you, have you been under stress lately or working unusually long work hours or having trouble sleeping?
"He hasn't. I put him to bed early enough that he gets his usual amount of sleep."
The doctor listened to Mariana, but kept looking at Josue.
The doctor's assistant and the technician glanced at each other.
Reinaldo looked to the drawn blinds, wishing that they were open, so that he didn't have to concentrate on what was going on in the room. He knew that if he, at that moment, had looked at Josue, that they would had laughed. He was sure that he would.
How shriveled does the doctor think I am after Mariana's comment just now? Josue wanted to climb under the covers.
"I don't have anything to recommend at this time, other than that you take your time throughout your day as you work on your tasks. Should this fainting spell happen again and your vitals remain normal, then I will refer you to a neurologist. Take care Mister Peralta."
She steps out. The two men stay behind. Mariana steps out to ask a few more questions of the doctor. When the door shuts, the doctor's assistant asks, "Is there any question, comment or concern on your mind, before I get you your discharge papers?"
"We're wondering if his fainting spell is due to his being pregnant."
Josue rolls his eyes. They all have a good laugh.