Rylee woke up at 7:00 am feeling awful, so much so, that she rolled out of bed and immediately ran to the bathroom to empty her stomach.

She sat on the floor, leaning next to the tub, trying to let her body settle. This was the third day in a row that she woke up feeling like this.

She would be lying to herself if she said it wasn't concerning. She tried to think through other symptoms she had been experiencing over the past few days.

She's had occasional abdominal pain, nausea, her appetite was kind of out the window.

What if....no...but...Whens the last time I had it. A month ago? A month and a half?

She stood up quickly, causing her nausea to practically slap her in the face. After a moment, she leaned over the sink and grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste, trying to take the awful taste from her mouth.

Soon enough she got dressed and went out the door. She decided to walk down a few blocks to the corner store and grabbed what she needed and quickly scurried home.

She was back in her bathroom, holding the test in her hand, the timer on the sink about to beep. She bounced her leg anxiously, but tried to keep herself calm. She jumped when her timer started to chime and she tapped her phone with her hand to silence it.

She took a deep breath and flipped the test over. Her leg stopped bouncing and her mouth was agape, unable to form words.

She reached for her phone and hit redial. The phone rang twice when she heard the person on the other end of the line.

"Hey Ry, what's up?"

"Lex."

"What's wrong?"

"Please come over." Rylee said quickly, trying to keep her emotions in check.

"I'll be there in ten." Alexa said as she hung up without asking why or even saying goodbye.

——————————

"False positives happen... did you get more than one test?"

"No, but....I've had so many symptoms that make sense."

"Well, what if we go to the doctors today to get an official answer?"

Rylee didn't think about that, she nodded. "Good idea. Good idea. Yeah."

Rylee took out her phone and typed in the number for her doctor's office. Luckily enough, they had a cancellation for noon and asked if she could come in then, to which she immediately agreed, thanking them before hanging up.

"They can get me in at noon today..."

"That's great," Alexa said as she looked at her phone screen, "so in an hour?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess so."

Rylee seemed like she was just going through the motions for the next half hour. She couldn't get her mind off of all of her emotions, plus to top it off her stomach was hurting and her nausea was kicking up.

Once the time came, Alexa went with Rylee to her appointment for moral support. They sat together in two chairs in a back room of the doctors office, waiting silently for someone to walk in.

"Hello Rylee, and?" Rylee's doctor, Dr. Williams, said.

"Alexa." She said, shaking Dr. Williams hand.

"Hi, nice to meet you, so what brings you in Rylee?" Dr. Williams said as she looked over her chart.

"I, um, took a pregnancy test this morning that came up positive. And have had some symptoms that all line up with that, but I just want to be sure." Rylee was practically shaking with nerves.

"Alrighty, We'll do a few of our own tests and see what's going on then, shall we?"

Rylee nodded.

Over the next half hour, Dr. Williams did urine and blood tests and now Rylee was laying on an exam table, being poked and prodded by the doctor. She was fine mostly everywhere, except when Dr. Williams put pressure on her lower stomach. Rylee winced at the pressure and it made Dr. Williams pause.

"Rylee. This may sound crazy. And we'll let the blood tests confirm it, but I don't think you're pregnant."

Rylee and Alexa both looked at her, confused.

"I think you may have appendicitis."

Before Rylee could ask any questions, Dr. Williams continued, "Appendicitis definitely causes pain in the abdomen, but also includes vomiting, nausea, loss of appetite..."

Rylee sat up, wincing slightly at the pain.

"Appendicitis can also mess with your hormone balance a bit, as well as your period. You also haven't been on your birth control terribly long which can effect it as well. We won't have the blood work or urinalysis back for another hour or so, but I'd like you to stay here. If it is appendicitis and you've been feeling as sick as long as you say you have, I want to get you into surgery as soon as possible.

Rylee was speechless. Just this morning her world was turning upside down and now she was possibly about to have surgery? She felt like she was going to be sick. No, she was actually going to be sick. Alexa, could read Rylee like the back of her hand and immediately saw the look on her face. She grabbed the small empty garbage can and Rylee immediately threw up into it as she passed it to her.

Dr. Williams looked at her with a slight frown, "Don't worry honey, we'll get this all figured out." She patted her leg and quickly left the room turning towards the lab.

Two agonizingly long hours later, Dr. Williams returned, paperwork in hand. She took a seat on the stool next to her computer and quickly read through the numbers and information, Rylee and Alexa trying to be as patient as possible.

"Okay. You are indeed not pregnant. And your white blood cell count is high, which shows an infection. That doesn't always necessarily confirm appendicitis. So, we're going to have you come down the hall for a CT scan just to be sure and after that, we'll have our answer in ten minutes. I would've had you go back for the CT scan sooner but we try to avoid doing them during pregnancies. So there were a handful of factors to rule out first."

Dr. Williams helped Rylee down off the exam table and they all walked back to the CT scanning area where Rylee was prepped and just like that, she was done. Rylee and Alexa were escorted back to the room they had just been in.

Now they waited...yet again. Rylee realized today how much of life is just full of waiting, and waiting, and waiting.

About fifteen minutes later, Dr. Williams returned. She slid the CT scans into the light board on the wall and grabbed a red dry erase marker, circling a small dark spot on the scan.

"This is your appendix, and this," Dr. Williams circled another spot on a different scan, "is what an appendix should look like. You my dear, do indeed, have appendicitis."

"So our next step should be to get you in to see Dr. Lauren Bailey over at Bellevue to get it removed as soon as possible. We can have an ambulance transport you just in case since you have had symptoms for so long."

This was all still a whirlwind for Rylee. She just nodded and Dr. Williams got on the line with the nearest ambulance depot as well as contacting Bellevue hospital.

Alexa took hold of Rylee's hand, giving her a comforting squeeze. While they waited, Rylee gave Alexa the keys to Sebastian's car. She was going to drive behind the ambulance and meet her there. She was also going to call Sebastian for her.

Ten minutes later, Rylee was being loaded into the back of an ambulance and Alexa was getting into the car, ready to follow.

——————————

Over in Los Angeles, it was about noon and Sebastian was sitting in a green room with Anthony and Chris, killing some time before their next interview. They had already done three so far and were itching for a real break.

Sebastian's phone vibrated in his pocket and as he pulled it out he saw Alexa's name on the screen.

"Hey Lex, what's goin' on?"

Chris perked up at his girlfriends name, sending Sebastian a confused look. He checked his phone to make sure he didn't miss any messages or calls from her.

"Hey Sebastian. Um. No need to panic."

"Yeah that's always a great way to start a conversation but continue." Sebastian said sarcastically, but was immediately wracked with nerves none the less.

"Rylee is currently on the way to Bellevue - Let me finish." She said quickly because she knew he was going to be in a panic. "Here's the whole story."

She went through it all. How she felt awful the last few days, how she thought she may be pregnant, how she had a positive at home test, the doctor visit, tests, and scans. And now how she was currently behind the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

"Appendicitis." Sebastian repeated, making sure he heard right. Chris and Anthony were both listening now.

"Yes."

"So she's not-"

"No, Sebastian, she's not pregnant."

"Okay...Wh-what can I do?" He was nervous again. He was literally on the other side of the fucking country.

"She'll be okay. Dr. Williams said they would do the appendectomy laparoscopically so she honestly shouldn't even have that much down time. An overnight in the hospital and she'll be back at it in like three or four days."

"Lex...I've been gone for a week." Sebastian stated with a chuckle, pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezed shut. He had to try to make himself laugh about it so he didn't freak out.

"Sebastian. I know." Alexa chuckled in return. "She's an attention whore, what do you expect?"

That was what finally made Sebastian actually laugh, especially since Rylee was so the opposite of attention seeking.

"Ah, thanks for that," Sebastian finished laughing, "and thanks for, yet again, always being there for our girl."

"Always, always. Now, we just pulled up and I've gotta find somewhere to park in this god awful lot. I'll keep you updated through the afternoon."

"Thanks Alexa. Bye."

"Bye!"

Sebastian hit end and ran both his hands through his short hair, gripping it tightly, which the makeup and hair people will love him for.

"What's going on, man?" Anthony asked quizzically.

Sebastian recalled the large majority of the phone call and what Alexa said out loud for both Anthony and Chris. He did leave out the pregnancy bits though. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like he should.

"That girl just can't catch a break, huh?"

"No, not at all." Sebastian sighed. He absolutely hated that he wasn't there with her right now.

"Do you think-" Sebastian didn't even have to finish his thought, Chris and Anthony already knew where he was going with it.

"Yes, I think. Call him and let him know. We can handle the rest of today's interviews. Go."

Sebastian stood up and walked out of the room into an empty hallway, "Hey Kevin, yeah. No, the interviews are going great...Um. I just got a call that Rylee's going into emergency surgery...yeah I know she can never catch a break...Chris and Anthony said they've got the rest of today handled...thank you so much Kev...yep I'll let her know...yeah...I'll fly back tomorrow night...thanks again Kevin...alright...bye."

He ran down the hall and out the front door, quickly waving down a taxi, which took him to LAX.

He was ecstatic that when he got into the airport, there was a flight leaving in the next half hour, a straight shot to New York City, almost like fate. He bought the ticket and with no luggage to check or worry about, he was on the plane in minutes.

The flight was around five and a half hours and it was about to be the longest five and a half hours of his life. Waiting. And waiting.