Chapter 215

Three weeks later Tori sat at her desk, cradling her head in her hands. She couldn’t ignore it anymore. She needed to see the doctor. Something wasn’t right. Their days had fallen into a normal – well, normal for them – routine. Her week in New Jersey had dealt with the most urgent needs of her new job. She felt that she had it under control, and Dorothea had lived up to her promise to keep Jon under control, so the pressure had been off there, she’d kept on top of Richie’s mail, and Heather had backed off and pretty much left them alone. She’d had so much free time that she’d decided to start the redecorating that she wanted to do. But it had never gotten passed the planning stages. She couldn’t seem to shake the lethargy that continued to drag at her. At first she’d blamed it on her hectic schedule over the last several months, and the emotional upheaval with Heather, but it wasn’t getting any better. One day two weeks before, she’d sat down on the couch in the living room to plan her afternoon, and fallen asleep. Then, last week, she’d been in the spare room across the hall from their bedroom, trying to decide how to decorate it, when she’d gone into their room to get something, looked at the bed and decided she had to lie down for just a few minutes. She’d awakened two hours later. She’d added a few pieces to their gym and gotten back to her usual workout routine, thinking that would help. It hadn’t. She’d taken to napping most afternoons. Luckily, Richie was gone most of the day working on a score for a movie, so he wasn’t around to see how tired she was and worry and fuss over her – or put a stop to their new morning activities. What had started out as a way for her to make up for falling asleep on him at night, had become a regular occurrence, whether they’d indulged the night before or not. She wasn’t sure why, but it seemed that ever since that incredible night in Hawaii, her body craved his whenever he was near. She smiled as the memories sent shivers through her body and had her glancing at the clock to see how long she had to wait until he would be home and they could indulge again.

With a sigh, she went over her symptoms in her head, knowing that the doctor would want to know. As she ran down the list, she frowned. She wasn’t a doctor, but she’d heard enough about what her sisters-in-law experienced, that everything pointed in the same direction. Could it be? She picked up the calendar sitting on the desk in front of her and started counting. She rechecked her figures three times, her heart beating faster each time. Don’t get your hopes up Tori. It could be any number of things. Her hand was shaking as she reached for the phone.

“Dr. Crandall’s office.”

“Hi. This is Tori Sambora and I’d like to make an appointment to see Dr. Crandall as soon as possible please.”

“ Well, we’ve just had a cancellation, so if you can be here in an hour, she can see you then. Will that work for you Mrs. Sambora?”

“That’s great. Thank you. I’ll see you then.”



It was a good thing that traffic was light on her way to the doctor’s office, because Tori’s mind definitely wasn’t on her driving. In fact, she couldn’t even remember the trip. The time she spent sitting in the waiting room seemed like hours, but was actually only about five minutes. The next five minutes waiting for the doctor was an eternity.

“Hello Tori. Congratulations on your wedding by the way. What can I do for you today?”

Tori quickly explained her symptoms and what she hoped it might be and watched the doctor’s face for any reaction.

Dr. Crandall nodded. “And when was your last period?”

“The second week of September, but I only stopped taking birth control on the 20th.”

“Any spotting at all?”

“No.”

Dr. Crandall nodded again. “Ok. We’ll take some blood and send it down to the lab for confirmation.” That done, she patted the examining table. “If you’ll get undressed, we’ll examine you and see what’s what.” With that, she left the room to ask her nurse to run the blood sample to the lab for testing and to ask the lab to put a rush on it.

Tori undressed and blew out a nervous breath as she settled on the table and waited for the doctor to return. The fact that the doctor wasn’t giving anything away wasn’t helping her nerves.

When the doctor returned she started poking and prodding Tori’s breasts and abdomen. “Any tenderness in your breasts?”

Tori frowned in thought. “Not really, just…” She blushed.

The doctor smiled. “Just an increased sensitivity when your husband touches them?” She guessed.

Tori nodded. “Yeah. A little.”

“Ok. I’m going to do an internal now.”

Tori nodded her understanding and tried to relax.

“Any nausea or dizziness?” Dr. Crandall probed a little deeper.

“No.” That was the one thing that made her doubt the possibility.

“Well, you might be one of the lucky ones, or it may come later.” She stepped back and pulled off her gloves. “You can get dressed. I’ll go check to see if the tests are back yet.”

Tori was pulling on her jeans when the doctor’s comments finally registered. Does that mean what I think it means? She sat down heavily in the chair. She cautioned herself again about jumping to conclusions. She wouldn’t believe it until the doctor came right out and said it. When the door opened, she looked up, all her hopes shining in her eyes.

Dr. Crandall smiled. “Congratulations Tori. You are indeed pregnant. It’s hard to tell at this point, but if I had to guess, I’d say about five weeks. Now, because of your age I’m going to have you come in more regularly than I normally would at this stage, and I want you to call me if you have any pain or spotting or if anything just doesn’t feel right.” She was a big believer in listening to a woman’s instincts when it came to the workings of her body. “Your iron is a little low which is making the tiredness worse. I’m going to give you a prescription for that and for prenatal vitamins.” She searched Tori’s face. “I know that you understand that a pregnancy at your age has increased risks. But you’re strong and healthy and I see nothing in your history or your family history that concerns me. I want you to go home and tell that handsome husband of yours that a new little rockstar is on the way and will make an appearance in June. I want you to celebrate and enjoy this.”

Tori nodded, not even aware of the tears running down her face. “Thank you. Thank you so much!”

Dr. Crandall gave her a hug. “Call me if you have any questions. Lisa will set up your next appointment.” She handed over the prescriptions and walked her out the door.