Finding Christina (Wild Rose #2) Read Online Free

you’ve been here a week. You were pregnant before your incident.”
    “Were? I’m not anymore?” Christina sighed in relief. “Well, that’s good, I guess.”
    “No, you are still very much pregnant. According to the ultrasound, about eleven weeks along.”
    Christina shook her head as she tried to piece together the remnants of her life. “I was most likely raped, I can’t remember who I am, I am HIV positive, and I am pregnant. Is there anything else?”
    Dr. Cotter squirmed on the edge of the bed, seeming to be uncomfortable. “Yes, there is something else. Regarding your blood work, Christina, there is something you should know.”
    “How bad could it be?”
    “Your CD4 count is really low. That is the test that shows your immune system. In patients we look at AIDS when it drops below two-hundred.”
    “So, what’s mine?”
    “One hundred and ninety.” Dr. Cotter stood from the edge of the bed and paced back and forth at the end of the bed. “It’s definitely not a new infection.”
    “What? You’re kidding me. This is not real. I feel okay. I mean, I should feel really bad, right?” Christina reached up to rub at her eyes, hoping it was all a bad dream. “Wake up, Christina, this isn’t real.”
    “It depends on the person. I wish I could tell you this was all a bad dream, Christina, I really do.”
    “I don’t even know why I would have HIV. Or why I would be pregnant. What does this mean for my baby?” Fear tinged her voice, as she realized the implications of being sick for the life she’d just found out she carried.
    “Well, we’re going to need to keep you here for a while until we can make sure you’re healthy enough for transport. We’re going to give you antibiotics to keep you from getting pneumonia, we’ll vaccinate you for the flu, and we will be deciding what the best course of treatment for you both is.”
    “I see. What do you mean transport?”
    “We’d be possibly looking at some kind of long term care until you could regain your memory and we know where you live, that sort of thing. I’m going to have a social worker come in to talk to you too. I am guaranteeing they will recommend some therapy for you. I know this is a lot to take in, Christina, but we will make it through this. Unless you would catch some kind of secondary infection while your immune system is down, I think you will do fine. Treatment for HIV will need to start soon, and it will reduce your viral load, which is pretty high, and offer the baby some protection.”
    “It being a lot to take in, is the statement of the century.” She quipped.
    “I’m going to get the medicines started and work on getting a social worker in to you.”
    “I’m hungry,” Christina muttered softly as the doctor jotted in the chart.
    “Sure, let’s see if we can get you something to eat.” As his hand gently patted her knee, a flicker of a memory shuddered through her consciousness, of a man with large, beefy hands gripping her leg. She opened her mouth to tell him, but Dr. Cotter was long gone.
    Shifting in the bed, Christina squeezed her eyes tightly together, pushing against the mental block. I’m sitting here with AIDS, I am pregnant, and I can’t even remember who I am! Remember, damn you! Frustrated tears prickled at the corners of her eyes and she buried her swollen face into her bandaged palms and wept.

Chapter Four
     
     
     
    Over the next week Christina worked with the kind, middle-aged, African American social worker named Hattie, and with each time they talked, more of her memories surfaced. Hattie had suggested she start writing in a journal, snippets of memories, thoughts, fears, and dreams. Hattie assured her over and over that an AIDS diagnosis wasn’t the end of the world, and that with medicine, there was hope for her to live a long life with her child.
    Christina struggled with trying to remember who she was and where her place was in this world. The unknown was scarier to her than the