Lindsay, her assistant, welcomed her as she entered. She never smiled but rushed to her office. She looked at her concerned but Nomatter didsn’t want to talk.

“Ma’am, you have…” she said and got back to her work.

Nomatter got angry when she found her office untidy, she rushed back furiously. Lindsay was with her earphones in her ears. She pulled them off angrily. One thing she hated was people who didn’t do their jobs.

“Why is my office not clean?” she shouted.

“Ma’am, I was just trying to tell you and you…” she spoke nervously.

“Shut up. I want it clean, you hear me? You better clean it yourself. Quickly…” she said loudly.

Lindsay removed herself from the table and hurried with a broom and mop in a bucket.

Nomatter sat in the waiting room, breathing deeply and holding her head with one hand. She put her legs on the table. Two of her cleaners walked in laughing. Mandisa and Sharon cleaned her premises but they were late today. Mandisa was short and light-skinned, Sharon was not that tall but also light-skinned. She looked at the time, it was past eight. The two cleaners were flabbergasted to see her angry face and they knew it was trouble.

“Oh, you decided to grace us now,” she stood up.

“Sorry boss, we told Lindsay we will be late. Traffic problems,” Mandisa said, looking down sadly.

“You are fired,” she sat back on the chair.

“Ma’am, we are sorry,” she said.

Lindsay walked in carrying the cleaning equipment. The two cleaners looked at Lindsay sadly and distressed.

“Did you tell her we will be late?” Mandisa asked confused.

“We are fired,” Sharon said crying.

“Eish, I am sorry. I don’t know why our boss is like this,” she said.

The two cleaners walked out but Lindsay shook her head and sat down. Patients entered the surgery. She helped them with files and would accompany them to the doctor individually. Nomatter was biting everyone with words. Lindsay could see she was not in a good space, if it weren’t for the booked patients she would have closed the door for the day. Nomatter needed to be calm and good, she thought, it’s going to be a long day. Nomatter left after the last patient and went straight home.

She woke up later nauseous and went to vomit. She only ate a salad before sleeping. She checked the time after coming from the bathroom, it was still early. She never woke up two hours after midnight.

Maybe it’s a stomach bug, she thought, I must get something from chemist, she sighed.

She slept back but her stomach rumbled till 6 a.m. She kept on vomiting. She still wanted to sleep but she had to go to work. She bathed and dressed up and went to work. The premises were clean but she hardly saw it. Lindsay greeted her. Lindsay had hired a cleaning company for a week.

“Hi Lindy,” she greeted.

“You don’t look good,” she said worriedly.

“I didn’t sleep. I am vomiting… What’s that smell?” she rushed to the bathroom.

Lindsay followed her and looked at her weird. She wanted to help.

“Ma’am, I think you are knocked up,” she said rubbing her back.

“What do you mean?” she asked, wiping her mouth with a tissue.

“You are pregnant. I used to be like that. The way you got angry yesterday, those are hormones,” she said sincerely.

“No. It can’t be,” she chuckled.

“Please test yourself. You are a doctor remember!” She said.

They walked to the reception and found many patients. Nomatter couldn’t take out what Lindsay said from her mind. She touched her belly and refused to agree to her point. She decided to test herself after seeing patients. She can only know the truth from the blood test. She needed to know.

***

Tell us: What do you think Nomatter will do if she’s pregnant?