It was early January in Colorado and all was calm, and it was still surprisingly warm outside.
Penny was in an upbeat mood for a Monday morning and was ready to begin her day when she suddenly felt ill. Wow that was unexpected she thought, as she lost her morning breakfast. What brought that on?
At 36, Penny had never been married but had a number of “long-term” boyfriends, more than she had wanted to count. She didn’t always know why the relationships had failed, but had went through another situation in recent weeks that had left her single again, yep 30’s and single. This time she knew why they had broken up, but little did she know, that this was the calm before the storm.
What Happened
Penny was tall with dirty blonde hair, great style, a nice figure and just a bit on the pudgy side. She was trying but really liked those desert drinks from Starbucks a little too much. She knew it. She didn’t see herself as a supermodel anyway, and didn’t care too much about her looks.
She had dated Rick for the last 10 months and thought that they were happy and the relationship stood a good chance at being a lasting one. They even went on vacation together to Maine to visit his family, where she thought she did well during the family audition. Okay, she felt as if she were auditioning for the role of future wife and family member during the trip. She thought she screen tested well and the audience was receptive.
Rick, 34, was above average height, about six feet, and average weight with short hair and a big attitude. He was a confident, happy go-lucky guy that most people enjoyed being around.
Although they were in a somewhat distant relationship, i.e., Rick lived and worked in Denver, CO, and Penny in Colorado Springs, CO, they tried hard to see each other every weekend. It was only about 75 miles between they, but with their work schedules it was difficult to meet daily, or sometimes regularly during the week. Rick didn’t mince words, he said the distance had killed the romance between them.
Penny had been through enough breakups to know how to deal with the heartbreak. She merely picked herself up and was ready to move forward. Coming from a tough and loving Dutch family she was well adjusted and had very good reasoning and coping mechanisms as well as close family. She was calm, cool and collected, and ready to restart her romance journey. She thought that going out this weekend to La Burla Bee, a combination Italian restaurant, cabaret and, dance club in her home town with her best friend would be just the ticket.
Trying to move on, but wait – oh no
It was finally Friday and although it was a tough week and she hadn’t felt very good, she was ready to mingle. She thought Christian, single and ready to mingle…What could be wrong with that? Let’s go!
Off they went for dinner followed by dancing. She ordered the Bruschetta, Gluten Free Spaghetti, and Tiramisu for desert. Couldn’t pass up the desert. Tami ordered the Crispy Baked Polenta Fries, Fettuccini Alfredo and Cheesecake. And the two ate like crazy.
Later she felt a little sick to her stomach, and chalked it up to her overindulgence. They chatted a bit about the collective romance failures and why things had ended again. Tami pushed Penny to talk about her break up with Rick and she relented. Penny let her know that Rick had been the one to ultimately call it off, but she had felt the distance between them was a lot more than she had bargained for. She said that she was getting over him, but still loved him. Just then she felt to urge to part her stomach with all of the great Italian fare.
Tami checked on her and then said, if I didn’t just witness all that you ate, I would think that you might be pregnant. Penny thought oh no, you didn’t just say that. She occasionally misses a period for whatever reason, but it was just a fact of her own anatomy, right? And this month was just more of the same?
Since she wasn’t feeling well, they decided to go home early and Tami stopped at the CVS on the way home and bought a Pregnancy Test and gave it to Penny. She convinced Penny to take it home and to call her later with the results.
Oh, No again
Penny took the test and had an “ah- ha” moment. Oh Crap, she thought. I can’t believe that I’m pregnant. She toiled over what to do and who to call to discuss it.
At some point she would have to call Rick, but opted to sit with her thoughts for the night. The next morning she was woken up by her cell phone ringing. She thought oh it’s probably Tami calling to pressure me about the test, so she let it go to Voice Mail without her looking at it. She got up and got ready for Church. She put on a nice dress, black pumps, and conservative suit coat, feeling that a little church would do her some good today.
On the way out the door, she went back and grabbed her phone off of the nightstand. She drove to Church and before she left her car, she looked at her phone and was surprised that it wasn’t Tami that had called as she had thought, it was a call from Rick that she had missed, and a voice mail. She immediately listened to the voice mail, and Rick’s message said that he needed to speak with her right away.
She opted to wait to call him back, since she wasn’t ready to deal with it at the moment. While sitting in the pew during the service, she then wondered if he had spoken to Tami.
She called Rick that night and had an awkward discussion about how each other was doing with the breakup. They hadn’t spoken in a couple of weeks, and he wasn’t his usual direct self. Since he was unnaturally beating around the bush, Penny took his usual position and asked him point blank why he was calling and what he needed to speak to her about. He was silent for a minute, and then asked her how she was feeling… I knew it, she thought. Tami had called him. Again she was direct and asked if he had spoken to Tami. He said “no.” “Are you sure?” she said, and he again said “no.”
He then waited and stumbled on the words and said that he had sort of a health scare. Oh again, she thought. Penny was flustered. He said a few more things, and then a word stood out that she didn’t expect, Syphilis. Ahhh… then she said, “what?” Her head hurt and started spinning.
He said you know, Syphilis, it’s a bacterial infection. She said that she had heard of it but didn’t really know what it was. She said she had to go and hung up on him, and immediately did some research. He tried to call her back but she didn’t answer.
Syphilis, a bacterial infection, commonly contracted and spread through sexual contact…with lots of different symptoms…
“Oh, no,” “oh gross,” she thought.” I’ve been feeling bad all week,” she said. Then reality hit her like a ton of bricks. I’m pregnant. Now this? Oh, no.
Penny read a story about the Maine CDC stating that they detected the first case of congenital syphilis in the state in nearly 30 years. She didn’t know exactly what that was so she kept digging into her research.
According to the CDC, “The case in Maine is significant as it indicates a breakdown in health care, because prenatal screening should have detected it. Cases of syphilis in the state of Maine and in the U.S. have increased over the past decade. But for Maine, rates increased by 405% in the state, nearly twice the national average, “
Per the CDC, “Last year, there were 112 cases reported in Maine. More than 20% were among women between the ages 15 and 44. Around 40% of babies born to those with untreated syphilis can be stillborn or die from the infection as a newborn or lead to other newborn/childhood illnesses. The state CDC however, says timely treatment of the infection in a pregnant person is 98% effective in preventing congenital syphilis.”
Now Penny was scared
Penny frantically, picked up the phone and called her doctor’s office and spoke directly with the nurse. The nurse assured her she was most likely pretty safe, and especially if they were to catch it early. They discussed the symptoms for which she could see that she had some but not all of them. The nurse scheduled her to come in the next morning, squeezing her in first thing in the morning.
Penny went through the exam and they first determined that she was not indeed pregnant. And then they did the screening for syphilis, and she was negative for that also. Praise the lord she said.
Relief after the storm
Penny called Rick back later that day and spilled the beans that she thought she was pregnant. She said that she was very concerned that if he had syphilis, that she might have it, and pass it on to the baby. Rick then said, he didn’t say that he had syphilis. He said it was his sister in Maine, and the health scare was for his family since they all had gathered there recently.
“Oh again,” she thought.
But how did he know to call her then she again thought. It turns that Tami never called him, and that it was merely a coincidence, and all in Penny’s head. Tami went home and slept in the next day and had forgot about the pregnancy test.
Penny then told Rick she missed him, and he said the same and asked if they could still see each other. They both agreed.
The following week Rick found a house and moved closer to Penny, and the two have been seeing each other ever since that day. For her illness, it turns out she was a little love sick and was just missing Rick, and because of it, she was probably just overeating to compensate for it.
