To the pharmacy

Plan B?!?! Candace didn't think she was fertile, and considered this a final indignity after all that had happened, but she felt that morning sickness - and any frowned-upon medical procedures to fix the results of morning sickness - would be much, much worse than the final nail in a well-nailed coffin of her dignity.

"Well, Mom, what does it say?"

"It says here that you'll need to take a dose tonight, another dose tomorrow, and a final dose the day after that. Then any possible conception will be blocked and you'll be home free."

This seemed like one of the easiest things to do for the entire day. Candace was just extremely grateful that David was clean - as a professional artist, he must have taken good care of his own body!

Mother and daughter walked through the halls mulling what the doctor said. Janice called her husband and told him the news; Gerald express relief, and told her he was waiting in the parking lot.

"Do you think this is covered by insurance?" Candace asked.

"Oh, you bet! If me delivering you was covered by State Farm, this little thing should be small potatoes to 'em!"

Candace chuckled, one of the few genuine laughs she had had in the past several hours. The two ladies gossiped about the news in their necks of the woods. Candace found respite in telling her mother the fall colors of Boston complementing its colonial architecture. She was glad to go to New England for her art, finding inspiration in Henry David Thoreau and being a frequent tourist to the Walden cottage. She gave her best speech about parking the car in Harvard yard for her laughing mother, who in turn relayed her information about local breweries opening up and offering possible employment for a post-graduation Candace.

The twosome finally exited the hospital and admired the late-afternoon sun setting and turning a bright orange. As they got in the car, Gerald looked quite concerned.

"What's the matter, honey?" Janice asked him

"That must have been a real thorough exam."

Candace looked down on herself as she was sitting down and saw her naked state! She then thought about the times it should have been obvious. She noticed in the hospital that quite a few eyes were on the duo- really, on her - and while there had been looky-loos on the way to the exam room there were a lot more coming back. More concerningly, even some of the doctors and nurses were ogling during their return. She even remembered the icy wind on her bare body that she had just exited, and kicked herself for not putting two and two together. Was she really getting this used to being naked?

"Oh my god, Mom, I forgot my clothes in the exam room!"

"Oh honey, I'm sorry that happened, but we'd need to go through the waiting room all over again to get them, and the pharmacy closes in an hour. I'll call them and have them deliver them back to us. Besides, you can get dressed with the stuff in your suitcase."

"Uhhh, yeah, about that... I accidentally brought back my bad suitcase and left everything in Boston."

"Oh, poor sweetie. Do you have anything in your backpack?"

"No," Candace looked down in shame.

Janice consoled her nude daughter, "that's okay, honey. We'll go to the pharmacy and you can stay in the car while I go get your prescription."

"Okay," Candace pouted, curling herself in a fetal ball in the backseat while Gerald drove them to the nearest pharmacy.