Chapter Text
"Ms Musume! Can I call you Anya? I thank you for your ongoing discretion regarding the Tulpar... incidents. Now, while I sympathise deeply with you, it would be in everyone's best interest if we kept this out of the courts and press, don't you agree?"
I sat in front of the CEO of Pony Express. I grimaced, then hesitantly nodded.
What more did I expect from them?
"Wonderful! Now, I understand you may hesitate to agree to this, so Pony Express is prepared to offer you a 5 million dollar settlement, if you agree to sign a non-disclosure agreement," the balding man explained. He had the most obvious fake smile plastered on his face.
5 million dollars to keep my mouth shut... Shit, it's not like I could handle a court case. That should cover...
"Deal. Deposit 5 million in my account and I'll sign whatever you want." I sighed.
I really shouldn't take this deal... Going to the police would be the "right" thing to do, whatever that means anymore. But fuck it, I just wanna be done with this.
"Wonderful! I'll send someone with a copy of the deposit receipt and the forms!"
God, how can someone sound so cheery when covering up a rape?
I nodded and stood up. As I reached the door, the man called out to me.
"Oh, and Anya? If you break the NDA, I will bury you in legal fees that'll drain all the money Pony Express is giving you," he said, finally letting the mask slip.
I shivered as I shut the door behind me.
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"Anya Musume?" the mousy lady holding a clipboard called out. I stood up and followed her to the exam room.
"Alright, first, I need to take your blood pressure. Can you- oh! You're on top of it!"
She wrapped the cuff aroundy arm. I watched the number balance out to 130/85 and winced. "Yikes," I mumbled.
The nurse looked at me curiously. "Have you had blood pressure problems in the past?"
"Uh... No, I've just been stressed recently. I uh... Was a nurse. Sort of," I hesitantly replied.
"Oh! Well, hopefully we can take at least one stressor away for you, yeah?" she smiled warmly.
"Right..." I murmured.
The nurse left, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
Is this really what you want? It's a horrible situation, but maybe you could do better than your parents did... I am young though, so I can always try when I'm ready for it, and they won't have to live knowing their dad is a...
"Anya! I'm Dr Jones, I'll be doing your procedure today. Before that, we will need to do some bloodwork and an ultrasound, alright?"
She seems nice... I thought. I nodded.
As she prepped me for bloodwork, I watched her. God, I wish I could be like her... Put together, in the career I want... And not a failure who got raped in space. Could they even prosecute him? Is space out of their jurisdiction?
I winced as she stuck the needle in my arm. She rested her arm on my shoulder. "It's okay, Anya. This won't take very long."
"I know," I muttered.
She left, returning several minutes later with an ultrasound machine.
I sighed and laid down, then pulled up my shirt. She rolled the machine over and grabbed the gel. I shivered as she spread it on my stomach.
"You alright?"
I nodded. "Yeah, it's just a little cold."
She smiled and inspected the screen. "Alright, you're doing great. Do you want to see, or would you rather me go get your blood results?"
I hesitated. "Um... No, just get my tests."
She nodded. "Alright then! I'll be back in a few minutes."
I thought about Tulpar as I waited for her to return.
Jimmy really crashed the ship, because of this? Why'd he need to bring everyone else into it? It would've been better for everyone if he just killed me instead...
I got up and paced in circles until Dr Jones got back. She came in and frowned. "Anya? What's wrong?"
I sat down and sighed. "I uh... Can't really talk about it. Signed an NDA."
She crossed her arms. "Well HIPPA laws apply to anything you say in here. And as a woman, I wouldn't tell anyone whatever you told me."
I hesitated. "Well uh... Hypothetically... Something really bad happened, and now that I'm trying to fix the... Results of what happened, I'm wishing everything went down differently."
She frowned. "Have you changed your mind about the abortion?"
I quickly shook my head. "No, no. I meant that I wish I wasn't even needing to think about it. Hypothetically."
"Right... Well, the blood tests and ultrasound looked fine, so if you're ready, I can begin."
"Uh... Yeah."
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After the... Procedure, I sat in the room, drinking some water. Dr Jones came back in.
"Hey, Anya, how are you feeling?"
I shrugged. I'm feeling fucking great. Everyone loves getting an abortion because their coworker assaulted them in space! I thought.
"It's common to feel a little weird. Regardless of if they want kids or not, most people feel a little sad. Is there anything you need?"
"Uh... Could I possibly have some chips or something?"
She smiled. "Well... I'm supposed to offer crackers or a fruit cup, but as long as you don't tell anyone, I can get you something from the break room vending machine."
I smiled back. This time, my smile was a lot less fake. Not quite real, but getting there.
She left, returning a few minutes later with a bag of potato chips. She handed them to me. "If you need anything else, let me know. A nurse should be by soon with paperwork, then you can leave whenever you're ready."
Once I got out of the clinic, I walked down a few blocks and went to a shitty dive bar, in an area I generally try to avoid. But I didn't really care, I just really needed a drink.