Episode 35: Walgreens: Pregnancy Test & Prenatal Vitamins — 5,000 Core English Words

📖 This lesson is part of the comprehensive series 5,000 Common English Words Through 46 Real-Life Conversations by Echo Stories English.

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Chapter thirty-five. A stop at the pharmacy.

Four months have passed since the mountains. It is a Friday evening, and Ryan and Emma are driving home from dinner with friends. Emma has been quiet all week. She is pale and tired, her stomach is not right, and her favorite coffee suddenly smells terrible.

Listen to how to pick up a prescription, how to ask a pharmacist for advice, and to a piece of news that changes everything.

Emma: Ryan, can we make a quick stop at Walgreens on the way home?

Ryan: Sure. I have to pick up my knee medicine anyway. Do you have a headache? We can grab some aspirin.

Emma: No, it's not a headache.

Ryan: You've been odd all week. You hardly ate tonight, and you love that restaurant. Is your stomach still sore?

Emma: A little. Mostly in the mornings. And I'm so tired. I fell asleep at my desk on Wednesday, in front of thirty children.

Ryan: Maybe it's a virus. Or you're doing too much. The whole Saturday class, the attic, the school. It's demanding.

Emma: Maybe. Turn the radio down for a second.

Ryan: It's just the regional news. Some broadcaster talking to a poet, and a commander, and a voter who's angry about something. I'm not even listening.

Emma: Ryan. I think I might be pregnant.

Ryan: Wait. What? Really? Are you serious?

Emma: I'm not sure. That's why I want to stop. I need to take a test. I didn't want to mention it until I knew.

Ryan: Oh my. Okay. Okay! I'm driving very carefully now. I've never driven this carefully.

Emma: Don't get excited yet. It could be negative.

Ryan: I'm not excited. I'm relatively calm. My hands are just shaking.

Pharmacist: Hi there. How can I help you today?

Ryan: Hi. I'm here to pick up a prescription. The name is Johnson. Ryan Johnson.

Pharmacist: Can you confirm your date of birth for me?

Ryan: March fourteenth, nineteen ninety-four.

Pharmacist: Thank you. I have it right here. It's the cream for your knee. Have you used this treatment before?

Ryan: Yes, for about a year. It's a replacement for the pills.

Pharmacist: Good. Then you know how to use it. A thin layer, twice a day. Do you have any questions about it?

Ryan: No, I think I'm fine.

Pharmacist: Has your insurance information changed since your last visit?

Ryan: No, it's the same.

Pharmacist: Then your copay is ten dollars. You'll receive a text when the next one is ready. You can pay here or at the front.

Ryan: Here is fine.

Emma: Excuse me. Could I ask you something, in private?

Pharmacist: Of course. Let's step over here, where it's quiet.

Emma: I need a pregnancy test, and there are so many brands. I'm confused. Which one do you recommend?

Pharmacist: That confusion is very common. Honestly, they all work the same way, and the quality is similar. This digital one is the easiest to read. It simply shows the word "pregnant" or "not pregnant" in about three minutes.

Emma: How accurate is it?

Pharmacist: Over ninety-nine percent, if you use it properly. How late are you, if you don't mind me asking?

Emma: About ten days.

Pharmacist: Then it will be accurate. For the best result, take it first thing in the morning. This box has two tests, so you can check again in a few days.

Emma: Thank you. And if it's positive, is there anything I should do right away?

Pharmacist: Yes. I'd start a prenatal vitamin with folic acid. It's important in the first weeks. This one is gentle on the stomach. You take one a day, with food.

Emma: Do I need a prescription for that?

Pharmacist: No, it's available over the counter. And then make an appointment with your doctor for a proper examination. They'll be prompt about it. They'll want to examine you at about eight weeks.

Emma: What about the nausea? Is there a remedy I can take?

Pharmacist: I wouldn't take any medicine without a doctor's advice now. But small, regular meals help, and ginger tea, and plenty of liquid. Avoid strong smells. If you can't keep anything down, that's a slight warning sign, and you should call your doctor.

Emma: That's very helpful. You've been so kind.

Pharmacist: It's my pleasure. Whatever the result is, take care of yourself. And you, sir, sit down. You're paler than she is.

Ryan: I'm fine. I'm just breathing.

They do not wait for the morning. At home, Emma goes into the bathroom, and Ryan stands in the hall, reading the leaflet from the bag without understanding a word.

Ryan: Is it time? How long has it been?

Emma: One minute.

Ryan: It feels like an hour. This is hell. Talk to me.

Emma: I can't talk. You talk.

Ryan: Okay. The leaflet has a lot of medical information. It mentions everything a pharmacy can do. Blood pressure. A nurse who can inject a flu vaccine. A list of services for sexually active adults. A donation box for cancer survivors. A poster asking for kidney donors.

Emma: Ryan, that's not relaxing.

Ryan: Sorry. There's a nicer one. It promotes a long-term program for new parents. Workouts, therapy for anxiety, classes on labour and birth. It says the hospital ward can accommodate fathers overnight.

Emma: You've read the whole leaflet.

Ryan: Twice. I'm keen. Also, there's a myth, it says, that you must eat for two. Excessive weight isn't good. And exposure to cigarette smoke is a serious threat.

Emma: Two minutes.

Ryan: I thought about our parents. My mother is going to scream. I'll have to adjust the volume on the phone.

Emma: Don't call anyone yet. Promise me. Not until the doctor says it's all right.

Ryan: I promise. Not a word. Though I'm bored with waiting already.

Emma: Three minutes. Come in. I can't look. You look.

Ryan: Me? I'm the one with the weak stomach. All right. It says. Emma.

Emma: What? What does it say?

Ryan: It says "pregnant." One word. No defect in the screen. It's as clear as a declaration.

Emma: Oh my goodness. Ryan. We're going to have a baby.

Ryan: We're going to have a baby! Come here. Easily the best Friday of my life.

Emma: I'm crying. Why am I crying? I'm so happy.

Ryan: Me too. Look at us. Two adults, crying in a tight bathroom, next to a shiny new printer that I never took out of the box.

Emma: Why is there a printer in the bathroom?

Ryan: I don't know. It's been an odd week.

Emma: I feel fortunate. And frightened. Is that normal?

Ryan: I think that's the indication that you're a sensible person. I'm frightened too. I don't even know how to hold one.

Emma: We'll learn. Under supervision. My aunt raised two hundred daughters.

Ryan: I'll treat you like glass. No more carrying boxes. No ladders. I'll do the attic.

Emma: I'm pregnant, not ill. Don't weaken me with cruelty disguised as care.

Ryan: Cruelty?

Emma: Taking away my ladders. I need my energy and my oxygen, and a husband who isn't passive, but isn't a prison guard either.

Ryan: Understood. Liberal rules. You climb, I hold the ladder.

Emma: That's the vision. Now, I'd like some toast. Nothing else. Just dry toast.

Ryan: Coming up. Multiple slices. It's embarrassing how happy I am to make toast.

Emma: You're radiating. You could heal the whole street.

Ryan: I'm a coffee addict who has just been told to change his life. I'll undergo anything. I'm due for a massive change.

Emma: A cheeky one, too, I hope. Like its father.

Ryan: Permanently. Let me relieve you of that test. I'm keeping it. Is that strange?

Emma: It's a little strange. Keep it anyway. No surgeon could cut this smile off my face.

Ryan: A comfortable chair, toast, and oral instructions from my wife. I'm ready. By the way, I heard on the radio that a refugee family is moving in near the school. They have a chronic need for baby things, later on. We could pass ours on.

Emma: We don't have any yet, and you're already giving them away. That's why I married you. Successfully.

That is the end of chapter thirty-five. A prescription, a quiet question at the counter, and one small word on a screen.

Keep these with you: "I'm here to pick up a prescription." "Which one do you recommend?" "How accurate is it?" "Do I need a prescription for that?" "Is there anything I should do right away?"

In the next chapter, they go to the doctor together, and hear a sound they will never forget.

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