Lover At Last(55)
“It’s not for me to say, I’m afraid.”
“You know, though. Don’t you.” Layla looked up and met the female’s eyes. “Don’t you.”
“Again, it’s not my place, but…with this much blood?”
“I was pregnant.”
The nurse made a hedging motion with her hands, her lips pursing. “Don’t tell Havers I said this…but probably. And you must know, there is nothing you can do to stop the process. It’s not your fault, and you’ve done nothing wrong. It’s just, sometimes, these things simply happen.”
Layla hung her head. “Thank you for being honest with me. And…in truth, that is what I believe to be occurring.”
“A female knows. Now, let’s take you back.”
“Yes, thank you very much.”
Except Layla struggled with getting her panties in place as she stood up. When it became clear she couldn’t get her hands coordinated, the nurse stepped in and helped with enviable ease, and it was all so embarrassing and frightening. To be so weak and at the mercy of another for such a simple thing.
“You have the most gorgeous accent,” the nurse said as they rejoined the traffic in the hall, sticking once again to their slow lane. “It’s so Old Country—my granmahmen would approve. She hates how English has become our dominant language here. Thinks it’s going to be the downfall of the species.”
The conversation about nothing in particular helped, giving Layla something to focus on other than how long she was going to be able to go until she needed to make this trip again…and whether things were getting worse with the miscarriage…and what it was going to be like when she was forced to look Qhuinn in the eye and tell him she had failed….
Somehow they made it back to the exam room.
“It shouldn’t be much longer. I promise.”
“Thank you.”
The nurse paused by the door, and as she went still, shadows crossed the depths of her eyes, as if she were reliving parts of her own past. And in the silence between them, a moment of communion was struck—and though it was unusual to have something in common with an earthbound female, the connection was a relief.
She had felt so alone in all this.
“We have people you can talk to,” the female said. “Sometimes talking afterward can really help.”
“Thank you.”
“Use that white handset if you need help or feel dizzy, okay? I’m not far.”
“Yes. I shall.”
As the door shut, tears watered up her vision, and yet even as she ached in her chest, the crushing sense of loss seemed disproportionate to the reality. The pregnancy was only in the very beginning stages—logically, there was not much to lose.
And yet to her, this was her young.
This was the death of her young—
There was a soft knock at the door, and then a male voice. “May I come in?”
Layla squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed hard. “Please.”
The race’s physician was tall and distinguished, with tortoiseshell glasses and a bow tie at his throat. With a stethoscope around his neck and that long white coat, he looked like the perfect healer, calm and competent.
He closed the door and smiled at her briefly. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine, thank you.”
He regarded her from across the room, as if assessing her medically even though he did not touch her or use instruments. “May I speak frankly?”
“Yes. Please.”
He nodded and pulled over a rolling stool. Sitting down, he balanced a file on his lap and stared into her eyes. “I see that you haven’t listed your hellren’s name—nor your father’s.”
“Must I?”
The physician hesitated. “Have you no next of kin, my dear?” When she shook her head, his eyes registered true sadness. “I’m so sorry for your losses. So there is no one here for you? No?”
When she just sat there, saying nothing, he took a deep breath. “All right—”
“But I can pay,” she blurted in a rush. She wasn’t sure where she could get the money, but—
“Oh, my dear, do not worry about that. I need not be renumerated if you are not able.” He opened the file and moved a page out of the way. “Now, I understand that you have gone through your needing.”
Layla just nodded, as it was all she could do to keep from screaming, “What is the test result?!”
“Well, I have looked at your blood results and they have shown some…things I didn’t expect. If you so consent, I would like to take another sample and send it to my lab for a few more tests. Hopefully, I’ll be able to make sense of it all—and I’d like to do an ultrasound, if you don’t mind. It’s a standard exam that will give me an idea how things are progressing.”