Chapter 7

Ultrasound

Denny was pacing the hospital waiting area. Mark stood up from his chair and approached him.

“Pregnant?” he asked.

“Yeah …” Denny answered. She told me this morning. “

“What is she going to do about it? I mean it would be crazy to keep it. For both of you. You’re no father material. You’re dreaming to be a surgeon, cut people open, kick ass in the O.R. Hello?! ‘Surgeon of The Year’ not ‘Father of The Year”. And …”

“Mark!” Denny almost shouted “Shut up!”

Before any of them could say anything else a young woman doctor approached them.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Sarah Crane. Mr. Hampton, right?”

“That’s me” Denny said “How is she?”

“Miss Winston is fine which means she isn’t sick. However, as you are already aware since you were the one who told the paramedics, she’s pregnant. Her body undergoes a lot of changes and she is exhausted. She seems to not have been eating properly and she is also dehydrated.”

“May I see her?” Denny asked.

“Yes. Come with me. I wanted to talk to both of you anyway.”

They entered Lynn’s room and Denny was shocked at how pale she was.

“Hey” he greeted her and sat in a chair next to her bed.

“Hi” she answered forcing a smile.

“How are you feeling, Evelynne?” Dr. Crane asked.

“Better, I guess, and please, call me Lynn” she said.

“Ok, Lynn, listen, what happened to you today is your body telling you to slow down. You are pregnant and your body suffers some changes. I need you to eat, rest and avoid stress if you want a healthy baby. Now, I would like to do an ultrasound. You’ll be able to see your baby on this monitor” she told them pointing to the monitor next to the bed.

“We know” Lynn said with a smile “We’re both med students.”

“Yeah, I forgot” Dr. Crane smiled back.

She was looking at the monitor when she let out a gasp and moved her gaze to Lynn.

“What?” Lynn asked panicking “What is it?”

“Is everything okay?” Denny asked trying to hide his own concern so that he won’t scare Lynn.

She turned the monitor so that they both could see and spoke

“This is your baby” she said pointing to a small pulsating spot on the screen “And this” she continued “Is its twin”, she smiled “You’re having twins. Congratulations!”

When she finished the test she spoke to Lynn again

“Okay, I’m keeping you here for observation for a couple of days and then you can go home. But I want you on bed rest for the next two weeks.”

“But” Lynn started “I can’t. I live in a dorm and I have classes and my sister’s getting married in two weeks…” she paused and then added “I can’t do this.”

Denny gave her hand another squeeze and tried to comfort her

“Shhh, of course you can. We’ll do it together.” Then he turned to the doctor “About the wedding, if I make sure she rests and eats and stays calm can we go? It is really important to her …”

“Okay” she agreed “but no dancing, no shopping not even standing if she can avoid it. Are we clear?”

“But” Lynn started again,

“We are clear” Denny assured.

“Okay then” Dr. Crane said with a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow” and then she turned to Denny “Make her get some rest.”

As soon as she closed the door behind her, Lynn took a deep breath and let the tears she had struggled to control till then fall freely down her cheeks.

“Hey … no crying. You have to stay calm, remember? For the …” he took a deep breath and continued “Babies”.

“I’m sorry” she whispered through sobs “I’m so sorry. I … I have to make a decision. Maybe set a date for ... for … oh, my God!”

“Shhh … Lynn, come on …” Denny tried again. When his second attempt to calm her seemed to fail, he climbed in bed next to her, wrapped his arms around her and planted a soft kiss on her cheek.
“We don’t have to make a decision right now. There’s still time. You’re only six weeks along.”

“But …”

“No buts. I tell you what: why don’t we talk about this after Billie’s wedding?”

“I …” she tried to protest some more but changed her mind “Well, okay …” but she still had tears in her eyes.

“Everything is going to be alright. You’re going to be just fine. We both are. I promise you that” he said and his words seemed to be able to calm her a bit. He kept whispering soothing words while he caressed her cheek with one hand and held her close with the other.