“They’re fine,” I said.
“But something could have happened. I don’t remember anything. They were in the house, that man was standing there begging me not to press charges, and then I was waking up in the emergency room. He didn’t go near the kids at all?” she asked, her eyes darting up to mine, looking for some reassurance.
“No, Grace, no one touched them. I promise.” She let out a sigh of relief.
“Hi, Ms. Richards, I’m Dr. Miller. I was the attending on duty when you came into the emergency room this afternoon. How are you feeling?”
“My head still hurts a little, and I’m really tired.”
He nodded, then his eyes darted over to me.
“Before we talk any further about your injuries, I want to make sure you’re comfortable with your visitor being in the room. There are privacy laws that protect you—”
“Oh, it’s fine to talk in front of Devon.”
I gave her hand a squeeze again.
“What do you remember from your accident?” the doctor asked.
“Not a lot. I remember standing in the driveway and I was really scared, and then all of a sudden I got really tired, or woozy, I guess. And then I saw dark spots, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in the emergency room.”
“Hmmm. Well, the police are going to want to talk to you about what happened, but as far as we can tell, it appears you passed out and hit your head against the concrete upon impact. We didn’t have any real information when you were brought in, so we ran some tests to try and determine what was wrong. It’s a good thing we did because otherwise we would have taken you to get some X-rays, which wouldn’t be good for the baby.”
“The what?” Grace asked, her voice shaky and weak.
“The baby. You’re pregnant. Based on the hCG levels, you’re probably only about two weeks along. Congratulations.”
I looked down at Grace and her eyes flashed up to mine, wide with surprise and disbelief.
“But, I can’t…. I’ve never….” Her words were falling from her mouth quickly, but I could tell she wasn’t able to process a full sentence.
“She’s been told before she can’t get pregnant naturally.”
“Listen, I’m no obstetrician, but I can tell when a woman is pregnant, and you definitely are.”
“This can’t be happening,” she murmured. “I don’t feel pregnant. I haven’t been sick or anything.”
“Like I said, it’s very early. It probably wouldn’t even show up on an over-the-counter test. But blood tests don’t lie. It’s too early for morning sickness. Give it about three weeks and you’ll be sick as a dog.” The doctor gave her a smile, but she just looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language. “However, this would explain the fainting. Some women experience fainting spells as a symptom of pregnancy. If it continues, you need to bring it up with your obstetrician. But seeing as how you were in a particularly stressful situation, the pregnancy could explain the fainting. Nothing else showed up on any of our tests to cause any concern.”
“No, there’s some mistake,” Grace stammered, blinking rapidly and looking confused. “Maybe you have someone else’s tests results mixed up with mine. Run the test again. I’m telling you I can’t get pregnant. My ovaries don’t even work. Please,” she begged, her voice wavering, “just run the test again.”
The doctor’s eyes caught mine.
“Could you please run the test again?”
He shrugged and walked to the computer, typing away, telling the nurse to run the test again.
Grace curled toward me, pulled my hand to her chest, and began to cry quietly. I ran my free hand over her hair, avoiding the area on the back of her head that was stitched up, trying to offer any kind of comfort I could.
All the while my mind was running a million miles an hour.
A baby?
Grace was pregnant?
And why was Grace not thrilled to hear she was pregnant? She seemed so upset. Obviously, it was a shock. Was she in shock? Suddenly, I was feeling weak. I looked behind me and saw a chair so I pulled it to the side of the bed, never letting go of Grace’s hand, and took a seat.
A baby.
With Grace.
So many emotions were warring for attention in the moment. I was scared, worried, confused, and surprised. But the loudest emotion, the one that was pulling rank on all the others, was elation.
“Everything is going to be all right, Grace. I promise.” I just kept whispering words of comfort to her, stroking her hair, rubbing her back, and she continued to softly cry. She cried while the nurse took her blood, she cried while we waited for the results, and she cried when the doctor came back in and confirmed what he’d said before.
Grace was pregnant.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Grace