The House of Eve (56)

Once she was gone, the woman with the nice smile leaned in and asked, “Your first time?”

“Yes.” Eleanor cleared her throat. “You?”

“It is. When are you due?”

“Early January.”

“I’m expecting this one to arrive around Thanksgiving.”

“In time for the holidays.”

“Such a blessing. We should exchange numbers. Once these babies get here, all of our childless friends will desert us. It’ll be nice to have someone to talk to.”

Eleanor was taken aback by her bluntness, but also soothed by it. She reached into her bag and jotted down her number.

“I’m Lois,” the woman said and took the paper.

“Eleanor.”

The woman was called back before she could give Eleanor her number.

“I’ll call you,” she said over her shoulder. “Nice meeting you.”

A few moments later, a nurse called Eleanor’s name and led her into a room, where she told her the doctor would be just a few minutes.

Eleanor looked at the generic posters of flowers hanging on the wall, wondering what her baby would look like. Would it have William’s cute nose and her high cheekbones? And what shade would the baby be? She knew Rose was hoping for nearly white, but Eleanor thought a little color would do the family some good.

There was a swift knock, and then a man with wire-rimmed glasses and graying hair walked in.

“Mrs. Pride. Good to see you again.”

“Dr. Avery.” Eleanor sat up a little.

He washed his hands at the tiny sink while he spoke. “Today, I’m going to examine your stomach as a part of your eighteen-week assessment. If at any point you feel pain just let me know and I’ll adjust my pressure. We’ll also take a few measurements, and then I’ll detect the fetus’s heartbeat.”

With his left hand, he gently palpated her abdomen. He then pressed hard around her pelvis. Eleanor’s eyes were locked on the fluorescent light overhead, but she could feel the pad of the doctor’s hand moving from side to side, top to bottom.

“Pinard horn.” Dr. Avery held out his hand, and the nurse passed him a metal, hollow-looking horn.

“I’m going to push the Pinard horn into your stomach so that I can hear the fetus’s movement and heartbeat.”

Dr. Avery pushed the horn with a bit more pressure, and it forced Eleanor to look into his face. She watched as his brows knitted together. His skin was so fair, she could see heat gathering in his cheeks.

“Nurse, let me try the fetoscope.”

She handed him what looked like a stethoscope, but it had a rounded bell at the bottom. With the plugs in his ears, he resumed pressing down on her abdomen with the device.

“When was the last time you felt the baby move?”

Eleanor drew a blank. She would have remembered if it happened during breakfast with Nadine, because she would have pointed it out to her.

“It’s usually more active at nighttime. I don’t remember too much movement today. Is everything okay?”

“We will need you to undress from the waist down.” He removed the fetoscope. “I need to examine you internally. Nothing to worry about. Sometimes they are stubborn at this phase.”

The nurse handed her a hospital gown.

“We’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail,” Dr. Avery said good-humoredly, but Eleanor felt a pinch of panic rise in her throat.

Eleanor’s hands shook as she removed her skirt and cotton panties, but she decided it was probably more modest for her to leave her nylons on. She tried chasing off her worrying thoughts but they had quickly mounted.

The doctor and nurse returned stone-faced. Her internal plea for her baby’s safety echoed so loudly that she couldn’t concentrate on anything they were saying. Their words washed over her as she felt her feet being guided into the stirrups, her thighs being separated, a cold instrument, deep fingers, poking, prodding, pulling.

“Ouch.” She kicked her foot, but the plump-faced nurse kindly repositioned her, then kept her palm on Eleanor’s ankle.

The lights overhead were giving her a headache. When the doctor pulled off his disposable glove, Eleanor saw blood on its plastic fingertip.

“What’s happening?” Her eyes were wide.

Dr. Avery whispered something to the nurse.

“Is everything all right with the baby?”

“Give us a few minutes, Mrs. Pride. We’ll be right back.”

Eleanor noted his lack of eye contact. Something was wrong. The room felt even colder, and she ran her fingers back and forth against her shoulders.

When William was the first to enter the room, her throat closed up. He had never popped in on her appointments. His skin was ashen, and Eleanor tried reading his eyes.

“They called you? What’s wrong with our baby?”

William’s face cracked. “Dr. Avery said there is no heartbeat.”

The bottom of her world fell out. “Make him check again.” William reached for her hand but she pulled away. “No.”

“Mrs. Pride, there is no fetal movement. I’m afraid that you’ve had a late miscarriage. I’m sorry.” Eleanor hadn’t even known that Dr. Avery was there too, until she heard his voice.

The air in the room stopped circulating, and Eleanor choked on her own saliva. Shaking her head furiously. “No. I’m out of the danger zone.”