Page 15 of The Gift Of Life

“Your mum and dad can’t wait to see you, and your brother is going to fly home from Australia the moment you’re allowing visitors.”

“Jack... he hasn’t been home since our wedding.”

I nod. Jack has been loving life, lapping up the luxuries that Australia brings.

“I know how much you’ve missed him,” I say.

“I miss everyone. I do. I just need time.”

“We have all the time in the world. You take as much time as you need to recover. I heard you’ve been painting.”

I change the conversation because I hate listening to how much she hates herself right now.

Her face lights up a little more.

“I used to love watching you paint; the concentration in your face, the poise with which you sit or stand, the delicate way you use your brush. That was a work of art itself.”

“I’ve missed painting. Work is all digital and it’s not the same.”

A knock on the door sounds and we both look over to see the doctors walking into the room.

“Hi, Harper.” Dr Grieves approaches Harper first and pulls over a chair from the corner. “I was sorry to hear how unwell you’ve been. Hormones can play a huge part in mental health, and with the grief you’ve faced, there’s no wonder you need a little bit of help to get you back on the right path.”

Silence follows Dr Grieves’s little speech, and he takes that as his cue to get out a file.

Dr Carmichael pulls over another chair and sits down a little further away. He’s clearly giving us all time to breathe and do what we need to do, but he’s there in case anyone needs him. “We'll make this session as long or as short as it needs to be. There will be no pressure from anyone. It’s a friendly, informative session, and if either of you has any questions or anything to say, just fire away. Dr Grieves, do you want to start?”

The doctor nods. “Harper presented herself to me after what she believed was her waters breaking at twenty-one weeks. After careful examination and an ultrasound, this was sadly confirmed. This is a condition called Preterm Premature Rupture of the Membranes, or PPROM for short. It’s a fancy term that simply means your waters break before thirty-seven weeks.”

“And what causes that?” I ask.

Harper’s hand clenches around mine tighter, and I continue to rub my thumb across hers.

“A lot of the time, it’s simply one of those things and then it never happens again. However, in Harper’s case, I’m leaning more towards the fact that she has something called an incompetent cervix. This just means that the cervix opens before it’s meant to. On examination, I could feel the bulging membranes. I could feel the cervix open, and unfortunately, a weak cervix allows infection into the sterile environment the foetus is growing in. With pathology reports of the placenta, we can confirm that there was infection around the baby and in the placenta.”

I take in a deep breath. “I already know the answer to this, but I think Harper needs to hear it... there was nothing she did or could have done to prevent this?”

“Because we didn’t know Harper had this condition, there was nothing anyone could have done. There was nothing indicating that this would happen from a medical point of view, and up until that moment, Harper and the pregnancy were progressing well. Now that we know about this condition, there are plenty of precautionary measures we will take in any future pregnancy...”

“And this won’t happen again?” Harper interrupts and speaks for the first time in this meeting.

“I can’t say for sure it will never happen again, but there are things we can do to make it less likely to happen. From an early gestation, we would start medication, and from twelve weeks, we would advise a cervical cerclage placement. We would then keep a close eye on you with fortnightly scans, regular blood work, and monthly urine samples unless we need them sooner. It is very unfortunate that you’ve had to go through this.”

“Would she have suffered?” asks Harper.

“No.” The doctor shakes his head. “All she would have felt is the love from you. She wouldn’t have felt any pain. That I can guarantee you.”

Harper sobs. I get up from my spot and take her into my arms. She doesn’t push me away. She clings to my shirt tightly and cries louder into my chest.

“This is good, Harper. Letting out that emotion is the best thing for you. Bottling it up is what starts to weigh people down,” says Dr Carmichael. “Do you guys have anything you want to ask Dr Grieves? I think we can continue this meeting without him if you have nothing further to ask.”

“I'm good, Doc. Sweetheart?”

Harper shakes her head and remains buried in my shirt.

“Thank you for coming down here, Dr Grieves,” says Dr Carmichael.

“Anytime. I hope you feel better soon, Harper. If you ever need to ask anything, just call my secretary and I’ll get back to you.” He hands me a card with his details. “And if you ever get to that point where you’re pregnant again, call me straight away and we’ll intervene early on. Early intervention is key in this condition.”

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