Page 31 of A Doctor's Promise
“It’s okay, Mary,” Edie said, noticing the woman’s nerves. ‘We’re not here to judge you. Either of you. You have no need to be concerned.”
“Phew,” Mary said laughing, as she placed a tray on the coffee table.
A jug with lemons and ice fizzed away next to tall glasses. Edie spied a plate of what looked like homemade cookies and felt her stomach clench with hunger. It had been a while since breakfast and lunch had totally fallen by the wayside with the meeting with Mrs Bates. If she wasn’t careful the baby would insist on food and there would be nothing she could do except obey.
Mary must have seen her drooling over the biscuits and asked Anna to hand them around. Anna held the plate defensively close to her body as she eyed up Finn and Edie. Finn grabbed one through Anna’s closely knitted fingers and passed it to Edie. He risked his hands by going in for a second one. For a moment it was tense, but with a swift tickle to Anna’s ribs she relented.
“Anna,” Edie said, feeling better with a bit of sustenance. “Do you want to take Doctor Cooper here and show him where Monty sleeps? He was asking me all the way here if I thought you’d be up for that.”
Anna gave Finn the side eye, as if weighing up if Finn was important enough to get a tour of the most important part of her home.
“Come on then,” she said, jumping off the hearth and holding out her spare hand for Finn to take. “Monty said you’re allowed to look but not touch.”
“Perfect,” Finn said, laughing. He put his lemonade down on the tray and took hold of Anna’s proffered hand. “Come on then, Monty, lead the way.”
When the living room had quietened and the only sounds were the singing of the birds and the rasping of Mary’s breathing, Edie started the difficult conversation.
“Mary,” she began. “I have the sad news to pass on to you that Mr Bates didn’t make his surgery this morning.”
Mary nodded her head, her face paler than Edie thought possible.
“So that brings us to you, and your surgery next week.”
“I haven’t changed my mind about what I asked of you both,” Mary said, wringing her fingers together. “I can’t take the risk of the surgery unless I know Anna will be okay.”
“We understand, Mary,” Edie said. “We will do what it takes.”
“I know it doesn’t make sense, seeing as I know I am dying,” Mary continued in a frenzy. “But to put myself under the knife, knowing I probably won’t make it… I just can’t do it without the… wait, did you say you’ll do it?”
Mary looked up from her hands to Edie, her red eyes were all the more pronounced by her pallor.
“We need to talk abouthowwe do it, but yes, we will help you and Anna,” Edie continued. “First and foremost, though, I have to say to you that this in no way affects the surgical trial and the other participants, both past and future. You’re not being singled out, and we need to make sure that ethically, this passes the board. We would hate for anyone to think that this act of love is in anyway atoned to the trial. That we are accepting a child as a gift. This would not only make us all feel awful, it could jeopardise the trial for the future, and we would both lose our jobs.”
Mary exhaled.
“I hadn’t thought of it like that,” she said. “I hope you didn’t see it like that. I love Anna with all of my heart and there is no way I would use her for my own gain.”
“No, no,” Edie comforted Mary. “We didn’t think anything of the sort. I understand what you’re going through, but we have to get all the legal side out in the open too.”
Mary gave Edie a wry smile and looked pointedly at her stomach.
“I know you will understand me more than some,” she said.
Edie felt a blush rise up on her cheeks.
“How did you know?”
“I could just tell, you’re very subconsciously protective of it. Does he know?”
Edie wasn’t sure if Mary was talking about the father of the baby of Finn, but the answer was the same, whomever she meant.
“No, I haven’t spoken to him about it.” She guessed at Finn. “Please don’t say anything, we aren’t even sure what’s happening withuslet alone what happens when I add another child into the mix. My ex-husband left me, he doesn’t know either.”
“Oh, how awful,” Mary said, her hand flying to her mouth. “What a horrible man to do that to you. But Doctor Cooper seems kind. You should tell him. He cares about you, I can see it by the way he is when you are around. He’s protective of you, and a little in awe.”
Edie laughed, standing to pour herself some more lemonade. She offered Mary some, and topped her glass up too.
“He’s not in awe of me, he practically barged me out of the hospital when I first arrived. But he is a good man, and I do care about him too. We can make this work if we have to. But we need to do the paperwork first.”
