Page 87 of Things We Do for Love and Science
Chapter Twenty-Six
The air was warmernow. February had come at last and, with it, the promise of spring. Maybe it was a good sign. Maybe a new sort of relationship would grow between them, one based on the shared love for their child.
Gabriel had been elated when Delia had suggested a joint meeting and surprised to learn she was seeing Evelyn. No wonder the therapist hadn’t been able to take him on as a patient.
The call had been brief and to the point, and Delia’s voice had been faint, almost a whisper. He wondered how she was getting on, with her job, her life, now that her closest friend had moved to Bavaria.
Thinking about Delia was an addiction that was hard to break. Time would be a healer; he depended on it. This was it now, his opportunity to prove to himself that he could meet her with equanimity, without Vanessa shielding him.
A sinking sensation took hold of him when he entered Evelyn’s waiting room and found it empty. What if Delia didn’t come? What if she’d changed her mind and didn’t want to co-parent with him after all?
He shook his head. There was no reason to panic. She would turn up. This appointment was in her interest as well as his. He picked up a magazine and sat in the nearest chair.
Five minutes passed, ten, fifteen, and still no sign of her. Evelyn stuck her head in the room and raised her eyebrows.
“She’s not here.” A feeling of desolation took hold of him, and he was unable to keep it from showing on his face.
“Did she contact you since she asked you for a joint appointment?”
“No, she didn’t cancel if that’s what you mean.”
Evelyn regarded him with concern. “Anything could have happened to prevent her from showing up.”
Anything could have happened.Gabriel jumped up. “My phone. I put in on silent when I came in.” He pulled his mobile from his pocket and checked for messages. Three missed calls from Delia and one message. He read it with shaking hands.
I’ve started bleeding. Going to the hospital now.
He looked at Evelyn in shock. “I think we’re losing our baby. I have to go.” He grabbed his jacket and ran.
~ * ~
Delia balled the damptissue in her hands. She had cried and cried ever since she’d noticed she was bleeding; red, vivid blood, the dangerous kind. She’d stuffed a big pad in her knickers and driven herself to the maternity hospital in a panic.
It happened all the time, to many women. Miscarriage, the loss of one’s hopes and dreams, washed away in a red flood. That didn’t make it any better or easier. In the parking lot, she’d remembered to contact Gabriel, but he hadn’t answered. She’d sent off a message then entered the hospital.
The tiny examination room was chilly. She sat on the paper-covered stretcher and shivered. A nurse had assured her the midwife was on her way to examine her and conduct an ultrasound. Tendrils of dread wound through her. The bleeding had stopped but still...Is it already over?
“Delia.”
She lifted her head at the sound of his voice. “Gabriel, thank God you’re here. I’ve been bleeding. I think we may... I think we may be losing...” Tears smothered the remaining words, and she gave herself over to crying when he hugged her. She breathed in his scent and held on tighter.
The door opened, and the midwife entered. He stood to greet her but returned to Delia’s side and draped his arm over her shoulder. She clung to him while the midwife settled at the ultrasound scanner, squirted cold gel on Delia’s belly and moved the probe around.
Delia fixed her gaze on the monitor and gripped Gabriel’s hand. Through the snowstorm of the ultrasound image, they could just about make out the tiny shape of their baby. She listened in awed silence to the loveliest thump, thump, thump of a little heartbeat.
The midwife replaced the probe in its holder. “You heard it yourselves, the baby has a fine, healthy heartbeat, and everything is as it should be. I understand that the bleeding scared you, but during pregnancy, the uterus and cervix are well supplied with blood, and bleeding such as yours can occur without being harmful to the embryo. You can return home now, whenever you’re ready.” And with this, she rose and left.
Gabriel folded Delia in an embrace and held her wordlessly. She sighed and relaxed.
He kissed the top of her head. “I’ve missed you.”
