“Excuse me for just one second, okay?” Leslie stood, already moving toward the door. “I’m going to have our radiologist join us so she can give you the official reading.”
Leslie patted Abigail’s calf on her way past the bed, too. An absent gesture, imparting more comfort. Something wasn’t right with her baby. She could feel it.
“Vaughn, is my baby okay?” Fear clogged her throat. She stared at the screen, willing her eyes to find whatever it was that they were seeing.
“This is a long way from my field of expertise.” He shook his head, deflecting what should have been an easy question. “The radiologist will tell us more.”
Vaughn looked pale. Distressed. His eyebrows knit.
“More about what?” Levering up on her elbows, she felt truly scared.
She had already lost her sister. She couldn’t possibly lose her baby girl, too.
Vaughn’s green eyes turned to meet hers. Serious. Unwavering. “I don’t know. But if anything is wrong, you will have the best care in the world. I promise.”
He gripped her hand in his, his assurance helping her to catch her breath even as it reinforced her fears. What was wrong?
When the radiologist stepped into the room, tucking a pen into the pocket of her lab coat, the specialist’s eyes went briefly to Ruby in her service vest before glancing up at Vaughn and Abigail.
“Dr. Chambers.” The woman—Dr. Oma, according to her badge—nodded at him as she took a seat in front of the ultrasound display and rolled the chair up to the work station. “Miss Stewart, I’m going to take a few more photos,” she announced, moving the wand over Abigail’s belly again. “I ran into your OB in the hall since he delivered a baby this morning, and I was able to consult with him briefly.”
“Is he coming in?” Abigail wanted someone, anyone, to give her answers about what was happening.
Vaughn remained by the head of the bed with Ruby, his hand on Abigail’s shoulder as he studied the screen behind the radiologist.
“Dr. Prevardi asked me to have Doctor Troy Hutchinson join us instead. If he has time.” The ultrasound wand moved back and forth, pressing. The machine paused frequently for screen captures, zooming in on parts of Abigail’s baby she couldn’t possibly identify without someone explaining what she was seeing.
Beside Abigail, she heard Vaughn’s sharp intake of breath.
“Who is he?” Abigail’s eyes went from Vaughn to the radiologist.
“Dr. Hutchinson specializes in maternal-fetal medicine.” Dr. Oma turned the display monitor toward Vaughn and Abigail. “We want to get his take on this.” She circled a spot with her finger—dark blobs on the screen as far as Abigail could tell. “It’s a small abnormality in the kidneys and we want to either rule out a problem or address it if there is one.”
The radiologist continued to speak. Abigail knew because the woman’s mouth moved, but the blood rushed in her ears so loudly that it drowned out everything else. Her brain couldn’t process the news.
There was an abnormality in her baby. Her beautiful little girl might have something wrong with her.
Abigail felt like she was being sucked down a tunnel, a dark swirl of fears that blocked out everything else. By the time the specialist, Dr. Hutchinson, strode into the room, she was a mess.
She’d never been so grateful for Vaughn’s presence, since he spoke the same language as the rest of the room, giving her the option of closing her eyes for some of the discussion about monitoring the defect. She swiped at the tears leaking down the side of her cheeks. Tears that Ruby must have noticed because she laid her doggy head right by Abigail’s shoulder, her dark brown eyes filled with concern.
Later, when Abigail had calmed down some, she would ask Vaughn for his perspective on everything that happened today. He would give her an idea of how worried she ought to be. For now, she held his hand tight while Dr. Hutchinson promised to run more tests and get back to her soon.
* * *
Fixing Abigail something to eat back at her house that afternoon, Vaughn acknowledged he had overestimated himself. Overestimated how much he could change in order to be with Abigail.
Still reeling from the ultrasound appointment, he knew he hadn’t been the steadying presence she deserved. Knew he’d failed her when she needed him to be strong. But the news that something might be wrong with her baby had wrecked all his defenses. He wasn’t ready to be the man she needed and deserved in her life.
He recognized it as soon as he’d seen the tiny shadow on the ultrasound screen. His failure ate away at him now as he peeled a cucumber to add to the salad he was making for her. Ruby stalked back and forth between the living room, where Abigail rested on the couch, and the kitchen, where Vaughn prepared a light meal.
This morning he had felt a connection to the life inside of Abigail. And he had wanted to be there for her today. That text he’d sent her after the gala came after a lot of soul-searching. He didn’t want to be without her. But already, he could see how short of the mark he was falling as a partner. In the exam room, he’d been more than rattled—he’d been afraid he would shut down on her completely, retreat from her emotionally at a time when she needed more support than ever.
If Ruby hadn’t been there, keeping him focused and engaged, he might not have gotten through the strained meeting with Hutch. The news that Abigail’s baby might have a serious health defect terrified him.
Drying his hand on a dish towel, he tossed the vegetable peels in the trash and set the salad on a tray with flatware and a drink for her. He wanted her to rest and had insisted on driving her home, knowing she was in no shape to drive herself after that scare.
She
