“Fuck.” He drops them and goes back to the door. “Carl! Towels!”
He closes the door, then walks back to me. His hands never stop moving. They twitch by his sides as he paces in a small circle in front of me, then push into his hair. I want to try and comfort him the same way he does me, but I can’t. I don’t know if things will be okay.
The door opens again and Carl steps in. He comes straight to my side and starts unfolding towels. “Put these between your legs so we can monitor the bleeding in some way before Peter gets here. And you”—he turns to Lucas—“go wash that man off of you.”
Lucas looks hesitant, but he ultimately obeys Carl’s order and walks into the bathroom. He strips out of his clothes and leaves them in a pile on the marble floor as he gets into the shower.
“Who was he, Carl?” I ask, doing my best not to cry. It isn’t that I’m sad for the guy because I’m not. He jeopardized my child’s life, so he deserved what he got. I’m just worried what all of this means for Hale.
Carl sits on the edge of the bed and moves the towel back a bit to look between my legs. Normally I would be embarrassed or shocked, but I’m clothed. “Emil’s new right hand. I assumed he would be handled with Emil, but I guess not. No sense in dwelling on it now though. What’s done is done.”
I nod.
“The bleeding looks to be slowing too. Try and keep your breathing steady. I know this is scary, but everything will be okay.” His withered hand reaches for mine and squeezes my fingers.
“What if he doesn’t make it?” I finally voice the only concern I’ve had in the last hour or however long it’s been.
“Don’t think about that, Charlotte.” He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. I know he’s worried too.
The door opens again, but this time Dr. Kelly steps in, wheeling a machine behind him with his leather bag over his shoulder. He stays silent as Carl walks out, and Lucas steps out of the shower. When he’s finally next to me, he stops and bring the machine to the front of him. “What’s going on, Charlie?”
“I was hit in the stomach. I don’t feel any pain now, but I’m bleeding.” My shock-like state finally gives way, and the tears start to flow. “Can you tell me if the baby is okay?”
He gives me a firm nod as Lucas exits the bathroom and hovers over him wrapped in a towel.
He lifts the towel and glances between my legs, looking at the blood on my pants no doubt. “I’m going to need you to remove your pants.”
I nod and stand from the bed slowly as he turns his back to me. Lucas lets me use him as support as I pull them down, then slip one leg out. Blood stains my thighs, making the most terrible thoughts run rabid in my mind. A cry claws its way from my throat and out my mouth as Lucas grabs the other leg of my pants as I step out.
“Don’t cry, baby. We will fix this.” The shakiness in his voice makes me question if he even believes his own words.
Turning back to the bed, the blood on the sheet makes me queasy. It isn’t a lot, but it’s enough to make me worry. I saw the blood on my pants, but I didn’t think there was enough to seep through and stain the bed this badly. Dr. Kelly turns around, and like he can read my thoughts, he lays a folded towel over the stain to help ease my mind.
I settle back in and wait for his instruction. “Go ahead and put the bottoms of your feet together and let your knees fall open.”
I do as I’m told and stare at the ceiling as he inspects my most vulnerable part. I didn’t even want a baby, at least I didn’t think so, but the thought of losing him, or her, breaks my heart. Just when I’m finally making headway with losing Teddy and letting myself feel—really getting myself back—this happens. My heart can’t take losing another person I love even if that person barely exists at this point.
“Okay, you aren’t actively bleeding right now, so I’m not going to check you. I’m going to perform a normal sonogram and make sure we can detect a heartbeat and see if there is any visible damage to the fetus.”
I nod as he drapes a towel over my lower half and raises my shirt. He squirts cold liquid on the lowest point of my stomach, then fires up the machine. At first, I see nothing but flashes of black-and-white blobs. Nothing that makes any sense to my untrained eyes. He flips another switch, and static mixed with whooshing sounds out around us.
Finally, he turns the handheld piece, and a perfect silhouette of a baby takes up the middle of the screen. It’s still which make me worry, but after another turn, a fast-paced heartbeat starts to sing.
More tears well in my eyes as my body shakes with relief. “It’s okay,” I cry.
Letting out a breath he seemed to be holding, Dr. Kelly nods. “From what I can see, it’s perfect. Your placenta, on the other hand, is not, and I think that’s what’s causing the bleeding.”
“What’s wrong with it?” Lucas finally breaks his silence. “And what can we do to fix it?”
“It’s placenta previa. Since the bleeding had stopped, it shouldn’t be too much of a concern. I’ll give you a shot to help speed up the develop the baby’s lungs just in case, and recommend bed rest and nothing in the vagina until after delivery. I’ll be sure and let Dr. Davis know so he can monitor you more closely.”
I nod as he wipes the gel off my stomach and hits another button on
