Oh, Baby

Diane inhaled deeply, then adjusted the paper robe once more. Even though she was slender, these darn things never seemed to fit right. To distract herself, she looked up and read the charts and diagrams on the walls. Female reproductive organs, various stages of cancer cells, STD Clinics, birth control.

“Ha! I wonder what they do to prevent ghosts from impregnating you!”

A woman had designed the office, Diane was sure of that. The exam table was oriented so the head was near the door and the stirrups faced the back wall. No one would be getting a free shot up her gown when the door opened, and that gave Diane some comfort. An ultrasound machine on a rolling cart was on the side of the table to her left, and the monitor was extended so that both she and the doctor would be able to view it comfortably. She laid her head back on the pillow and sighed. Thankfully, the door opened in just a few minutes.

“Ms. Russell?”

“Yes,” Diane said, “Oh, you’re not my regular doctor.”

“Hi, I’m Dr. Pachla. Dr. Muzquíz is doing a c-section right now, and he asked me to step in.”

“Great. That’s good,” Diane sighed with a smile. Dr. Pachla raised her eyebrow, but decided not to pursue that issue.

“Well, let’s get started. First of all, it’s confirmed. It’s a strong, positive pregnancy. How about if we do an ultrasound and see how you’re doing?”

“Okay, sure.” Diane’s face became expressionless.

Dr. Pachla helped Diane to arrange her legs and drape the gown so she would be comfortable. She warmed the lubricant and the wand so it wouldn’t give her patient a cold shock. Monitor on, commands into the keyboard, printer on. Diane watched every move, trying to look at everything except that monitor.

“There’s the heartbeat. Can you hear it?”

Diane nodded slowly, but did not smile. She started breathing rapidly.

“Okay, Ms. Russell, you need to slow your breathing. Just relax. It’ll be fine. I promise.”

Diane did her best to comply.

“Look, there’s the spinal column. It looks like a little pearl bracelet, you see? I can’t tell the sex yet,” Dr. Pachla squinted at the screen as she moved the wand around to get a better view. “I’d say the baby is about eight to ten weeks along.”