Chapters (82)
- Cover
- Dedication
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
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The room was silent except for an irregular click as the nurse took photos of what she was seeing on screen. Jan glanced from the screen to the nurse. Her expression was one of concentration. Jan could see the image of her baby clearly, but had no idea what the nurse was making of it.
‘How far gone are you?’ she asked.
‘Eighteen weeks, I think,’ Jan replied.
The nurse moved the transducer to a different position on Jan’s stomach. Chris gave her hand a squeeze. He was holding it quite tightly as he too concentrated on the screen.
‘Is everything all right?’ he asked after a moment.
‘It’s a boy,’ the nurse replied.
‘That’s great,’ Jan said, and could see from Chris’s expression how pleased he was.
‘I’d just like the doctor to check something,’ the nurse said, and put down the transducer. ‘It’s nothing to worry about.’
‘What is it?’ Chris asked, immediately anxious.
‘Just a precaution. Stay here, please, while I fetch a more senior colleague.’ She hurried out of the room.
Jan looked at Chris and saw his fear. ‘It can’t be much,’ she said. ‘I can feel him moving and the images looked fine to me.’
‘But this didn’t happen with your last scan,’ Chris said anxiously.
‘I know, but it does happen. I joined an online forum for mums-to-be and a lot of the women were worried when second opinions were sought. The nurses do it to cover themselves. I had to have my urine double-checked at the doctor’s when I was first pregnant.’
‘You didn’t tell me that,’ Chris said, no less worried.
‘There was nothing to tell. I gave another sample and everything was OK. It happens. I’m sure your son is fine.’
Chris’s face gave way to a small smile at the mention of his son. ‘You’re probably right. Sorry. I’m not very good at this, am I?’
‘You’re doing OK,’ Jan said.
But as the minutes ticked by, she began to share Chris’s concern. What was taking the nurse so long? Was she discussing what she’d found before coming back into the room? Could it be so bad that it had to be discussed away from them?
The door abruptly opened and the nurse returned with a colleague.
‘Hello, I’m Doctor Carter, a consultant radiologist here,’ he said. ‘Sorry to have kept you waiting, we’re very busy today.’ He threw them a reassuring smile and then began looking at the recorded images on the screen.
Jan and Chris watched him carefully as he clicked the mouse to move from one image to the next. The nurse pointed to some areas on the photos and Jan assumed that was in relation to what was causing the problem and that it had already been discussed outside of the room. Chris gave her hand another reassuring squeeze and the consultant turned to them.