Her Only Son by Shawna Platt Page A

off the charts and she tried to calm herself down. Deep breaths were becoming her specialty and she took advantage of a few more while she waited for the door to open again.
    Her eyes were closed when she heard the knock and she indicated she was ready without opening them. She heard someone enter the room, but she couldn’t will her eyes to open. She just wanted to disappear.
    A deep male voice brought her back. “Hello, Kinsey.”
    She opened her eyes, and for a moment, forgot where she was. The man standing in front of her was the most gorgeous man creature she’d ever seen and since she couldn’t find her voice, she simply smiled.
    “My name is Dr. Rayner and I’ll be performing your procedure today.”
    His words floated somewhere above her head and she tried to rein them in, but all she could focus on was the mass of flesh standing in front of her. His semi-curly dark blonde hair and athletic build was almost too much. She guessed he was in his thirties, but who knew for sure. She didn’t care.
    His voice floated around her again. “Do you have any questions?”
    She could only manage to shake her head, indicating no.
    He smiled and turned to read through her chart. She was finally able to look away and tried to focus on the wall. Her eye caught the stool that sat on the floor and a horrible thought crossed her mind. He’s going to be sitting there.
    She looked back in his direction and admired the mass of curly locks. She looked back at the stool. Oh, my god! The thought of him sitting at a bird’s eye view made her face flush. This is not going to be good.
    He put the file down as Dr. Westcott entered the room with a small vile attached to a syringe looking object. She handed Dr. Rayner a piece of paper, which he immediately looked over.
    Kinsey didn’t want to know what was inside the vile in Dr. Westcott’s hand. The thought of it made her nauseous. She turned away and focused on the wall again.
    Dr. Rayner set the paper aside and casually leaned against the counter, facing Kinsey. His eyes were bright and caring.
    Inside, Kinsey was dying. You’ve got to be kidding me! She tried to focus on his words.
    “Before we get started, I’d like to explain the basics of the procedure. It’s a simple one and won’t take long.”
    Won’t take long…focus, Kinsey.
    “We perform intrauterine insemination here. That means we’ll be injecting washed sperm directly into your uterus.”
    He pulled out a chart to give Kinsey a visual. He pointed to the cervix on the small poster. “We’ll be going through the cervix,” then ran his finger up into the uterus area, “directly into the uterus, where we’ll deposit the sperm.”
    He set the poster aside. “After the procedure, you may experience a little cramping, but if the cramping becomes intense, please contact one of us immediately.” He studied her for a moment. “Any questions?”
    Through the cervix, into the uterus. Oh, god, shoot me now.
    She finally found her voice, even though it shook. “No…no questions.”
    He smiled again and Kinsey felt her legs melt off the table. Not going to be good.
    Dr. Rayner walked to the end of the exam table. “Go ahead and lay back and place your feet in the stirrups.”
    When Kinsey hesitated, Dr. Westcott came and stood beside her, placing her hand on Kinsey’s arm. “It’s all right, Kinsey. Just try to relax.”
    Kinsey slowly lowered herself onto the table and placed her feet in the stirrups. She looked down at the end of the table and saw Dr. Rayner’s face smiling up at her. Dear God in heaven.
    His voice was gentle as he spoke. “Go ahead and slide down to the end of the table and try to relax.”
    That’s easy for you to say. She did as she was asked and felt even more exposed. Dr. Westcott took her hand as Dr. Rayner took the syringe off the tray. He pushed the stool to the end of the table and Kinsey felt one of his hands on the inside of her thigh. She closed her eyes and tried not to think