One You Never Leave by Lexy Timms Page B

a thousand friends here. With a list like that, how can you keep up?”
    A knock on the door interrupted their conversation, and a young doctor entered.
    “Hi, Emily. I’m Doctor Emerson, the resident for maternity.”
    “Hi!” Emily waved and pointed. “This is my husband, Luke.”
    “Nice to meet you. Emily, I talked with your OBGYN, Doctor Shoo, this morning and we talked about your case. How’re you feeling?”
    “I’m better.” At this point, Emily would say anything to get out of here.
    “The nurse reported you had a headache.”
    “It’s better now.”
    He scrunched his face as he examined her chart. “Still, we don’t want to take any chances, so I’m ordering an ultrasound today, and some blood tests. When did you take the blood pressure medicine?”
    “An hour ago.”
    “Well, it takes a while to start working. I’m sure we’ll see results by the end of the day. In any case, I expect we’ll send you home later and get you set up with some monitoring at home.”
    “What kind of monitoring?” asked Luke. He stood with his arms crossed, looking over this doctor who couldn’t be older than him.
    “We have a service where we can weigh Emily, and check her oxygen levels and her blood pressure though equipment we set up in your home. It’s just an added precaution and gives us baseline numbers to treat her condition. At twenty-seven weeks, it’s just too early to induce labor. We need to get you through another seven weeks at least before we can do that for the baby to be healthy. We’ll have to watch you carefully.”
    “Thirty-four weeks, isn’t that too early?” said Emily.
    “It’s going to depend on how you do, Emily. While we want to keep the baby in you for as long as possible, sometimes it’s just better to deliver the baby rather than stress the child and you. Every week longer we can keep the baby in you is better for the baby. But if your health is endangered, that’s not good either.”
    Emily took a deep breath and Luke put his arms around her shoulders. “Is this going to happen again if I have another baby?” asked Emily.
    “The odds are against it. Many women who have this condition with their first baby never see it in other pregnancies.
    “That’s good to know,” said Luke. He was trying to keep his tone positive for Emily’s sake but his insides churned with worry.  “Another baby, eh?” He grinned at her.
    “So,” said Doctor Emerson, “let’s get these tests done, and we’ll go from there.”
     
    *  *
     
    Emily and Luke returned from the ultrasound. Luke had heard the baby’s heartbeat. He’d heard it before, but somehow, after everything the past few days, it only made the child that much more real. When the nurse asked if they wanted to know what they were having, he and Emily had both said yes without hesitation. It was then, looking at the fuzzy shapes on the screen that was their baby, that it hit Luke hard.
    He was responsible for a new human being.
    And then another thought.
    “A boy. We’re going to have a boy.”
    The thought thrilled and terrified him.
    One part of his brain thought of all the things he’d do with his son, teaching him to ride a bike, baseball games, teaching him how to repair motorcycles. In his mind, he saw the boy growing up. He had Luke’s dark hair, but Emily’s blue eyes, and maybe he was a little rebellious, like his old man, but he respected his father too. He would love his mother passionately, but complain that she fussed over him too much. He wouldn’t keep his room clean, which would annoy his mother, but Luke would understand. When he was a teenager, he’d play his music too loud, which would annoy Luke. But Emily would tell Luke to lighten up on the boy, that Luke had played his music loud too when he was that age. Luke would be terrified the first time his son rode a motorcycle on his own, but proud of him too. When he went to college, Emily would cry, and so would Luke, but not so his wife would see