A Man Downstairs by Nicole Lundrigan

Author:Nicole Lundrigan [Lundrigan, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Published: 2024-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

THEN

•

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Gil

“I’m Late,” Edie said, her hand grasping the bathroom doorframe. “With…you know.”

The floor beneath Gil tilted. “Late? How long?”

“Six days.”

He had to sit down. “And you think that’s significant?”

He already knew the answer to that question. Edie was still using contraceptive pills. Once Gil’s anger had subsided that afternoon a few months ago, he’d switched them back. Dumping the vitamins and returning her prescription to the carousel. Then he’d tucked the disk inside the gaudy vest where he’d found it. He could not do that. Lay down a barbed hook and wait for her to step on it.

Instead, gastroenteritis was what had caused the gap in protection. An outbreak of a stomach virus had ripped through the high school, and Edie picked it up. For several days, she stayed in bed with a moderate fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. Managing only ginger ale and saltine crackers.

“I mean, sure. Yeah, I think it’s significant. It’s always sort of regular?”

“Oh,” he said, taking slow sips of air. “Okay.” He brought his hand to the side of his neck, could feel his blood pumping beneath his fingers. He looked at Edie, but it was not just his wife standing in front of him now. There was a grouping of new cells concealed somewhere in the warm folds of her insides. A cluster that would turn into a baby.

A hard cramp began to build inside his chest. He slid his hand from his neck to his forehead. This is joy, he thought. This is the most painful joy.

“Give me one sec,” he said as he stood up on wobbly knees, made his way past her and into the bathroom. He could hear his own laughter, downy soft, hanging in the air behind him. Closing the door, he opened the medicine cabinet. Sorted through the bottles. The one containing Valium was empty, so he swallowed a Librium with a scoop of water from the tap.

Several minutes passed, and she rapped on the door. “Gil?”

“Sorry,” he called out. “It’s nothing. Had to rush.”

“Is it the same stomach flu like I had?”

“I—maybe. Probably not.” He knelt on the floor of the bathroom, waiting for the vibration in his body to shrink. Down to a singular germ of happiness that did not threaten to split him in two.

When he emerged moments later, he clutched Edie’s hand, then put his arms around her. “I’ll be damned,” he said. “You’re feeling well?”

“I suppose so.”

“After all these months of waiting. This is the best news. You’ll have to go for a blood test. Straight away.”

“Yeah. I know.”

He sat back on the bed, tugged her toward him. Wisps of her feathered hair tickled his face. “They used to use a rabbit, if you can believe it.”

“For a blood test?” She was sitting on his thighs, her back to him. He slipped his hands around her waist. Felt her hip bones, the flatness between them. No swelling yet, but soon enough. Soon enough.

“No. To confirm things. Inject them with a woman’s urine, and then they check to see if the ovaries enlarge.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.