Count on Me by Kathryn Shay

Author:Kathryn Shay [Shay, Kathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: troubled teens, Kathryn Shay, high school drama, teacher series, Teachers, doctors, Bayview Heights trilogy, backlistebooks, emotional drama, Contemporary Romance
Published: 2011-10-31T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

KURT LEANED BACK in his office chair and scrubbed his hands over his face. He felt eighty-six, not forty-six. The week had been tough—and it was only Wednesday; he was also dreading the long Veterans Day weekend to come. He’d forfeit his stock portfolio, his house and even his boat if he could just spend the three days with Zoe.

Julia skidded to a halt in front of his office doorway. Always sassy and pert, today she looked frazzled—her blue eyes wide and frightened, her hair askew. “Dr. Lansing, come quick.”

Bounding out of the chair, he hurried to the door. “What’s happened?” he asked as he accompanied her down the hall.

“It’s Ashley.”

“Ashley?” The girl had been overwrought for almost two weeks. He’d spoken with her several times, using her obvious ambivalence to encourage her to talk to her parents about her situation. Again she refused.

“She’s...something’s happened...” Julia stopped at the ladies’ room. “She said to get you.”

Kurt pushed open the door and rushed inside. Ashley was slumped in front of a stall. She was doubled over and clutching her stomach.

He dropped to a knee beside her. “Ashley, what’s wrong?”

“I didn’t want to. I really didn’t.”

His heartbeat escalated. “Didn’t want what?”

“An...an abortion.”

His mind whirled. Gently he stretched her out as best he could to diagnose the problem. It was then that he saw the blood staining her tan jeans. “Julia,” Kurt said calmly. “Run and get Johnny. Tell him to bring the gurney in here.”

Julia flew out the door.

Moaning, Ashley brought her knees to her chest.

“Ashley, did you go somewhere for an abortion?”

She stared at him with glazed eyes. Finally she shook her head.

“Did you do something to yourself?”

Tears formed in her eyes. “I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to,” she repeated.

He steeled himself against the fear that she might have taken things into her own hands. Whipping off his suit jacket, he stuffed it under her head. He crooned soft words to her and waited for the gurney.

Johnny burst through the door in minutes. His face was composed, but his eyes were worried. “What happened?” he asked Kurt as they went into action. Behind him stood Shondra, along with Julia.

“I don’t know. She’s about two and a half months pregnant. Or at least she was.” Kurt filled Johnny in as they lifted Ashley onto the gurney. Behind them, the girls gasped.

Quickly Johnny covered Ashley with a sheet. “Miscarriage?” he asked Kurt.

“I don’t know.” Placing themselves at each end of the gurney, they headed out. “I hope so.”

Luckily the hallway from the clinic connected directly to the hospital’s ER. Shondra and Julia held hands and followed.

Curled into a fetal position, Ashley was sobbing by the time they arrived.

“What’s her situation?” the attending nurse asked as she came around to the front of the desk to check Ashley.

“Pregnant seventeen-year-old. Miscarriage or induced abortion. We’re not sure.”

“Abortion?” the admitting receptionist asked. Vaguely Kurt recognized her.

“We don’t know. Just get her inside and find an ob-gyn to examine her.” He nodded to the girls.

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