Underwater by McDermott Julia

Author:McDermott, Julia [McDermott, Julia]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery, Psychological, Thrillers & Suspense, Psychological Thrillers, Thriller & Suspense, United States, Suspense, Thrillers, Literature & Fiction
ISBN: 9781492103868
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2013-08-21T07:00:00+00:00

At six thirty Tuesday morning, Helen woke up in a pool of warm blood.

Panicked, she called Dr. Russell’s emergency line. The doctor told Helen to come in as soon after seven o’clock as possible—Friday’s scheduled ultrasound would happen this morning. Helen cleaned up and got dressed, dropped Adele off at school, and drove as fast as she could to the obstetrician’s office. Monty met her in the waiting room, and in a few moments a nurse ushered both of them back to the ultrasound technician, who greeted them in a soothing tone.

Helen settled herself on the table, fighting back tears. There was more blood this morning than there was the first time. Monty stood by her side, his eyes glued to the monitor, not touching her. The technician started the process and the room filled with the quiet dread of impending tragedy.

Searching for clues, Helen kept her eyes trained on the technician’s face, which was stone cold and still as she studied the screen. A few seconds passed, then Dr. Russell entered the room, her eyes focused on the images of the babies. “Good morning,” she said. “Danielle?”

The technician looked up. “Good morning, doctor. We have two heartbeats, and they’re both strong.”

Dr. Russell grabbed Helen’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “All’s well. No worries. What do you think happened to cause the bleeding?”

“I don’t know,” said Helen, her eyes glassy.

Dr. Russell smiled. “You need to take things easier. Do you have help with your toddler?” She glanced over at Monty.

“She goes to day care while I’m at work.”

“What about when you’re not at work?”

Helen shut her eyes. “She’s not that much trouble. Really.”

“Well, you need to let others help you with her. Like your husband.” She turned to face Monty. “You can do that, can’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Good. You both know that this is a high-risk pregnancy—all multiples are. We all need to work together to make sure everything goes well, and Helen gets as close as possible to her due date. That means a lot of rest, and less stress. Okay?”

Monty nodded, narrowing his eyes.

Dr. Russell turned back to her patient. “Helen, you’re not going to work today. I want you to rest for the day and don’t go back to your regular schedule until you’ve seen no blood for twenty-four hours. Now, would you two like to know what they are? Or not?”

“Yes,” said Monty.

Helen nodded.

“Paint the room blue!”

“Both boys?” asked Monty.

Dr. Russell smiled and nodded at Helen.

Thirty minutes later, as they rode the elevator down together, Monty made an announcement. “I’ve picked out their names. You named Adele, first and middle.”

They weren’t married when Adele was born. Helen was still Helen Piper, and she had named her baby Adele Marie Piper. When Monty became her husband, they had changed the surname to Carawan.

Monty watched the floor numbers change and spoke again, almost talking to himself. “Broden Henry, and Parker Owen. We’ll call them Brody and Park.”

Helen gave him a quizzical look. “How did you come up with those?”

“They’ll play football, too.

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