Close to Death by Rick Wood

Author:Rick Wood [Wood, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rick Wood Publishing
Published: 2018-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

22

Oscar’s nails had been bitten on and chewed more in ten minutes than they had in his entire life.

He sat on the edge of the chair, eagerly awaiting the verdict, desperate to hear what the doctor had to say.

April lay back on the bed. Unresponsive. In a diluted vegetative state.

Her eyes were open, but beneath them was nothing. The spritely, friendly smile and sparkling eyes that she once had – her loving, doting smiles – were gone, replaced by coldness. By absence of life. By something taking over her that he could not quite understand.

The doctor finally returned to the room and sat opposite them. She gave her a calm smile, and allowed it to spread from bouncy cheek to bouncy cheek. It gave a small amount of reassurance to Oscar, which was quickly replaced by a reminder of why he was there.

“The baby is fine,” she told him. “It’s there, its heart is beating; there is nothing wrong.”

“They why – why was she bleeding?”

“I know it’s alarming, and you absolutely did the right thing by making the emergency appointment – but you don’t need to worry. Sometimes these things can happen. They aren’t common, but they are still normal.”

“Bleeding is normal? Doctor, it was dripping down her leg.”

“Well, yes, bleeding can be a sign of something very wrong. But we have looked, and looked, and she is okay. We’ve checked for signs of vaginal infections, placental abruptions, vasa praevia – everything we can think of. Nothing.”

Oscar looked back at the doctor, unconvinced.

“I know it’s unsettling, but we have checked everything, and the baby is fine. April is fine. It may just be due to cervical changes.”

Oscar turned to April. Watched her vacant eyes stare across the room. Not moving. Not twitching. Her arms didn’t move to fidget, her legs didn’t move to gain more comfort. The only movement she made was the lethargic rising of her chest as she slowly breathed.

“You say she’s fine, but – just look at her.”

The doctor turned to look at April. She took a moment to take her appearance in, to allow herself to study April’s absent eyes and pale skin. She sighed, deciding on what words she was to use.

“Doctor? Do you really think this is normal?”

The doctor turned her gaze toward Oscar.

“It’s understandable.”

“What?”

“Pregnancy is a stressful experience, and a difficult one. April is obviously tired, and obviously finding it difficult.”

“Doctor, she’s not even aware we’re talking about her.”

In a swift, unprecedented motion, April’s head turned to face Oscar. Her eyes met his, and he saw nothing of her brightness casting a light over him.

“I’m fine,” April stated.

“Is that all you can say?” Oscar replied.

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not in the room.”

“I’m not, I’m not,” Oscar insisted, leaning forward and placing a hand on her leg. He was taken aback by how cold her skin was; it was more like he was placing his hand on an ice pack than on the leg of the loving mother of his child.

“I just need you to get off my back.

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.