Surprise Baby for the Billionaire by Charlotte Hawkes

Author:Charlotte Hawkes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-11-12T19:49:29+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

‘SO IT’S DEFINITELY this Amniotic Band Syndrome?’ Malachi gritted out, and Saskia turned to face him.

If she was feeling this numb, this out of her own body, then how must Malachi be feeling right now?

‘Can you see those weblike lines on the image?’ she managed jerkily.

‘I’m the only non-doctor in this room,’ he said pointedly.

‘Right. Sorry. Yes...’ her consultant cut in. ‘Because it’s Saskia, I forgot that you might not be following. So, ABS is caused by thin strands of the amniotic sac which have separated and are wrapping around parts of the baby.’

‘But it’s a fluid?’ he frowned. ‘Amniotic fluid. It’s meant to protect the baby.’

Saskia shook her head, unable to speak. She’d had to pass bad news on to parents and guardians countless times, keeping level-headed in some incredibly high-pressure situations. But this time she was on the other side of the fence. She couldn’t even begin to think straight, let alone make her voice form the words to explain.

‘Think of it this way,’ the consultant interjected gently. ‘Two membranes form around the embryo to protect it during gestation, the amnion and the chorion—almost like one balloon being blown up inside another. In between the two is a sticky substance which allows these two membranes to fuse together, usually by week fourteen.’

‘But in this case they haven’t,’ he stated flatly.

‘Right—and sections of the amnion have broken away in long, fine strands. These strands can wrap around the foetus, entangling digits, limbs or other parts of the developing baby.’

‘We’re at seventeen weeks. Why wasn’t this spotted earlier?’ he demanded, and Saskia could read the fear and frustration in his voice.

It echoed her own.

She reached out her arm stiffly to touch his.

‘The strands are so fine that they can be hard to spot on ultrasound, Malachi,’ she whispered. ‘A diagnosis is usually made by observing the birth defects caused by ABS.’

He turned his head to look at her, and for a moment they didn’t feel like two strangers who had made a baby during a one-night stand. They felt like a unit. A team.

‘Like these masses on the baby’s left hand and foot?’

‘Yes,’ the consultant confirmed. ‘And the club foot we’ve seen today.

Malachi turned back to face the woman, away from Saskia. There was no need for Saskia to feel the loss so acutely. Yet she did.

‘We...we were intimate,’ he bit out at length. ‘Last week...’

‘No,’ the woman shook her head firmly. ‘We don’t always know what causes chorioamniotic separation, but usually—that is, in about eighty-five percent of cases—it is invasive foetal surgery. Either way, it won’t have been sexual intimacy.’

He still looked rigid, as if he wasn’t convinced that he wasn’t somehow to blame. Saskia wanted to say something but she didn’t know what. She didn’t know how.

‘So what now?’ he demanded abruptly.

Something surged through Saskia. She couldn’t have said what it was, but it lent her strength suddenly.

‘I want surgery.’

‘That’s what I would advise,’ the consultant agreed. ‘Though we need to discuss the risks.’

‘I know the risks.’

Galvanised, Saskia leaned forward, as though that would somehow better convey her desire.

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