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I’m looking at my mother, who abandoned me years ago. And right now, she’s the only person that can help me with my sick patient.
Magda views me coolly. “Bring her into the back, please.”
She sweeps along, leaving me to follow her down the darkened hallway. At the first room we come to, she pushes the door open and ushers me inside. There is a small desk with a computer, a chair, and a long white cot.
While Magda pulls on a pair of latex gloves, she motions for me to put Penny down on the cot. I stare at the woman for several beats.
My mother immediately takes over the whole situation, snapping commands. “Put her down, please. And step back. I need room to work.”
Hesitantly, I set Penny down on the cot and move away from her. She clings to me, catching my hand, making sure that I don’t go far.
My breath catches in my throat. “Please,” I whisper, looking up at Magda. “Tell me that she’ll be all right.”
Magda frowns, picking up a bright pink stethoscope from the desk. She takes half a minute to wipe down the stethoscope and throw the alcohol wipe away, her movements practiced and precise.
I remember that Magda always had a meticulous manner, even when she was merely nursing one of my little brothers when we were children. Always with the same air of grace and gravity as she moves with now.
Magda presses the stethoscope against Penny’s chest over her heart, listening carefully. Her face gives nothing away as I wait, my own heartbeat thundering in my ears.
Magda moves the stethoscope around Penny’s chest, then pulls it free of her ears. “How far along is Persephone?”
“Uh…” I do a quick search of my brain. I feel so out of place, completely without the usual confidence that guides my every thought and move. “Five months, I guess?”
“And when did she last eat?”
I scrunch up my face. “Last night. She had a sandwich on the plane.”
“And ye? Did ye eat the same thing?”
A moment’s hesitation passes before I shake my head.
“No. I thought the tuna salad didn’t look very appealing. Is that what this is? Food poisoning?”
“Maybe.” Magda presses several spots over Persephone’s stomach, seeming satisfied that she doesn’t yelp or squirm. She turns her head, yelling behind her in what I assume is Norwegian. I don’t get anything from it except that I think she calls the young woman Sigrid.
Sigrid appears with an IV pole, holding a plastic bag filled with what looks like saline. She shoos me back a couple of steps and busies herself prepping Penny’s hand and inserting the IV into her. It is quick, maybe three minutes total, and then she hangs the IV bag up.
She asks Magda a question and Magda nods. Then the young woman disappears. Magda looks at me.
“Sigrid is going to draw some blood. I’m fairly sure that it’s just a really bad case of food poisoning, but I want to rule out a few major things just to be on the safe side. There is no real reason to worry but it’s better safe than sorry with pregnant women.”
“Test for everything. Spare no expense. Penny’s carrying my baby and I want to be assured that absolutely nothing bad happens to either of them.”
The last part leaves my lips, blurted without even thinking about it. Magda blinks, processing the information. She looks at me for a long beat, her eyes narrowing on my face.
“I’ll do everything that I can.” She pauses for a second. “We’ll get her comfortable. And then ye can tell me just what ye’re doing way up here, Hades.”
My stomach drops down to my feet. My first instinct is to be angry and defensive.
“Let me be clear as crystal. My priority is Penny. Without her, we wouldn’t be in this clinic. And we definitely did not come to this part of the world and walk into this clinic, hoping that we would find ye. We are not here to talk about the past or find any kind of closure. Is that understood?”
Magda pales at my tone, her expression growing hard. “And here was me thinking that ye had finally come to see me. Ye sound just like yer father, ye know.”
My face contorts. Her well-aimed arrow finds its soft target, right in the center of what passes for my heart.
“Make sure that Persephone is well cared for,” I hiss. “If she doesn’t get better, and soon, ye will see just how much like my father I can be.”
To my complete surprise, Magda flinches and turns away. She practically races out of the room, leaving me feeling rather tense.
