Bridget began to help Beth into the gown as she reassured her. “As long as you take care of yourself, there’s no medical reason you can’t travel up until the seventh month of your pregnancy.”
Beth’s tears started again, this time running silently down her face. “Pete and Iris—they say my parents don’t want me.”
Bridget tied the gown at Beth’s neck and back, noting her trembling. She’d mention the patient’s anxiety to Dr. Sampson. Hysterics weren’t at all uncommon in newly pregnant women, and he most likely wouldprescribe a sedative. “Sit tight,” she directed. “I’ll go see what’s keeping the doctor.”
“Please”—Beth grabbed Bridget’s wrist—“don’t tell them I told you.”
Alarm prickled through Bridget at the urgency of the girl’s grip. “Of course not,” she reassured the girl. Beth was surely overreacting, and anyway, it wasn’t any of Bridget’s business. Bridget left the room with a frown and ran straight into Nurse Larkin.
“Is there a problem, Reilly?”
“Not at all,” Bridget answered. Nothing she couldn’t handle on her own.
Larkin looked at her watch. “Don’t dillydally, you have other duties to attend to.”
Bridget watched Larkin walk briskly down the hall with a prickle of unease. Was she really as uncaring as Larkin? She checked the front desk, guessing that Dr. Sampson would be lounging there, trading jokes with Beckett or flirting with Finch. The desk was empty and she clenched her teeth. Could he be speaking to the Henshaws? Her rubber-soled shoes were silent as she approached the door to the waiting room.
“Iris, she’s not going to stop trying to run away.”
Bridget froze. That was Mr. Henshaw’s gruff voice.
“Please, Pete. Let’s take her to my brother’s old place.” The older woman’s voice was pleading. “Nobody would find us there.”
Bridget stepped out of the Henshaws’ sight. Were they talking about Beth?
At that moment, Dr. Sampson came out of the second exam room and opened his mouth to speak to her. Bridget put her finger to her lips with an urgent look.
“I’ve lost both my boys, Pete.” The woman’s voice rose and was choked with emotion. “I can’t lose my grandchild.”
Dr. Sampson’s brows came together. Bridget peeked around the doorframe to see Mr. Henshaw put his arms around his wife. “That’s what we’ll do then,” he said, his voice surprisingly gentle. “We’ll take her to Wyoming until the baby is born.”
Bridget met Dr. Sampson’s surprised gaze.
“But we’ll keep the baby, Pete, won’t we?” Mrs. Henshaw choked out.
“Yes, Iris,” Mr. Henshaw said. “I just want you to be happy.”
Bridget’s gaze met Dr. Sampson’s. Beth Henshaw hadn’t been hysterical at all. Bridget hurried back toward the examination room, motioning for Dr. Sampson to follow. Outside the door, she gave him a whispered explanation of what Beth had told her.
They entered the examination room. “Beth, you remember Dr. Sampson?”
Dr. Sampson sat beside Beth and took her hand. “Tell me what’s troubling you, Beth.”
Beth swallowed and looked unsure. “Pete and Iris—they say my parents don’t—that they won’t want me. They say I have to stay with them or I won’t have anywhere to go. I don’t have any money and—with Dell gone—” She gulped a sob. “I don’t have anyone else.”
“Last week, when you came in,” Dr. Sampson asked gently, “were you trying to get home?”
She nodded. “I used the last of my pin money to get a train ticket. But Pete found me. Then I tried to hitchhike and that’s when I—” She gulped. “That’s when I fainted. Since then they haven’t let me out of their sight.”
Bridget gave Beth a tissue. From what they’d heard in the waiting room, the Henshaws had every intention of keeping her child.
“Have you tried to contact your parents?” Dr. Sampson asked.
Beth wiped her eyes and went on in a choked voice. “My mom and dad don’t have a telephone, but I wrote to them after Dell died.” She shook her head and clasped her hands together. “They didn’t write back, but if I talk to them... if they know about the baby...” She put her hand protectively over her flat stomach. “I think they’ll take me back.”
Dr. Sampson nodded. “I think so, too, Beth. And if you want to go home, we’ll help you.” Dr. Sampson looked at Bridget. “Won’t we?”
Bridget looked from the questioning gaze of the doctor to the miserable girl. This was certainly not Bridget’s business. And not the job of a physician, either. And yet, how could she refuse?
