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‘Everything okay?’
‘I think so. I have a long list of instructions. You’d like them; they use words like exercise and vitamins.’
‘That’s my language,’ he agreed. ‘Are you ready? We’ve still got an hour and a half until the meeting.’
‘I’ve just...’ Polly waved towards the nurse. ‘A scan. To check everything is, you know, okay. I won’t be long.’
‘You’re very welcome to come with us,’ Sasha said with a bright smile. ‘Ready to meet baby?’
Confused words of refusal rose to Polly’s lips but when she started to speak nothing came out. Of course she didn’t need company but it might be nice to have some backup, someone to reassure her that she wasn’t imagining the whole thing.
Indecision was writ clearly on his face as he ran a hand over the dark stubble. ‘Why not?’ he said after a moment.
‘No, don’t worry,’ she began but he was already on his feet.
‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Let’s go and see who’s been causing you so much trouble.’
* * *
Gabe had seen more than his fair share of scan pictures. From the moment of his eldest niece’s conception it felt as if he had been asked to admire thousands of fuzzy pictures of alien blobs. It wasn’t just his family; more and more friends and colleagues were replacing their social media ID photos with what, he was fairly sure, was an identikit picture.
Secretly Gabe wondered if the whole thing was a scam, if there was just one photo that had been mocked up several years ago and was palmed off on every expectant couple. They probably made a fortune out of it.
The nurse led them into a small room. A chill shivered down Gabe’s spine and his stomach clenched. The dull green walls, the blind at the window, the metal bed surrounded by machinery. It was a different country, a different patient and yet utterly, achingly familiar.
Old pains began to pulse in his limbs, scars to throb. He swallowed hard, trying to control his breathing. A cool hand touched his arm. Gabe braced himself for pity.
But all there was in the clear blue eyes was understanding. ‘You can wait outside,’ Polly said softly. ‘It’s fine.’
How did she know? How could she know?
He took a deep breath. ‘I’m okay. Makes a nice change to not be the one on the bed.’
The hand lingered, squeezed. ‘Thanks.’ She didn’t say anything else, just sat on the bed, her hands clasped, and waited for instructions.
Gabe folded himself into a chair while Polly was fussed over, the moment before frozen in his mind. He didn’t often speak of his time in hospital, those days were over, but when it did come up there were usually two reactions: cloying pity or brisk heartiness.
It wasn’t often anyone showed tact and understanding. He hadn’t expected it from Polly; she was such a cat that walked alone. Why did she hide it? The sense of humour, the love of vintage accessories, her compassion? Did she feel that the human made her weak?
‘Okay now, can you just lift your top?’ The nurse’s voice broke into his thoughts. The language was different but the tone exactly the same as the many, many nurses he had interacted with over the years: brisk, matter–of-fact.
Polly obediently rolled up the silk T-shirt, wincing as she did so, and Gabe tried not to laugh as he caught her expression—the carefully chosen top was going to get horribly creased. She was dressed for a board meeting not a doctor’s appointment. Resolutely Gabe dragged his eyes away from the long legs lying supine on the bed, only to find himself staring at a flat stomach, the colour of warm honey.
It was a completely inappropriate time to stare but he couldn’t help himself. She was on the thin side of slender, her ribs clearly visible. The cream fitted top set off the remains of her holiday tan; Gabe could hear her words echoing in his head: ‘swimming naked in the sea’. Just how much of her was honey brown?
He looked away quickly, trying to cleanse his mind of images of long limbs in clear waters, the hair floating languorously on the sea’s surface. A lithe mermaid, dangerously desirable.
‘This may be a little chilly,’ the nurse warned her—‘it’ll be utterly freezing’, Gabe translated mentally and by Polly’s quick shudder as the gel touched her belly knew he was right. ‘Okay.’ The nurse was smiling at him. ‘Ready to say hello?’
The language was cloying, the situation somewhat surreal and the nurse evidently under the assumption that he was responsible for Polly’s situation but any embarrassment dissolved the second the nurse ran the scanner over Polly’s stomach. The screen wavered for a second and then there, in sharp focus, there it was.
