Page 98 of Agony of Our Regret

There could be several reasons, most of which weren’t an emergency.

We were going to get checked out and confirm everything was fine.

Because it was.

Luckily, there wasn’t too much traffic on a Saturday morning, and we got to the hospital in just a few minutes.

A nurse was waiting with a wheelchair and greeted us with a smile. “Avalon Bradley?”

“Yes.” I sat, and Noah put my bag on my lap before we turned and headed inside.

“You’re at thirty-seven weeks?” she asked, as we hurried down a hall.

“Tomorrow, I will be.”

“Any cramping?”

Now that she asked, I noticed some pain. “A little.”

“Pain on a scale of one to ten?”

I took a moment to focus on that and not the panic I was desperately fighting back. “Maybe a three or four?”

Not enough to freak out over. If I hadn’t bled, I would just stay in bed or relax on the couch until it went away.

“Let me know if that changes.” She stopped inside an exam room and helped me stand and scoot onto the table. She went through the standard procedures of taking my temperature, blood pressure, and oxygen levels before starting the questions as she moved to stand in front of the computer.

“When did the bleeding start?”

“Overnight? I’m not sure exactly when. I woke up, and there was a stain on the bed and my pants.”

“It was still wet,” Noah added. “So, it must have been fairly recent.”

I cringed at the idea of him touching the spot, but it was good information to know.

She nodded and typed before looking at me. “And you’re still actively bleeding?”

“Yes.”

“More than spotting?”

“Yes. I’d say something more like a normal period.”

“And is the color bright or dark?”

“Bright.”

“Did anything happen that might have led to the bleeding? Did you fall or have sex recently?”

Noah’s eyes widened. “Sex can cause bleeding?”

We’d slept together last night, but I never felt discomfort. We used a position recommended in one of the baby books for the third trimester.

She took him in and immediately began reassuring him. “Not usually to this extent without Avalon also going into labor.”

He turned to me. “Could the pain be contractions?”

How was I supposed to know? This was my first time experiencing any of this.

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