Page 63 of Shark Bait

“Sounds nice. Where is Austria?”

“Above Italy on the map.”

I nod. “Italy keeps coming up.” I pick at the blanket. “It’s a beautiful country, to be sure. I wish… You know?” When he doesn’t comment, I keep quiet. He can tell something’s wrong since they sent him here for me. “Where’s Shark?”

“Who is Shark?”

I try to gauge his expression. Shark’s told me he doesn’t exist, but Tatiana knows him. I wonder if this man does, but I don’t take the chance of saying Shark’s real name.

“Shark is…” I scratch my head. “This guy I met.” That sounds lame. He’s not a guy I met. He’stheguy I met. The guy who rescued me from more than just having my baby taken away from me and probably getting killed right after I gave birth.

“Is Shark the reason you’re upset?” the doctor asks.

I shake my head.

“Is Shark the reason you won’t get the ultrasound?”

“Shark has nothing to do with it. I wasn’t taking those prenatal vitamins, you know. I was taking all the other stuff I shouldn’t have taken. I wasn’t being a very good mom.” I wipe my tears away. They just keep coming.

“You sound like a good mom to me.”

“Yeah?” He’s full of it.

He nods. “Good moms care about things you mentioned.”

Hm. He has a point. I perk up. “What about the vitamins I wasn’t taking?”

“What about them?” he asks.

“Won’t the baby miss them?”

“Did your grandma miss them?”

I smile. He’s good. “Times have changed.”

“Birthing healthy babies hasn’t changed. Women have done it since the dawn of time.”

“Without vitamins, you mean.”

He examines the bottle of vitamins I left on the desk. “But modern medicine does help. Will you start taking them?”

“I will.”

“And if I called this Shark person, would you agree to do the ultrasound?”

“No, I don’t want to see him.”

“Okay.”

“He pulled an asshole move on me today.”

“Men,” he says, shaking his head.

I giggle. “You’re a man.”

“My soul is female.”

He’s funny. I groan as I get on all fours so I can stand up.

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