Page 68 of Infinite
“You’ll just have to see, but . . . it’s starting tomorrow.”
Quinn pushes my hair back and then kisses my forehead. “Welcome back,fragolina.”
I close my eyes and snuggle in closer. It feels good to have a bit of optimism.
* * *
“And this is our lab,” Dr. Danton says as he walks me to the back.
This lab is much different from the one in New York. The biggest difference is that it’s bright. It doesn’t feel like a dungeon, and while his equipment isn’t the stuff I’m used to, they didn’t skimp either. I was at one of the top labs in the country, and this is much smaller, but it’s well done. I sometimes wondered if all the technology was really better. Our rates didn’t improve thanks to the upgrades, they improved as we developed better science.
“It’s great.” I smile, hoping he’ll see I genuinely mean it.
“We could really use your help, Ashton. The case we’re working on, Clara said you had a similar issue.”
“Yes, that patient’s egg was rejecting the sperm. It took a lot of work to figure out why.”
“Would you be willing to come on board on a temporary basis and then, if you’re happy and we feel it’s a good fit, we could talk more permanent.”
“I’m definitely fine with a temporary thing.”
He beams, and I can see this was his last-ditch effort. “I can’t tell you how much we appreciate it.”
Dr. Danton starts to fill me in on the case he needs help with. I sit, trying not to let my emotions get out of control when he gets into the patient’s history.
“She’s a wonderful woman, and I want to help her.”
I nod. “She’s young.”
“Yes, she developed ovarian cancer in her early thirties and came to me to have some eggs frozen. She had to have a full hysterectomy.” My throat goes dry as I listen to him continue on, but I put myself back into science mode. “She married her husband during her cancer treatments, it was a really scary time for them both, but about six months ago, she came to me with a surrogate.”
I nod. “But you’re having trouble with the egg fertilizing?”
He grips the back of his neck and bites his bottom lip. “Yes. It was frustrating, and she asked to wait since we’re down to one egg. She didn’t want to try again before they were able to accept this was truly her last chance.”
I know all too well about the feeling of desperation.
We talk more in depth about what they’ve tried and the issues they’ve had. I truly believe with the technique that I developed, this might work. Of course, I only have one egg to make an attempt on, but . . . they’ve yet to do it my way.
Clara was always behind me, she allowed me chances that some other doctors might not have, but I’m good at my job. I see things in a different way.
“I’d like a few weeks to really go over things, if that’s okay? You can let your patient know that it’s not for lack of confidence, but more out of being extremely cautious.”
He beams. “Wendy will be okay with that. She’s not in any rush. She’d much prefer this work so we don’t have to go with another woman’s egg.”
I try to imagine if Wendy was like me after her last failure. Did she feel like giving up? Did she think the cards were stacked against her? I wonder if she let her husband hold her as she cried or if she pushed him away. Or maybe Wendy was stronger than I ever could’ve been and got help from the beginning.
“Dr. Danton, I have a rather odd question, but do you have any kind of patient support services for your clients?”
Clara had really pushed that I see Sarina, the clinic’s therapist in New York, but I wouldn’t listen to her. Now, I’m starting to wonder if that wasn’t to my great detriment. I don’t want to go through the hassle of finding someone who understands trauma or grief, and if this center has one, then I’d probably be better off seeing her. She knows what the women go through during a miscarriage.
“We do, would you like to meet her?”
“I really would.”
“Can I be frank?”
I smile softly and brace myself. “Sure.”
