Page 41 of Be With Me
“He asked how long I’d been home from deployment and when I said about two months, he grinned at me. I almost punched him. His next words though? Why didn’t you tell me that you were pregnant, Debs? I can’t wait to start a family with you,” Luny finished and kissed her knuckles again.
“But I’m not pregnant,” Debbie argued. She would know if she was pregnant. Her period was due next week. Last month was a bit light but with her schedule and the changes with Luny home, she thought nothing of it.
“Yes, you are,” Mark corrected from the curtain. “We ran a standard urine test before we gave you anything. When it came back positive in what must be a record, we drew a blood sample. Your HCG numbers were sky high. I’d like to do an ultrasound just to rule out anything abnormal. My friend Craig is on duty tonight, you’ve met him. He’s the chief resident for OB. Want me to see if he’s available?”
Debbie saw Luny’s head turn to her so fast she thought he’d give himself whiplash. The expression on his face was so hopeful, there was no way she could say no.
“Could you see if he has time?” Debbie asked.
Mark smiled and nodded. “I’ll be right back.”
Debbie squeezed Luny’s hand. “I wasn’t keeping it from you. I didn’t know I was pregnant. I’ve been more tired than normal but I just figured I wasn’t sleeping the best since I’m still adjusting to you being home.”
Luny leaned over and kissed her thoroughly. “Eww, how can you kiss me? I threw up at least three times,” Debbie said as she pulled back.
“You swished with water before getting in the car at the hotel,” he told her.
“Mrs. Luna,” a voice said from outside the cubicle.
“Please come in,” she responded and the curtain moved aside.
Two men in scrubs entered. One pushing a portable ultrasound. “I’m Craig Devers, chief resident upstairs. This is my intern, Brennan. Mark gave me a call and asked that we just do a check since you didn’t realize you were pregnant and your levels were on the higher side. Between your numbers and the little bump I can see, I’m going to try an external instead of subjecting you to an internal if that’s okay with you? We might get lucky.”
“Please and thank you for coming down so fast. I know things can’t be slow upstairs.” Debbie shifted the sheet and pulled up her gown, baring her stomach. Maybe that bump she noticed earlier wasn’t her gaining weight.
Devers moved to the side opposite Luny and reached to plug the ultrasound in above her head. While he was doing that, the intern took out some wipes and cleaned off the probe before handing it and a bottle of gel to the doctor.
“Okay, sorry but this is going to be cold,” Craig said before squirting the gel on Debbie’s stomach. He wasn’t kidding, it was cold enough that she jumped. “Let’s see if we can see what’s going on in there.”
The monitor screen was turned away from them so Debbie couldn’t see anything. Craig ran the wand over her stomach and clicked away at the keyboard for a few minutes before pausing and moving the wand to another position and pressing hard.
“Ow,” Debbie said without thinking.
Craig apologized without looking away from the monitor. “Sorry. I want to make sure what I’m seeing is correct before I say anything. Brennan, take a look,” he instructed the intern. “See here?” He pointed at the screen.
“Oh yeah, that’s pretty clear from that angle,” Brennan agreed.
“Excuse me, Doc? If you or your intern don’t start talking in plain English, quickly, I know a few Delta Force guys that wouldn’t mind putting a hurting on you and no one would ever know they were there,” Luny threatened.
“Sorry, Mr. Luna, Mrs. Luna,” Craig apologized again. “I haven’t had the opportunity to have Brennan see this on ultrasound so early.”
“And?” Debbie was worried now that there was something not right. “What’s wrong?”
“Absolutely nothing is wrong. It looks like you’re pregnant with twins which would explain your high levels this early. They seem to be measuring at about seven weeks. Congratulations.”
Debbie wasn’t sure she heard him correctly and repeated, “Twins?” just as she felt a pull on her hand and heard a thud. Her big bad MP husband had fainted.
