Page 44 of Intertwined Hearts

I called in to my job and let them know I expected to be out the next day too. I wasn’t ready to face anyone. Not that any of them knew what happened, but I knew they’d ask me about my health. Physically I may be all right, but I wasn’t mentally.

When I was called back for my appointment, I put on the gown like I was told and waited for the doctor.

“Jackie, are you ready?” the doctor said after tapping on the door.

“Yes.”

She rolled in her computer, then held my hand in hers. “It’s been a rough day, I hear.”

The corners of my mouth pulled down. I was fighting to keep the tears at bay. “Yeah.”

“Tell me what happened.”

I explained it all to her. She rubbed my upper arm, then instructed me to lie back for my exam. Her fingers were cold from the gel she used to lubricate them. Then she slid the speculum inside me, making me jump.

“Relax, it’s just a normal pap I’m doing right now. Just from looking at you, I don’t see anything alarming, but I’d like to do an ultrasound to make sure your uterus looks normal. You can sit up for now.”

I pulled myself up to a sitting position, gripping the sheet tight in my hands, while I waited for her to return with the ultrasound machine.

“Okay, Jackie, are you ready?” The doctor returned with a technician and the machine.

“Yeah.”

“Go ahead and lie back down and raise the gown.”

I did as I was instructed. It didn’t take long before I heard the technician say over her shoulder to my doctor, “Here. See that?”

“What is it?”

“One second, Jackie,” the doctor said. “Mmm, hmm. And right here too.” She cleared her throat. “Have you been in an accident of some kind? Or hospitalized for some type of trauma to your stomach?”

I’d switched gynecologists after Landon. This new doctor didn’t have the history of what Landon had done to me.

“Yeah. It wasn’t an accident, though. It was an ex-boyfriend.” I really didn’t want to talk about what he’d done to me, but that didn’t seem like an option.

“Can you tell me what happened? We’re seeing some scar tissue.” I’d never imagine there’d be any scars, except the mental ones that I was convinced would never go away, but that didn’t seem like the case.

I explained what that bastard did to me after I told him I was pregnant. More of the color left the technician’s face with each gruesome detail I revealed. She looked like she was going to fall out of her chair by the time I finished talking. The doctor stood behind her with her hand over her open mouth. No words. There was nothing to say. I had picked the worst sub-human to let into my life. He turned into the vilest person I’d ever encountered. He’d beaten me like I was his enemy, not his girlfriend. He had no regard for me at all.

“I hope you reported him to the authorities,” the technician said.

“He’s in jail for what he did to me. I hope he rots in hell.”

“I’m so glad to hear you were strong enough to go through with it. Good for you,” the doctor said. “So, back to this scar tissue. I hate to tell you this, but I think that may have been a contributing factor to the miscarriage. There are a couple of non-invasive things we can try, to see if we can’t get rid of some of the really thick spots.”

“Okay. I’ll try anything.”

“Great. Go ahead and sit up, so we can discuss a few things before I get you out of here.”

The technician left the room. The doctor and I talked through the options she had for me. Both sounded like good plans, and I liked that there was no surgery involved. She did tell me it was possible that it might not work. It was possible I might not get pregnant, and if I did, I might miscarry again. Her next words floored me. I gasped and held the breath in my lungs until it hurt. She told me it was possible I may never be able to carry a baby to full-term, or even long enough to survive birth. What would I do if that happened? What would Hunter think of me?

I was willing to take my chances with anything. Hunter was the love of my life, and I had to at least try to make him a father. I wanted to make him happy.

When I left the gynecologist’s office, I made my third phone call to Dr. Reierson. I needed another session with him.

Chapter 34

Hunter

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