Chapter 2 - The baby was still safe
I called Kerensa’s obstetrician from the driveway.
We went directly to the hospital.
Not home.
Not a hotel.
Not a lawyer’s office.
The maternity triage unit placed Kerensa on fetal monitoring because she had fallen after blunt impact to her legs and back.
Her obstetrician, Dr. Elaine Porter, examined her.
No vaginal bleeding.
No fluid leakage.
No regular contractions.
Fetal heart tracing reassuring.
Ultrasound showed no obvious placental separation, though Dr. Porter explained that ultrasound cannot rule out every small abruption.
So Kerensa stayed for observation.
Blood work.
Repeat abdominal examination.
Monitoring.
Her shins were bruised.
Lower back sore.
One hip tender from the fall.
No fracture suspected clinically.
No indication for unnecessary imaging.
The baby kept moving.
Kerensa did not relax until she felt a strong kick under my palm.
Then she looked at me.
“You bought the house?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Seven months ago.”
Her expression changed.
“You never told me.”
“I was going to.”
“That sentence should be carved on your forehead.”
Fair.
I sat beside her.
“My father was in trouble.”
“What kind?”
“Financial.”
“And you bought his house?”
“Yes.”
“The house we have been living in?”
“Yes.”
“From him?”
“Yes.”
“Does Lenora know?”
“She signed an occupancy acknowledgment at closing.”
Kerensa stared.
“So she knows.”
“She knows title changed.”
“She just told me she could throw me out.”
“Yes.”
“Why are movers there?”
“The leaseback ends today.”
She closed her eyes.
“You knew they were supposed to move today.”
“Yes.”
“And you left me there alone?”
That landed.
“I thought they accepted it.”
“You thought wrong.”
Again.
Fair.
Then she said:
“Hadrian, your father told me to deliver our baby and leave.”
“I heard him.”
“He wasn’t bluffing.”
May you like
I knew.
That frightened me more than Lenora’s kick.
