The hospital waiting room was filled with pregnant women in all stages of pregnancy. Joe sat uncomfortably next to Ariel and avoided looking around him. He saw a few of the pregnant mothers smiled and grinned at him. He lowered his gaze and pretended not to notice the whispering and chuckling among the hormone queens. One of the pregnant women came up to Ariel and asked innocently,
“Is this your first child?”
Ariel nodded without looking up, her attention was focused on the magazine she had in her hands. The pregnant woman glanced at Joe, she winked at him and with twinkles in her eyes she said loudly,
“It’s so good to see a responsible father! My friends and I were just talking about how we wish our husbands would come with us! And here you are…so young, but already a good husband. The two of you must be newly wed! You look so young!”
Joe twitched in his chair, his face flushing in embarrassment. Ariel smiled politely oblivious to the approving looks from the other women as they surveyed Joe,
“Actually he’s not…”
Joe hastily grabbed her hand and announced with a nervous smile,
“It’s our first baby…so we’re a little nervous…especially when a group of pregnant women are staring at us…”
The group of pregnant mothers laughed and teased Joe, asking if they could borrow him to be their husband for the day. Joe smiled awkwardly wondering if it was normal for pregnant women to act so strangely. He definitely did not want to say or do anything to offend them. Ariel remained quiet throughout the exchange; she had a sad wistful look in her eyes as she observed the interaction between Joe and the pregnant women in the waiting room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doctor Wong frowned as he checked the beating of Ariel’s heart. He motioned for the nurse to do a second reading. The nurse took one of Ariel’s hands and pressed her finger over the pulsing vein on Ariel’s wrist. The nurse quickly jotted down her reading and handed it to Dr. Wong.
“Ariel, how are you feeling?” He asked as he scanned over Ariel’s previous prenatal visits. The young girl shrugged,
“Fine I guess.” She answered in a tired voice.
“Wait for a few minutes; I want the nurse to run some blood test on you and the baby.” Dr. Wong said as he glanced over at the nurse. Ariel wondered if something was wrong, but she didn’t ask, she was afraid to ask. Ariel felt she was going to break down…she couldn’t take anymore bad news. She was already worried for her mom…her alcoholic father was going to be release from jail in a few more weeks…she has no doubt that he plans to contact the Cheng’s again. He was not going to be happy when he finds out she is keeping her baby…and he’s not going to get a penny for it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'
The doctor called Joe into his office. Ariel was still in the room being examined by the nurse.
“What’s wrong doctor?” Joe asked concern for Ariel and the baby.
The doctor sat behind his desk, reading over Ariel’s file again.
“I am concern about Ariel’s health. She is losing a lot of weight and if this continues she will have a miscarriage.”
Miscarriage? Joe noticed the rapid weight loss a few weeks ago but he wasn’t sure if it was normal or not.
“Are you making sure she’s taking care of herself? Are you taking care of her?” The doctor asked sternly. Joe lowered his head in shame and avoided looking in the doctor’s eyes.
