Charlotte Delaney has sworn off men. After one relationship disaster after another- including turning a guy gay!- Charlotte is so over the male species.
Isaac Fletcher had his heart cruelly broken. Yes, it was years ago. No, he never got over it. I...
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Sera squirmed as Ben checked her over, her lips quivering just as soon as the cold stethoscope touched her chest. I tried to shush her, calm her down, but my little girl had already decided that she wanted to cry. And cry she did. Once the first scream passed her lips, the rest flowed out soon after.
"Sorry, Ben," I apologised to the doctor, wincing at the sound of Sera making her discomfort known. "She does this with the health visitor, too. Don't take offence."
Ben laughed good-naturedly. "It's ok, I'm used to it," he smiles my way. When he turns back to Sera, he starts to pull funny faces in the attempt to get her to stop crying but it's no use. Once Sera gets an idea into her head, she'll run with it. It's a Fletcher family trait, I've decided; there's no way she gets this from me. Ben frowned as he continued to watch my little girl. "Does she ever tire or get out of breath when she cries like this?"
"Not really," I answer. "Mores the pity. Why? Should she tire? Is there something wrong?"
Since Sera was born and we brought her home, Isaac and I haven't spoken much about the VSD. For some bizarre reason, Sera having a hole in her heart didn't factor very much in our conversations, even though I know it's been in the back of my mind these past six weeks. Ben checked Sera out after she was born and everything looked good but today was our first real appointment and I was panicked.
Of course, I had read all the literature the doctors had given us and I knew what to expect but that was only ever in theory. In practice, I worried all day, every day about what could happen to Sera, which goes a long way in explaining why I loved to spend as much time with Sera as I possibly can. I think Isaac felt the same way, too, because he was always overly protective of her. If she yawned differently, if she sneezed, or if she blinked weirdly, Isaac would attempt to diagnose her with some sort of weird, little-known disease. Normally, she only did those things when her tiny body was trying to do too much in one go- she'd yawn and cough and create a tiny gurgling sound that was slightly off. It didn't mean she had contracted Leishmaniasis, whatever that may be.
"Nothing's wrong, Charlotte," Ben was quick to assure me. He reached up and tickled Sera's cheek with his index finger and I felt her jump at the contact. She stopped crying and glared at the doctor who was trying to help her. Ok, maybe that she gets from me. Ben winked at her. "Usually, babies with Ventricular Septal Defect experience breathlessness or they can get tired much quicker than babies without VSD, that's all. She's gaining weight steadily so that's a good sign. I'll try to listen to her chest again and then if she's feeling up to it, I'll do a quick scan over her heart to check for any leaks. I doubt we'll find one but we can't rule it out, alright?"
Thankfully, Sera stayed quiet and calm as Ben started his round of checks. For my benefit, he kept a running commentary, telling me that her heart sounded strong, the murmur that they'd heard in-utero had gone and that, no, there weren't any leaks that we should worry about. When he set about doing an echocardiogram, he nodded along, the smile on his face widening as he viewed the results in real time.
