Did You Get Your Period?

EPILOGUE.

Dr. Seema finally took her daughter for an ultrasound when her periods showed no inclination of ever happening again. Those days, Shweta had quit exercising following Shruti's return and had put on a bit of weight again. This weight gain had been drastic enough for her to increase two jean-sizes and during a shopping trip to the mall; the worry had returned all over again. Shweta couldn't possibly be pregnant, could she? The HCG levels in Shweta's urine had been tested and Dr. Seema had found absolutely no indication of pregnancy. And there had been the two pregnancy tests that they had purchased; both of which had been negative. It couldn't possibly be that all three manners of testing had failed them.

Seema had grilled her daughter about if she had met Vaibhav again and Shweta had vehemently denied it. There was no point in telling her mother the truth; they hadn't had sex again and Shweta had no reason to worry about the second visit. The only time she got worried was when her mother had looked at her as she got out of the changing room in the mall, wearing a stone-washed denim two sizes larger than what she previously wore and had told her grimly, "We are going to the hospital."

At first, Shweta had thought it was another emergency that her mother had been summoned for. This wasn't a rare occurrence and Shweta was used to it by now having grown around a mother who would be playing dolls with her one second and the next would be grabbing her coat as she headed out of the door, an apologetic kiss on her daughter's forehead.

"Emergency duty?" She'd asked her mother sympathetically and Seema had nodded. "Get the jeans and meet me at the car. I'll get it out of the parking and I'll be waiting at the exit."

It was only when Shweta had entered the car, her new pair of jeans in a paper-bag near her that she asked her mother, "Who is it?"

"What?" Seema had asked her distractedly as she steered the car in and out of the traffic.

"The emergency." Shweta had said, looking at her mother dubiously.

"You." Seema had replied. "You are the emergency and we are going to get you an ultrasound."

"An ultrasound?" Shweta had asked, having heard her mother use the term enough to know that it was something pregnant women did. "Do you think I'm pregnant?" She'd asked, her heart racing faster with every passing second.

"No, I don't. But it's still wise to get an ultrasound to know exactly what is going on in your body." Seema had remarked calmly.

"You mean I have cancer?" Shweta had wailed and her mother had thrown her an annoyed look.

"Don't be silly. Of course not, there could be some other benign growths in your uterus; now don't panic. Benign meaning non-cancerous. At any rate, it's better to get things checked." Seema had remarked.

"What am I supposed to do?" Shweta had said and having no time for Shweta's theatrics, her mother had waved a hand, "Keep calm while I ask Shalini to get the ultrasound done. It's going to be evident the very minute she rubs the gel on your lower abdomen and scans it."

The ultrasound had felt like an oddly soothing process; it felt orderly and calm. There was a sense of direction about the entire process: drink a lot of water, inflate your urinary bladder, get into scrubs while you were desperate to pee, allow the doctor to rub the gel on the lower part of your belly and use her scanner-thingy to press the cool gel against the surface of your belly while you control your urge to urinate via gritted teeth. In between the various hm and oh sounds that her mother and Dr. Shalini made while they looked at the screen; deducing what was going on in her uterus.

Shweta hadn't cared enough to know what was going on the moment her mother said, "It's okay. You can get up now." She bolted for the bathroom.

It was only when she had emerged from the bathroom, having relieved herself and gotten herself out of the loose scrubs and into her proper clothes, did her mother explain what was going on.