Charlotte's glaring at the two silent doctors in the room. The wait seems like three hours, not three minutes, as she sits there, her knuckles turning white from squeezing Cooper's hand so tight. She had a bad feeling about this appointment since she found she was pregnant. She's been hoping she was only being paranoid because of what happened with Amelia.
Dr. Fenton shifts on her hip and takes another look at the ultrasound. She clears her throat and looks between Charlotte and Cooper. "The ultrasound shows that your baby has something called Gastroschisis. That's just a fancy name for saying that your baby's belly didn't close properly during development, so its intestines are protruding through the hole in the abdominal wall, near the umbilical cord." She pauses. "Don't panic. The belly doesn't close completely until thirteen weeks gestation, which means that your baby may be fine. You're measuring about fourteen weeks, but since you're not sure about your last period, the baby could just be measuring big."
Cooper blinks. "What happens if she's actually fourteen weeks pregnant?"
"This diagnosis seems scary, but once the baby is born, this condition is very easy to treat. Most babies only require one surgery to put the organs back inside; however your baby's intestines are exposed to amniotic fluid, which means that they may be damaged. Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent that or know how much damage there is until after birth." Dr. Fenton pauses. "Charlotte, you'll be monitored closely throughout your pregnancy. You'll have frequent ultrasounds to make sure the baby is growing properly, and still viable."
Charlotte swallows. "Can I see—can I see the screen?"
Dr. Fenton nods and turns the ultrasound machine to face them. She points at the screen, but stays silent.
Charlotte squeezes Cooper's hand, trying her hardest not to cry. She has moisture accumulating in the corners of her eyes as she studies the screen.
Cooper tightens his grip around her hand and blinks away tears. "You're saying that the baby could be fine?"
Dr. Fenton nods. "It's possible, but if the baby turns out to have Gastroschisis, it's very simple to correct. Babies born with this condition usually don't have any other birth defects, so with surgery, most, if not all, babies have normal, healthy lives. At birth, your baby's condition will be assessed and a clearer prognosis will be made."
Cooper nods. "You're saying that if our baby was going to have something wrong with them, this would be it?"
"I'm not saying that exactly, but this condition is very easily treated, and most babies are perfectly fine afterwards."
"But everything else is normal? The baby's healthy otherwise?"
Dr. Fenton nods. "Everything else appears to be normal."
"Ok." He kisses the top of Charlotte's head and brushes his thumb against her hand. "It's gonna be ok, sweetie. The baby will be just fine."
Charlotte nods, not completely convinced.
Dr. Fenton wipes off Charlotte's stomach. "I'm going to take some blood and I need a urine sample from you, Charlotte, and then you're free to go."
Charlotte trembles and gives the doctor a slow nod. She gets up and walks down the hallway to the bathroom. She comes back a few minutes later and gets back on the table. She's silent as Dr. Fenton takes a vile of blood.
"I would like to see you every two weeks from now until your 28th week. Then we'll switch to one week visits until delivery."
Charlotte nods and takes the sonogram pictures from the doctor.
"You can make your next appointment at the front desk or call when you know your schedule," Dr. Fenton says and follows Dr. Davis out of the room.
Once the door clicks shut, Charlotte turns her head towards Cooper, sharply. "Do you think Addison can keep her mouth shut?"
Cooper raises an eyebrow. "Why?"
"'Cause she's the best and I need this baby to be ok."
"Oh, yeah, that reminds me. I wanted to ask you why Addison isn't your OB."
"We talked about this. I don't want everyone findin' out just yet, and odds are, when Addison finds out that I'm pregnant, sooner rather than later, everyone else will find out too."
He nods. "I get that."
She sighs. "Um, there's another reason, an even bigger reason."
"What?"
She lets out a breath and shifts on the exam table. "The last time Addison was—." She swallows. "She's the one that, um, she's the one who—." She trails off again and blinks. "The last time Addison examined me—down there—was the night I was raped." She finally managed to get the words out.
"Oh." He squeezes her hand.
"I'm sure Dr. Fenton is a great doctor, who is completely capable of bringing our baby into this world safely, but I trust that Addison will do everythin' she can to make sure this baby is ok. I'm 100 percent confident that she can do this, I'm only about 95 percent confident that Dr. Fenton can." She pauses. "I'll just have to get used to it."
He sighs.
"I'll be fine. It's been over a year. Besides, she won't have to check me at every appointment unless there's a problem, so I should be ok."
"You need to let Addison know all this, Char. You need to tell her how you're feeling, why she wasn't your OB in the first place, ok?"
She nods. "I will, Coop." She pauses. "I really need this baby to be ok. Mason knows I'm pregnant, Coop. I can't—tellin' him that the baby died—I—he's had enough change and dealt with enough death this past year. I can't break his heart."
Cooper nods. "Dr. Fenton says that the baby may be measuring big and that the abdomen will close on its own in a week or two."
"If it doesn't?"
"I'm scared, but maybe everything will be fine—even if the baby has this condition."
"I wanna believe you, I really do, but I just can't. Between Erica, baby Ryan, and now Pete, I just can't believe that everything will be fine."
"We just need to relax and hope for the best. Stressing over this won't do anyone any good."
"I know." She pauses. "Did I do this? Is this my fault?"
He shakes his head. "Of course not, Char. Things happen. There was nothing you could have done to stop this from happening."
"So you don't blame me?"
He sits on the edge of the table and lifts her chin with his thumb. He brushes his lips against hers and squeezes her hand. "Absolutely not, just like I wouldn't blame you if the baby doesn't survive. You didn't do this, this is NOT your fault, and I will NEVER EVER blame you for this."
She wipes away some tears that have fallen and looks at him. "I don't know what to tell Mason. We can't lie to him, we promised we wouldn't do that again, but I don't know if I can handle seein' his face, seein' that look in his eyes."
"I'll tell him. When I pick him up from school today, he's bound to ask how the appointment went, so I'll tell him then."
She nods.
He kisses her again and gets off the table.
She swings her legs around and pushes herself up. She steps closer to him and wraps her arms around him, resting her head on his chest.
He wraps his arms around her and sighs. He slides his hand up and down her back and hugs her. "I know you don't believe me, but everything will be ok—one way or the other, everything will be fine."
She doesn't want to let go. He's warm and he's comforting, but she has to get dressed and go to work. She has a busy afternoon ahead of her. She swallows and lifts her head. "We'll get through this."
He nods. "We'll get through this," he repeats.
She separates from him and takes off her gown. She puts her hand on her stomach and closes her eyes. She feels his hand touch hers as she takes a deep breath in and lets it out slowly. "Ok." She gets dressed quickly and glances down at the sonogram pictures in her hand. She looks at her watch and then at Cooper. "I have to get back to the hospital."
"Do you have time for lunch?"
"No, but even if I did, I'm not all that hungry."
He nods. "I'm not that hungry either. I just thought we could spend some time together. I'm worried about the baby and you always seem to make me feel better."
She smiles. "Sorry, but I'm really swamped."
He sighs.
"What about Violet?"
"I need you, not Violet, Char. She doesn't even know you're pregnant, so how can I talk to her about this? Besides, do you really think she'd want to listen to me talk about my baby when she's dealing with just losing Pete? Believe it or not, I'd rather be with you right now."
She smiles. "I guess I could push back my meeting an hour."
He shakes his head. "You don't have to do that. It's ok. I couldn't ask you to do that."
"I'll try to get home early if I can."
He smiles. "Try hard 'cause Mason's gonna wanna talk to you too." He kisses the top of her head and opens the door for her. "I love you."
"I love you too, Coop," she whispers and they disappear down the hallway.
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