The door opened and in walked Amanda's doctor. She was an older woman with a kind face and gentle smile. She had been Amanda's doctor when she found out she was pregnant with Jesse.
"Hi Amanda."
"Hello Dr. Emerson," Amanda said, giving her a small smile.
"How are you feeling today?"
"I've been better."
"I understand." Dr. Emerson turned to face Sonny. "And you are?"
"Dominick Carisi, ma'am but please call me Sonny," he said, standing and extending his hand. Dr. Emerson took it and gave him a firm handshake. She then turned back to Amanda.
"So congratulations are in order."
"I figured," Amanda said, glumly.
"Everything okay, Amanda? I know you only had Jesse a year ago, but sometimes it can be a blessing to have two children so close in age," Dr. Emerson said as she sat down across from Amanda and Sonny.
"It's not that. I need to know how early the baby can be tested."
"For what?" Dr. Emerson asked.
"Paternity," Amanda said quietly. Sonny took her hand.
Dr. Emerson looked from Amanda to Sonny and back. "I see. Sonny, may I have a moment alone with Amanda please?"
"Sure," Sonny said as he kissed Amanda's hand and let himself out of the room. Dr. Emerson turned to look at Amanda again.
"What's going on, Amanda?"
"It's a long story and kind of complicated."
"Amanda, I'm your doctor. Everything you say to me stays between us."
"I know."
"Then I have to ask."
"Ask what?"
"Were you raped?"
Amanda was stunned but hid behind her best poker face. "What do you mean?"
"You're asking about paternity but you are clearly in a relationship with Sonny. He seems like a nice man, which leads me to either you were assaulted or perhaps you got pregnant before you met him."
"I've been with Sonny for almost nine months."
"Again, that leads back to being assaulted."
"It's a long story."
"I know."
Amanda took a deep breath. "Declan has come back to town recently."
"That's Jesse's father?" Dr. Emerson asked.
"Yeah. He was just supposed to be back to assist on a case but then he confesses this like undying love for me or something. He says he wants to be back with me and Jesse."
"But you're with Sonny?"
"Yeah. It pisses him off; I know it does especially since Sonny is another cop. First, Declan just tried to do some childish stuff but then there was one afternoon about a month and a half ago that Sonny and I got into an argument and rather than being adult about it, I got drunk in a bar."
"Let me guess, Declan showed up?"
"We were supposed to meet there anyways, talk about Jesse's birthday party."
"Did Declan rape you Amanda?"
"He saw an easy opportunity. I didn't say no and I didn't try to stop him. But it happened and after it was over, I was disgusted with myself. I thought Sonny was going to leave me, that Jesse and I would be all alone. I hate feeling that way; I wasn't raised to feel that way. But when I told him, Sonny said he wasn't going anywhere. But then he and I got, well…."
"I see. Well, to be perfectly honest, to me it sounds like you were assaulted. Being in SVU, I'm sure you know it sounds that way. But it's up to you if you're going to report him.
As far as the baby goes, we could do an amniocentesis, but you're only 3 weeks pregnant and it would be risky. It would be an even higher risk with you because of the problems you had delivering Jesse. I wouldn't recommend doing one and I would refuse to do it."
"So I have to wait until the baby is born? I can't have this hanging over my head for the next eight months."
"I didn't say that either. You know how we do the first trimester screenings?"
"Yeah."
"There's a new test out but it goes beyond the normal trimester screenings."
"How does it work?"
"We take blood from the mother and saliva from the father. IN addition to all the normal screenings, it goes further and lets you know within a 1% chance of your child having any of those diseases. It can also determine gender."
"Okay," Amanda said slowly, not sure where Dr. Emerson was going with this.
"We could use this test to help determine paternity. Of course since the test is new, most insurance plans won't cover it yet."
"This test could tell me who the father of my baby is?"
"Well what we could do was take your blood and saliva from Sonny. From there, if his Y chromosome would match the fetus, we would know that Sonny is the father and that your baby is male. But as long as some of his DNA would match the fetus, you would know that he is the father of your child. If his DNA doesn't match the DNA of the fetus, you know Declan is the father. Unless you want to get saliva samples from both men?"
"No I'm all good with that. Let's get him back in and do the test."
"Unfortunately, the test can't be performed any early than 10 weeks pregnant, so you still have to wait."
"I guess I could handle seven weeks over eight months," Amanda said.
"As soon as you are able to have it done, I'll get both you and Sonny in here. But in the meantime, you're going to need to go on restricted duty."
"Great, desk duty on top of everything else."
"I mean more than just desk duty. You're going to need to start slowing down, perhaps cutting your hours back a little. You work long days don't you?"
"Sometimes."
"I would speak to your lieutenant about getting done a little earlier in the evening, say maybe 7:00?"
"I guess I'll have to ask her."
"If there are any problems, I can account for your medical reasons."
"Thanks Dr. Emerson."
"Also, Amanda I know it's none of my business but I just have to tell you."
"Tell me what?"
"Based on what you've told me about what happened with Declan, I don't blame you for being nervous about the paternity. But I would also keep things quiet until you know for sure. Don't tell anyone that you don't absolutely have to. And if it were me, I'd report Declan. To me, it sounds like rape but you're the expert on that subject."
"Thanks Dr. Emerson."
"Just see the receptionist on the way out and she'll get you set up with some appointments. Take it easy, Amanda. We'll get to the bottom of this."
Amanda left the office and made her way to the reception desk. She didn't say a word to Sonny as she made the appointments and they left the building. Only once they were safely tucked away in the elevator did she speak.
"Dr. Emerson won't do the amino."
"Figured as much. Way to risky."
"But there is another test that takes my blood and saliva from the father. She said it might be able to help tell paternity and also tell the gender."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go back and do it."
"If I could've done it today, we would have. I have to be 10 weeks and I'm only 3 right now."
"So what do we do about Murphy?" Sonny asked as they reached the lobby.
"I'm not doing anything yet. I need to know for sure about this baby before I do anything so I don't get any more surprises. But right now I have to go talk to Liv. Emerson wants me on even more restricted duty than before."
"Is that even possible?" Sonny asked, getting into the car.
"All I know is the next eight months are going to be hell so it's probably best to stay on my good side," Amanda said as Sonny quickly moved to let her drive.