Chapter 46: What Happened?
January 22
Emma ran the transducer over Amelia's baby bump and incision area attempting to make sense of the pain Amelia had described. "Do you see that?" Emma asked both doctors as she stopped moving the transducer and pointed to a clear white sac.
"Eeewwwww…it's an abscess, isn't it?" Amelia guessed as her expression turned sour. Oliver enjoyed watching the ultrasound, but the discussion distracted him. He ended up shifting his gaze back and forth based on who was speaking.
Instinctually and unconsciously, Owen went into doctor mode and confirmed Amelia's dramatic diagnosis, "It is. Emma, is it small enough to use percutaneous drainage?"
Amelia caught the first name usage, whereas the other two did not. Simply noting it so she could ask Owen about it later, Amelia returned her attention back to the abscess.
"It is absolutely worth a try," Emma affirmed, "We can even go in today. I'm going to start some wide-spectrum IV antibiotics right away. Ideally, we'll clear it up before Baby 2 arrives. If not, the regular incision site for the C will be relocated. After the baby is born, the surgeon can address the abscess internally while Mom remains open on the table. I'm relieved that it is outside the uterus – that means there's less likelihood of passing anything to the baby."
"I agree," Owen responded to Emma.
Emma noticed that Amelia was not very engaged in the conversation, so she asked her, "Are you copacetic with that plan as I just described it, Amelia?"
Amy was wondering about the comfortable way that Owen and Emma connected. Screaming internally, Amelia had an instant epiphany and declared to herself, He slept with her! Holy crap! That's it. Thoroughly distracted, Amelia replied, "Sure. When will you aspirate?"
Owen was perplexed that Amelia asked about aspiration when they had just mentioned percutaneous drainage – a more invasive process. Trying not to speak to her simplistically, but not understanding how she came up with her off-topic question, Owen decided to hold his tongue. Amelia had been angry at him plenty in the last week or so and he didn't need to add fuel to the fire. Letting Emma field a response, he looked at her and raised his eyebrows in anticipation.
Emma simply brushed by the mistake and explained, "I wish we could aspirate, Amelia, but we're draining instead. The spot doesn't lend itself to aspiration."
Amelia was lost in her thoughts, I wonder how their sex life was? Or if they had one? Maybe it was just one time. Nah…there's too much synchronicity for just a one-night stand. They were grooving. Hmmm… I wonder if he misses sex with her. She looks pretty vanilla. How boring. How serious were they? Did they date for a long time? I wonder how they met. Did she approach him or vice versa?
It was obvious Amelia was not tuned in to the conversation. Owen leaned toward his wife and waved his hand in front of her eyes to shift her attention, "Amy? Aims? Are you with us?"
Amelia blinked a few times, shook her head, and grinned, responding, "Sorry. Yeah, aspiration. No problem."
Emma repeated her last sentence about draining and Amelia shrugged, "Whatever. Do what you need to do."
"Great!" Emma repeated a little too enthusiastically, "I'll step out and work out the logistics." Owen stood, thanked her, and shook her hand, letting his eyes melt into hers a little too long.
"Thanks, Dr. Marley," Amelia interrupted. Emma smirked and left the room.
Amelia began her investigation without delay, "Oliver, can you go over to the baby and see if Ellie is sleeping?" Oliver jumped off Owen's lap and walked over to his sister. Mumbling, Amelia playfully sought to confirm her suspicions, "You slept with her, didn't you?"
"What?! Huh?" Owen feebly attempted to deny it as he moved his eyebrows close to one another and widened his eyes. "What are you talking about? I sleep with you." Owen gently touched Amelia's nose with the tip of his index finger.
"I don't mean an affair. You slept with her before we dated, didn't you?" Amelia's eyes sparkled as she shared a sly grin.
"What makes you say that?" Owen asked as if he were asking a patient to clarify a detail.
Amelia pushed Owen's upper arm and persisted with a teasing tone, "Owen! C'mon, fess up."
Rolling his eyes and shaking his head with a grin, Owen stood up and walked over to the kids. Out of the corner of his mouth, he mumbled, "You crack me up, Amelia. You really do."
Emma walked back into the room without knocking and began to apologize, "Dr. Shepherd-Hunt, I neglected to discuss the printouts and readings with you. In order to become familiar with your situation, I reviewed the contraction print outs for the last week." Amelia confirmed her earlier suspicion: Yep, she's boring. She needs a life…or at least a resident to do her research.
Emma sat down next to Amelia and, after pausing for a moment, she continued, "Now, what I'd like to point out is this section here from about 3:15-3:35pm. These readings are from the 18th. This line here shows the baby's heartrate, and here are the contraction indicators. See the baby's heart rate increased here, here, and here? And then look below at the contraction tracking. It also increases in the same spot, which is great to see. A rise in the baby's heart rate at the beginning of a contraction is good. Since the few measurable contractions recorded appear to have been an anomaly, I'm not concerned about them. However, let's consider another nuance."
Intrigued, Owen walked over and stood by Amelia's bed. Describing her observations, Emma pointed out, "Here's what I find intriguing, Amelia." Emma clicked on a screen on the iPad and held it up. The screen showed Amelia's blood pressure and heart rate patterns. "Your BP and heartrate were increasing 30 - 90 seconds before the baby's and before the contractions. Except for this brief period of 20 minutes, you've had no contractions, no high BP or fast heart rate, and the baby's heartbeat was in what we call a stable 10 beat range before or since this episode. Any idea what was happening two days ago from 3:15-3:35? Anything unique or different? Food? Stress? Coughing fit? Anything that might affect the readings?"
Even though Emma was honestly attempting to assess the situation, Owen was horrified at her depth of questioning and analysis. The time range from 3:15-3:35 covered the period when he and Oliver were in his office. During those 20 minutes, Amelia and Owen were arguing by phone and text. He thought to himself sarcastically, Oh, Amelia, be your regular candid self and tell the kind doctor, who happens to be my ex-girlfriend, why you were so stressed. Go ahead, be frank. Tell her your husband was arguing with you and was being an ass. Let's hear it from your perspective.
Oliver, who had been listening intently from the baby's bed and attempting to soak in all of the med-speak, courteously raised his hand and asked, "Can I ask a question?"
Smiling in response, Emma nodded, and Oliver continued, "I get out of school at 2:30…well, actually, at 2:28. Maybe Mom was waiting for me. I get to come be with her, just me, after school." Concluding with a proud smile, Oliver believed he had just discovered a medical breakthrough.
Handling the situation with grace, Emma responded, "That is really smart to put together. I bet your mom couldn't wait to see you after school. Can I write that down in my notes, so I don't forget?"
"Yeah, I guess," Oliver consented casually as if he consulted on cases all the time.
With a lowered volume as a way to respect Oliver's brilliant discovery, Emma asked the couple again with growing curiosity, "So…any ideas about those 20 minutes and that particular day?"
"Let's see. You and Oliver came in here at about 3:30 that afternoon…" Amelia mused as her voice trailed off. Owen looked at his wife blankly. They both knew beyond a doubt that the readings were during their fight about discipline. Silence hung in the air, and Emma decided to let it linger.
Owen, squirming in his seat, interjected into the stillness, "Weren't you on the phone before we arrived, sweetheart?" The 'sweetheart' was so utterly non-Owen and false that both women almost broke into hysterics. Emma was skeptical and wondered what he was trying to cover up, while Amelia knew exactly what he was attempting to brush under the rug.
Smiling unconvincingly, Amelia put her open hands in front of her as if she'd just had an epiphany, "Yes." She turned to Emma and explained, "I was arguing with the cable company about our bill." Her fake laugh followed her words as she looked at Emma and continued with a shaking head, "Why are cable companies so notoriously challenging?"
Emma looked at her seriously and flatly summarized, "The event was stress induced."
"Oh, yeah, absolutely," Amelia nodded with an amused expression.
To show that his marriage was the happiest on Earth, Owen grasped Amelia's hand with both of his hands, sandwiching hers between the two of his. Passive-aggressively, Owen added with a gentle and loving tone, "You really need to watch your stress levels, sweetheart. All that arguing and emotion is just going to get you and the baby worked up." Unbeknownst to Emma, Amelia's hand sat sluggishly in Owen's grasp and Amelia could not wait to reclaim it.
Owen reached for his buzzing cell phone, leaned over to kiss Amelia's cheek and excused himself. Emma concluded her exam with her standard reminders about drinking plenty of water and noting any contractions, then she asked Amelia if she had any questions.
Amelia blinked several times and forced an awkward grin on her face as she shook her head. Having just witnessed Owen's self-satisfied declaration, Amelia was concerned that the contraction monitor might start beeping as her anger began to boil. Amelia thought to herself, there's going to be a lot more than contractions going on when I get a hold of his faking, slept-with-my-doctor, spanking my child, passive aggressive ass.