Beaten Chapter Nine Tip of the Iceberg
Authors Note: Greetings from the geeky British teen also known as Capponi!I know it has been absolutely aaaages since I last updated this lil' fic but coursework has swamped my life totally. I hate GCSE's already and I haven't even taken the bastards yet!! Bitch-slaps GCSE's That's better...okay, to the fic we go!! Please tell me wotcha think won't ya?
Clarice sat down shakily on the hard-backed hospital chair and stared hard at the institutional green wall trying desperately to compose herself. The other women in the room looked so content and serene, some leaning into their partner's arms, some flicking idly through the out dated magazines piled haphazardly on the middle table, glossy covers gleaming and curled.
It had taken nearly two months after her first missed period for her to come here- it was like being here made it real and she had wanted it to be a mistake- a blip in her body's functioning so bad she just ignored it. However, two months of increasing irate tiredness, nausea several times every day and the progressively irritating frequent trips to the toilet had pushed her to this cold, medical scented waiting room to put her mind at rest- for better or worse. Last week she had finally relented and bought a home pregnancy kit which had lain under her mattress for two days before she plucked up the courage to try it. It showed one pink dot if she was not pregnant and two if she was. On had come up almost instantly...then so had the second. Clarice Starling was pregnant.
The door to her left with the name 'Dr. Simpson' on the plaque opened inwards and a young woman stuck her head out, consulting a clipboard.
"Clarice Starling?" Starling felt her stomach contract painfully and wondered fleetingly if the tiny baby had felt her fear- but she felt ill again at the reminder she was carrying another life form. She got unsteadily to her feet and walked towards the woman, who smiled warmly as she passed into the room.
Inside the small room Starling sat in a most comfortable chair by the small desk of Dr. Simpson. An older woman was sitting on the other side of the desk and stood as Starling entered.
"Hello Miss Starling, I'm Jane Browne. I'll be your midwife during your pregnancy." Starling shook her proffered hand and sat as Dr. Simpson settled behind her desk consulting a computer screen.
"Okay, Miss Starling, this is your first ante natal appointment I understand?" Starling nodded, silently. "And you definitely want to go through with the pregnancy?" Again a nod. "Alright then, just a few things to discuss and then we can give you an ultrasound and see how old your baby is."
After questions about her diet, weather she smoked sand how much alcohol she consumed and the like, Starling was told to lie on a high bed covered with crinkly paper. The midwife rubbed some cold gel over her stomach and fiddled with a monitor, taking an instrument that resembled a showerhead from it. A very blurry image filled the screen and she rolled the hand-held scanner smoothly over Clarice's stomach watching the monitor carefully.
"Ah..there you go! See here? That's the baby's head, legs are here- see the spine curved there?"
Starling stared in amazement as the fuzzy jumble was explained and took shape as a tiny human form. Her chest felt tight and she felt acutely terrified and fiercely proud at the same time as she saw her child.
"This one is about thirteen weeks old and the spine and head look perfectly healthy which is good news." The midwife smiled at Clarice. Would you like a copy of your scan?
Clarice nodded silently for the third time, but this time she was not frightened- just utterly speechless with amazement. She was not afraid any more. She was not alone.
Much later that night, Clarice Starling sat on the darkened porch of her and Ardelia's duplex letting the biting wind clear her head. She had one hand on her stomach, trying to feel any movement but everything was still. She had gained so much hope yet so many worries with this child. The best piece of hope so far was the small black and white image of her child- healthy and safe. Her biggest worry was the father of her tiny baby, how would Dr. Hannibal Lecter, murderer of twelve, react to the fact he was the father of this tiny creature?
She would have to tell him- she knew she would and hadn't let herself indulge in planning alternatives. How could she tell him though?
Laving the cold wind for the sleepy warmth of the duplex she reached into the bottom of her cupboard and pulled out the stiff envelope. Slipping one of the scan pictures out she walked back to the porch picking up a different, standard mail envelopes from the utility drawer.
She would show her hope to her worry. Which way it tipped the scales, she couldn't be sure. Finding the address he had given her to use any time during five months from his leaving (in a case of great importance) she wrote it carefully on the front of the envelope and slipped the picture inside. No note was needed, she decided. He would know.
So what's the verdict? I know it's not 'action packed' but the scene had to be set. By the way, since I am a teenager and have never been pregnant if any details about Clarices' are wrong please tell me. I have been quizzing my mum for this chapter but I think she's getting a bit concerned as to my interest. Wonder if I'll be getting the 'I hope you feel you can confide in me.." talk soon? Lol
Next chapter Hannibal will find out but his reaction is positive...looks like Clarices hope may be taken away.