Disclaimer: See chapter 1
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"Something's wrong," Linda said again as her one hand went to her abdomen.
Reid pushed the nurse call button and Connie's voice came through the intercom, "Can I help you Dr. Kimura?"
"Connie," Reid said anxiously, "she's having severe abdominal pain. It just came on suddenly."
"Okay, I'll alert General Mattingly and be right there," she said in response.
Reid stood up and took the stuffed rabbit out of her other hand and placed it back in the top hat. "I think you should lie down. Connie and the general will be here soon."
Linda nodded and allowed him to assist her to lie down; her hands still guarded her abdomen. She said nothing but Reid could see her pain and fear through the tears that had welled up in her eyes.
After what seemed like an eternity but was, in reality, only a few minutes the door burst open and General Mattingly rushed in followed by Connie. "What's happened Linda," the doctor asked with concern while Connie began to do what nurses always do, Reid thought, assess the vital signs.
"Temp- 98.7, BP-170/92, pulse-112, resps-24," Connie reported.
"Ooh, that BP's a bit high, what's got you so worked up my dear?" the general asked.
"It hurts," Linda said, still holding her abdomen, "I'd say it's about an eight out of ten," she gasped through gritted teeth.
Reid, who had moved off to the side to allow the professionals to work said, "She was saying her back was sore. We both thought it was from the uncomfortable mattresses here and then all of a sudden she got this abdominal pain."
"I'm bleeding more," Linda said, the fear and anxiety evident in her voice. "I can feel it gushing."
General Mattingly looked thoughtful for a moment. "Linda," he addressed her seriously. "Forget about the Ebola for a moment." Reid's eyes grew big. It was the first time he'd heard what toxin they were actually dealing with. "If a woman came to you with back pain, abdominal pain and unexplained vaginal bleeding, what would your first impression be?"
"I would think of a mi…but no, I mean I'm not…I had a period," Linda babbled.
"It could have been implantation bleeding. We both know that can mimic a period." His eyes, the only part of him she could see, looked sympathetically at the young woman he'd come to view almost as a daughter.
"You mean she's pregnant," Reid squeaked.
Mitch Mattingly looked at Reid with the same sympathy he'd shown Linda and nodded, "I believe so. I'm sorry son," he added, "but if I'm right, not for much longer." He turned to the nurse. "Connie, get Dr. Dallas, she practically lives here."
"Who's Dr. Dallas?" Reid asked as he sat in the chair by Linda's bed and took her hand.
"Major Dallas is an ob/gyn, this is her area of expertise"
Tears started to track down Linda's cheeks as Reid squeezed her hand, "I'm so sorry," she said.
"Shh, shh, it's not your fault," he said as he ran one of his gloved hands through her long dark tresses.
Connie returned, "Dr. Dallas is on her way," she told the general. "How're you doing Dr. Kimura?"
"I've been better Connie."
The door opened shortly afterward and a woman entered, protected like the others with a gown, mask, head and shoe coverings. Not being able to see any of her face except for her eyes, Reid judged her age to be about fifty. "Oh Linda," she said sadly as she approached the bed, "what have you gotten yourself into?" General Mattingly and Connie moved aside to allow the woman to examine the patient. She palpated Linda's abdomen and examined her under the covers. "I know this won't be of any comfort to you but it's almost over."
Linda groaned as blood clots and tissue flowed from her body. Eventually she could feel it no longer. "I think it's stopped now," she said to Dr. Dallas.
"I'm going to have to examine what she's expelled," she said to Reid. "You might not want to watch this. If she's expelled all the products of conception, we won't have to put her through a D&C."
"Products of conception," Reid echoed Dr. Dallas. "Is that all our baby is to you?" Reid still could hardly believe the words as they tumbled from his lips.
"I'm sorry if that sounded harsh." The woman's tone softened a little, "It's medical jargon. I sometimes forget there are people in the room who aren't medical professionals. I say that because it wasn't really a fetus yet."
"Dr. Reid," General Mattingly put an arm around Reid's shoulders. "Why don't you come with me and we'll let the women take care of Linda? You can come back and see her when they're done."
Reid looked back at Linda who nodded. He turned and left the room with the general while the two women began caring for Linda.
The two men discarded their isolation gear and scrubs, washed with disinfectant, donned new scrubs and headed back to the ward. "This way," Mattingly said as he led Reid down the dimly lit hallway. He opened an office door and Reid entered a large office taken up mostly by a huge desk that he thought befitted a man of the general's size. Diplomas lined the walls as well as some excellent art work. He'd never put his diplomas up in the space in his home he used as an office. There were a lot of them. He wondered if he should do that or if it would look ostentatious. He gave his head a shake. It was a ridiculous thing to be thinking about at a time like this. "Have a seat," Mattingly indicated two comfortable looking chairs upholstered in a soft dark brown leather. Reid did as he was told while the general went over to a credenza on the far side of the room. He opened one of the doors and removed two glasses. Another door revealed a hidden bar size refrigerator where he got two handfuls of ice. From still another part of the cabinet, he produced a bottle of blended Scotch. He poured a hefty amount in each glass and brought it back to the desk. "Here," he placed a glass in front of Reid. "If a man ever needed this you do."
He wasn't sure his compadres at Beltway Clean Cops would agree with that. "Thank you," Reid said and took a small sip of the liquid that burned all the way down his throat.
"Your head must be spinning about now," the general laced his fingers together in front of him on the desk.
"Uh…yeah, that would be an understatement. I had no idea Linda was pregnant, obviously neither did she. And before I could wrap my thoughts around that fact, it was gone," Reid responded.
"How do you feel about that?" the older man asked.
"I'm not sure yet. I mean I hadn't planned on being a father, a least not yet but, for a short time, even if I didn't know about it, I was. I helped create a life and now it's gone and even though I didn't know about it, it was part of me and right now I guess I feel, I don't know…loss."
Mitch Mattingly nodded. He liked this young man. He hadn't wiped his forehead and said, 'Phew, I really dodged a bullet that time,' like many young men would have done. He'd accepted his responsibility.
"I hope you know that Dr. Dallas didn't mean to belittle this in any way," Mattingly stressed. "She and Linda are friends, she'd never say anything to hurt her."
Reid nodded, "I realize that. It was just a gut reaction at the time. People often wonder how my team can look at dead and mutilated bodies and not be affected. If I felt sick about what I saw, I couldn't do my job so I understand where the major was coming from."
Mitch Mattingly smiled, not that anything that had been said had been amusing but he was glad that Linda had found a man as good as the one that sat in front of him. "Shall we go back and see how Linda's doing?" The two stood and left the room.