Chapter 7: The Woman in the Scrubs
Jess arrived twenty-two minutes later, slightly out of breath, her coat still on.
She took one look at me and crossed the room and held my hand without saying anything, which was the most useful thing anyone had done for me all day.
Dr.
Yuen had confirmed I was seven centimeters dilated.
Things were moving.
The baby was coming whether the rest of it was resolved or not, and some part of me found that clarifying.
Whatever happened in this room, whatever Chris walked in carrying, this child was arriving on her own schedule.
"Has he called again?" Jess asked.
"Once.
I didn't pick up."
"Good." She sat down in the chair my MIL had vacated.
"I made some calls on the way here.
My friend Renata — you met her at my birthday, she's a family lawyer — she says a paternity demand before the birth certificate is signed is not standard procedure and any hospital administrator who cooperated with that without a court order would be on very shaky ground."
"So the letter in his car—"
"Is a letter.
It's not a court order.
It's not an injunction.
It's paper." Jess squeezed my hand.
"You don't have to do anything with it."
The door opened.
Chris walked in.
He looked like he'd driven fast and not slept.
His jacket was creased, his hair pushed back like he'd been running his hands through it.
He stopped when he saw Jess.
"Jess." His voice was careful.
"I didn't know you were coming."
"I didn't know you had a lawyer's letter in your car," Jess said pleasantly.
"Here we all are."
Chris looked at me.
"Mara.
Can we — can we have a minute alone?"
"No," I said.
"Whatever you need to say, you can say it here."
He pulled up the other chair and sat down.
He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, the way he sat when he was trying to look honest.
"I made a mistake," he said.
"A serious one.
I know that.
I panicked when Deanna told me, and instead of coming to you, I went sideways.
I'm not proud of it."
"The voice memo," I said.
"Walk me through that decision."
He pressed his lips together.
"I was scared you'd go into labor before I got back.
I wanted to make sure nothing was — finalized — before I had a chance to talk to you."
"You wanted to make sure I couldn't name my own child without your permission."
"That's not—"
"That is exactly what the memo said, Chris.
You told your mother to tell the hospital there was a dispute.
Those are your words."
He didn't answer.
"And the nurse," I said.
"The woman in scrubs who brought the phone to your mother.
You told me on the phone you didn't arrange that."
"I didn't."
"Then who did?"
He was quiet for a moment.
"I called Sandra from the road.
Early this morning, before I even knew you were in labor.
I told her what was happening — the lawyer, the plan.
She said she'd help." He looked at the floor.
"I didn't ask her what that meant."
Jess made a small sound that was not quite a laugh.
"So your aunt — who used to work in hospital administration — made a call," I said.
"And a woman appeared in my delivery room in scrubs, bypassed the nursing log, and handed a phone to your mother.
And you didn't ask what that meant."
"Mara—"
"That woman had access to this ward.
She walked past me like I was furniture.
I was hooked up to fetal monitors and she didn't even glance at me." My voice finally cracked, just slightly, on the last word.
I steadied it.
"Do you understand how frightening that was?"
Chris's face had gone pale.
"I didn't know she'd do that.
I swear I didn't know."
"But you gave her the reason to."
He had no answer for that.
Paula knocked and opened the door.
"Mrs.
Callahan, we're getting close.
I need to ask any non-essential visitors to step into the waiting area."
Chris stood up.
He looked at me with an expression I couldn't fully read — guilt, fear, something that might have been love if it hadn't been buried under so much else.
"I'm not going anywhere," he said quietly.
"That's not your decision right now," I said.
"Paula, can my sister stay?"
"Of course."
Chris looked at Jess.
Then back at me.
He picked up his jacket from the chair.
"I'll be outside," he said.
"I'll be right outside the whole time."
He walked out.
The door closed.
Jess leaned over and pushed a strand of hair off my forehead.
"You doing okay?"
"Ask me in an hour," I said.
May you like
She nodded.
"Fair enough."
