Authors: Emma Daniels
THE DREAM CHILD (13 page)
“I’m afraid I won’t be in today. I know we’re busy, but this rotten virus, or whatever it is, just won’t go away.”
“I’m getting worried about you, Sophie. Please go to the doctor today, and I’ll come over later.” He added the last part softly, no doubt not wanting any of the other staff to hear him.
‘You don’t need to do that. I’m sure it isn’t anything serious.”
“But I want to,” he insisted.
“Not tonight. I’ll give you a call after I’ve been to the doctor, all right.”
“All right,” he agreed begrudgingly.
Victor put down the phone, frowning at it. Something was wrong, but he had no idea what. Everything had started off so well between them. He was certain the dreams he’d been having about her meant they were meant to be together. How could they mean anything but?
He’d finally found the right woman and now she was putting on the brakes, keeping him at arm’s length. Of course he was partly to blame for that. He hadn’t wanted to rush her, and risk ending up back on his own.
There was something wrong with her health too. Not only did she look unwell, she’d been feeling sick for weeks, not a good sigh as far as he could tell. Don’t let it be something fatal, he silently begged the ceiling, not now that I’m falling in love with her.
Sophie felt marginally better after lunch and headed down to the small medical centre at her local shopping centre which she knew accepted walk-ins.
When the short middle-aged Indian female Doctor called her name, Sophie remembered her from her last visit, now over three months ago. Although a bit officious, Dr Gill had at least been thorough with her questioning and examination.
Sophie followed her into the surgery and took the seat indicated beside Dr Gill’s desk.
“So how can I help you today, Miss Quinn?” the doctor asked.
Sophie explained her symptoms, and just like her sister, the first thing Dr Gill asked was if she thought she could be pregnant.
Sophie merely shook her head. There was no point snapping at the GP. Neither did she want to elaborate on why she thought this was impossible. Sophie really didn’t want to go into details about her personal life with the woman.
“Well, let me do a pregnancy test anyway, so we can at least rule that out as a possibility. I have several
Predictors
here that can give an immediate result, but I’d also like to do a blood test to check for other things such as low iron, as well as take a urine test.”
The doctor handed Sophie the plastic tab with the widow marker at one end, and proceeded to explain to her how to use it.
“Yes, I know how it works,” Sophie said. Too impatient to wait for her period, she’d bought dozens such kits over the years she’d been trying to get pregnant.
The doctor told her where the bathroom was and Sophie took the test strip with her, along with a small specimen jar.
Once completed, she returned with them to the surgery, and placed the two items on the desk beside her.
The doctor left the pregnancy test tab where it was, but prepared the jar for analysis.
Then she did the blood test, and took Sophie’s blood pressure which was a little elevated.
All the while Sophie kept her eyes averted from the pregnancy test strip. She knew no thin blue line would appear.
Finally, when Dr Gill had prepared everything for the pathology lab, she picked up the strip and held it up to examine it.
“Well, Ms Quinn, these are ninety-nine point eight percent accurate, and from what it’s reading I would say you are most definitely pregnant,” she told Sophie with a small smile.
“
What?”
Sophie gasped. “Let me see that.”
The doctor handed it to her, and Sophie gaped at the very dark and very clear blue line that had developed down the centre of the window. She’d seen light blue lines from the times she’d lost her babies. But she’d never seen one this obvious before.
“Well this must be the point two percent that’s faulty, because there is no way on this earth I could possibly be pregnant.”
“What makes you so certain, Ms Quinn?” the doctor asked with raised brows.
“Because I haven’t slept with anyone since my husband left me over a year ago, that’s why.”
“Well, the blood test will confirm it for certain. We should have the results back by tomorrow afternoon, if you want to come in, or give us a call. I could also organise an ultrasound to see how far along you are, but judging from when you said your last period was, you would be at leat eight weeks.”
“Yes, I’ll definitely be back for those results,” Sophie asserted, because she knew beyond a doubt that something else was wrong with her, and tomorrow she’d be one step closer to finding out what it could be.
“Do you mind if I have a couple of days off work. This has really thrown me and I’m not feeling too good.”
“Of course. How about I give you the rest of the week off?” Dr Gill suggested.
“Thank you.”
Still feeling dazed and confused Sophie left the surgery.
She started walking home, but stopped outside the pharmacy. For a moment she stood there, her mind wavering, and then she stepped inside.
Before she could change her mind, she bought a twin pack of pregnancy tests, certain they would give her the correct results.
Sophie couldn’t do the test straight away, so she made herself a cup of tea and tried to take her mind off her churning thoughts by flicking through a new bead magazine. It didn’t really help, and half an hour later, she was in the bathroom, running the first test.
Within moments another blue line began to form on the strip. She stood there watching it grow darker in stunned amazement.
Two tests might be faulty, but would the third?
After dinner she tested the last tab, and it too came up positive.
“Well, this is just too bizarre for words,” she muttered to herself in awe. “How can I be pregnant? I haven’t even had sex with anyone.”
Except in your dreams, that crazy little voice said inside her head. Yes, in my
dreams
, not in real life. So how was it possible that three pregnancy tests can come up positive, unless I’m having a dream right now, she wondered.
Sophie pinched her arm until it hurt. Definitely awake, she decided.
But those dreams of Victor had felt as real as life itself. Was it possible what had happened between Victor and herself had been real and not a dream?
Then how come she’d woken alone? Woken with his scent still on her, his seed inside her!
She brought trembling hands to her burning face. Something like that simply wasn’t possible. So why was she even considering it?
Because what other reason could there be for
three
positive pregnancy tests? Other than the whole lot of them were faulty, and no one had reported it to the authorities.
Could that be it? It made a whole lot more sense than falling pregnant in one’s dreams.
The shrill ring of her phone startled her, and she scooped it up. When she found out who was on the other end of the line, she gritted her teeth in consternation.
“HI Sophie, This is Vic. You never called. Are you all right?”
“Yes, yes I’m fine. The doctor did a couple of tests, but I have to wait a few days for the results. She gave me the rest of the week off. I hope you don’t mind too much. It’s just so I can go for the tests… “ She knew she was rambling and trailed off.
“You
are
worried. I can hear it in your voice. I’d really like to come over.” Sophie heard the concern in his voice, but knew she couldn’t talk to him, let alone face him, for fear of blurting out this whole crazy turn of events. He would think she’d gone stark raving mad for sure.
“Not tonight, Vic. I’m really tired and just want to go to bed, but it’s really nice of you to ring and I appreciate your offer…”
“I understand. I’ll call you tomorrow, and if you’re up to it drop in then, all right.”
“Thanks Vic. That would be nice.”
Sophie walked into the medical centre at two-thirty the following afternoon and asked to see Dr Gill. She didn’t want to get her results over the phone, and reasoned that this was far enough into the afternoon for them to be ready.
Despite her weariness the previous night, Sophie had slept little. She’d kept turning the bizarre news over and over in her mind, even after she’d reasoned that all the pregnancy tests must have been faulty.
But what if it
was
true? What if a miracle really
had
happened and she was expecting a baby?
Get real, she told herself. Even if by some crazy twist of fate she’d managed to get pregnant in her dreams, she would probably miscarry like every other time she’d gotten her hopes up. And this time she was on her own, with no husband to support her.
Dr Gill called her into the surgery a few minutes later.
“Well, Ms Quinn, I’m not sure you’re going to welcome this news, considering your reaction yesterday, but the test results have come back positive. You’re definitely pregnant.”
Sophie sank back in her chair, shaking her head in absolute amazement. “I was positive your
Predictor
was faulty.” There wasn’t any point in telling her about the other two tests she’d bought. Obviously none of them had been faulty either. She was the one who was faulty, or simply hearing what she wanted to hear.
After all those years of trying, all those tests and IVF cycles, she had somehow managed to get pregnant all by herself, and in her dreams. It was just too unreal and incredible to contemplate.
“Well, obviously it wasn’t. So now you’re going to need to think about what you’re going to do about the situation. I could refer you to a counsellor if you like.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Sophie asserted.
“Then I’ll write a referral for an ultrasound since you’re over thirty-five, and if you’re going to keep the baby, you’ll probably want to see a good obstetrician.”
“Oh, I’ll definitely want to keep the baby, if it makes it of course. I haven’t had much luck in that department up till now.”
It wasn’t until she’d left the medical centre that Sophie realised Dr Gill hadn’t once asked about the child’s father.
Part of her was relieved but she knew other people, like her sister, were going to ask a hell of a lot more questions. In all reality, her baby didn’t even have a father, if there really was a baby. It was simply too good to be true and Sophie continued to suspect something else was going on inside her body.
Her ultrasound appointment was for the next day, Friday, and she wondered if she’d really see some sinister cancerous growth that mimicked all the symptoms and hormones of pregnancy. Surely she couldn’t really have a baby in there!
Miracles like that didn’t happen in this day and age, and certainly not to her.
CHAPTER NINE
Sophie decided to catch the train to Hornsby for her ultrasound appointment. She felt too nervous and uptight to drive.
By the time she walked into the building, her stomach was tied so tightly in knots she thought she as going to be sick.
Victor had rung her again last night and she knew she’d been too short with him. By the time they both hung up he’d sounded quite put out. But she knew if she’d kept talking to him she would have blurted out her fears of cancer, and that the doctor thought she was pregnant. Sophie knew it couldn’t be the latter, and the terror of the former made her almost dizzy with dread.
A plethora of pregnant tummies greeted her when she entered to clinic, and all of them appeared to have a male partner with them, looking proud and supportive.
After dealing with the paperwork at the reception desk, Sophie found a seat in the corner, as far away from the other patients as possible, but a few minutes later a pregnant woman entered with a toddler who came to play with the toys near Sophie’s feet. She tried to smile at the small child, but her terror was too deeply lodged in her throat, and she merely returned her attention to the magazine in her lap that she hadn’t even opened.
The longer she waited the worse she felt, and the fact that she’d had to drink so much water beforehand made her even more edgy, as she squirmed uncomfortably in her seat.
She placed a hand against her abdomen, which hadn’t changed one iota in size. She’d always had a bit of a tummy, but it was probably even flatter now than before, because she’d hardly eaten a thing in weeks.