‘I’m not sure... I’ve always been very irregular, you see. Sometimes I can go five or six weeks between periods so it’s difficult to say for certain.’ Abbey gulped. ‘If I am pregnant then why am I bleeding like this? Am I having a miscarriage or something?’
‘It’s possible.’ Molly patted her hand, knowing what a shock it must be for her. Not to have realised that she was pregnant and then have this happen would be a lot for any woman to deal with. After she had split from Sean, she’d had a worrying few days herself when her period had been late, even though they had been meticulous about using protection. Thankfully, everything had resolved itself although she couldn’t help wondering what she would have done if she had been pregnant. Would she have contacted Sean and told him about the baby? She wasn’t sure. After all, he had made it abundantly clear that he hadn’t wanted anything more to do with her, hadn’t he?
Molly pushed aside that thought as she focused on finding out if Abbey was indeed pregnant. She fetched a pregnancy testing kit from the cupboard and helped her to the bathroom. When Abbey reappeared a few minutes later, she was shaking.
‘It’s positive,’ she whispered. ‘I had no idea I was pregnant and now it looks as though I’m going to lose the baby.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ Molly said gently as she helped her back onto the bed. ‘It must be a terrible shock for you, but the main thing now is to get you sorted out. Do you want me to tell your boyfriend or would you rather do it yourself? It’s entirely up to you.’
‘I don’t know!’ Tears began to pour down Abbey’s cheeks. ‘We’ve only been going out for a couple of months and we’ve never even spoken about having kids. I really don’t know what I should do for the best.’
‘You don’t have to decide right this very minute,’ Molly assured her, understanding only too well what a dilemma it must be for the girl. She and Sean had never discussed having children either, for obvious reasons, i.e. he’d had no intention of committing himself for the long-term. A child would have caused an unwelcome disruption to his plans, and the thought hurt even though she knew how stupid it was to let it affect her.
‘I’ll just tell him that you’re being transferred to a ward for further tests,’ Molly said hurriedly, not wanting to go any further down that route.
‘Yes. Thank you.’ Abbey wiped her eyes. ‘It’s such a lot to take in.’
‘It must be.’
Molly treated her to a smile then went to the desk and phoned the maternity unit. Sean appeared as she was ending the call and she quickly explained what was happening.
‘Sounds as though you’ve sorted everything out.’ He frowned. ‘Who brought her in?’
‘Her boyfriend.’ Molly nodded towards the waiting room. ‘He’s over there. I had a feeling that it wasn’t food poisoning and asked him to remain out here while I examined Abbey.’
‘It will be a shock for him too, I imagine,’ Sean observed.
‘If she chooses to tell him.’ Molly smiled tightly, conscious of the dilemma she would have been in if the same thing had happened to her. ‘They’ve only been seeing one another for a few months and she isn’t sure if she wants him to know or not.’
‘Really?’ Sean’s tone was grim. Molly frowned because it wasn’t how she would have expected him to react. If anything, she would have thought that he would be all in favour of Abbey keeping the news to herself if it meant there would be less pressure put on her boyfriend.
‘Yes.’ She shrugged. ‘Maybe it’s a good idea if they’re not in a committed relationship.’
‘I disagree. Keeping something like this a secret only creates problems, in my opinion. But if it’s what the patient wants then we have to go along with it.’
He didn’t say anything else as he made his way to Cubicles to see Abbey. Molly wasn’t sure what to make of it all as his reaction had been the complete opposite to what she would have expected. Did Sean have personal experience of this kind of situation? she wondered suddenly as she went to speak to Abbey’s boyfriend. And was that why he had taken such a hard stance just now? Her mind raced off at a tangent and she gasped. Did it also explain why he avoided commitment? Because he had been so badly hurt at some point in his life that he refused to run the risk of being hurt ever again?
It was an intriguing thought, but Molly knew that she mustn’t make the mistake of reading too much into it. To allow herself to believe that it was the true explanation for the way he had treated her two years ago would be asking for trouble. No, the truth was probably much simpler: Sean had grown tired of her and ended their relationship.