She cringes as Mathers examines her. When the doctor uses her fingers to push into Jessa’s belly, Jessa whimpers.
“Gentle,” I growl, “or I’ll cut those fingers off myself.”
Mathers turns to me, her expression clipped and politely professional. She has yet to show so much as a shred of fear at my intimidations. “If you want me to do my job, Anton, you’re going to need to give me space.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“Then I’m going to need you to trust me.”
I take a few steps back, but I make sure to stay in Jessa’s line of sight.
The doctor nods, satisfied. “Get her hooked up to an IV,” Mathers orders the nurses. “And roll in the sonogram machine.”
Both nurses buzz around in a flurry of activity while Jessa watches. She looks weak and dazed, like some lost lamb searching for safety.
When the sonogram machine is rolled in, one of the nurses brings Mathers a tube of gel. “It’s going to be cold,” she warns as she squirts some of it onto Jessa’s belly.
I inch forward as the machine blips to life. Jessa has her eyes trained on the screen. It doesn’t even look like she’s breathing. Mathers works the wand—slowly, slowly, slowly.
For a few long moments, there’s nothing. No sign of life. Just the strange palpitations of an empty womb.
Then…
A soft thud, thud, thud.
I grip the edge of a nearby table to stop from sinking to my knees. My teeth are clenched so hard that they might shatter as a tide of emotion swallows me whole.
Jessa merely whimpers. No words, just a single soft note of pure relief. Her head falls back against the pillow and her eyes flutter closed. “Oh, thank God.”
Dr. Mathers smiles. “As you can see, the baby is fine. See that blob over there?”
Jessa pulls her head back up and stares at the screen in awe. “That’s our baby?”
“That’s your baby,” Dr. Mathers confirms. “The heartbeat is strong.”
“What about the blood?”
Dr. Mathers starts wiping the gel off Jessa’s belly. “Spotting is normal in the early stages of pregnancy. Especially when there’s stress or trauma. You were distressed when this happened?”
Jessa nods.
“Well, then it might have triggered a reaction from your body. You need to try and keep yourself out of stressful situations, Jessa. But for right now, your baby is strong and healthy.”
“Thank you,” she whispers. “Thank you so much.”
Mathers gives Jessa a smile, gives me a respectful nod, and then heads out of the room. The nurses follow behind her to give us some privacy.
Jessa hides her face in her hands and takes a deep breath. “I was so scared,” she says without looking up at me.
I stay where I am, still not trusting my own two feet quite yet. The relief hit me like a sledgehammer. I need to regain my bearings. “I know.”
“I really thought I’d lost the baby.”
“But you didn’t.”
She nods. “Anton?”
Sighing, I release my death grip on the table and go sit down next to her. “Yes?”