Carrie shook her head. She held her head in her hands and said, “He is going to cut all ties with her, I just know it. And I think that’s what scares her more than anything, not even the thought of having a baby. She loves her grandfather so much and he loves her. This mistake is going to create a great rift and I fear for them, I really do, doc. And he’s coming here, oh no!”
“She has to tell him, Carrie. The earlier she does, the better.”
“And how about an abortion? Can’t she get one?”
“Is that what your friend wants?” the doctor asked Carrie.
Carrie shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t think so. She has always felt sad about being abandoned by her mom, I don’t think she will want to get rid of the baby, it will be like she’s abandoning him or her.”
“Even if she does want an abortion, she can’t do so now. She is too weak. She can consider it when she is stronger but not now.”
“What are we going to do, doctor?” Carrie wept.
Doctor Kingston sighed and handed the young girl a box of Kleenex.
*
Emma spent most of the night drifting in and out of sleep. Whenever she found herself awake, the memory of the situation she was in would rush in and she would find herself crying. The sobs subsided after a while and then, she fell asleep. The pattern continued for most of the night and by the next morning, her eyes were swollen.
Carrie stared at her friend and watched her dazed expression. She had no idea what to tell her friend to make her feel better. They had found themselves in a very complex situation, one they had not intended to happen by a long shot.
“Would you like to go out for a walk? Dr. Kingston said it will be good for you and the baby. And you can enjoy some fresh air and it could be the start of a good day for you, Emma.”
Emma shook her head. “I don’t see any good days ahead of me, Carrie. Don’t you understand? Gramps will never forgive me for this. I'm pregnant and I'm still studying and I am not married! What good is there to imagine? I don’t see anything good in the horizon. What can I do?”
“You messed up but it is not the end of the world. It will take time, sure, but he will forgive you. There are worse things that could happen.”
Emma scoffed. “I am pregnant out of wedlock, Carrie. There are no worse things that could happen.”
“You’re pregnant?” a familiar voice floated into the room. Emma’s head flew up and tears rolled down her cheeks as she saw the silver haired man at the doorway. Maxwell Price walked into the room slowly but powerfully and with every step, Emma could feel the love he had for her dissipating from his eyes.
“Emma, are you pregnant?” he asked again.
“Gramps...” Emma cried.
“Emma!” he shouted.
She could not say anything but rather sobbed into her hands. Carrie stood at the corner, watching all that was unfolding and feeling her friend’s pain.
Maxwell settled heavily onto the seat beside Emma’s bed. In a grave voice, he said, “I thought I raised you better than your mother. I thought I instilled principles in you, I thought you were responsible. I looked at you and told myself, ‘She is not her mother, she is different, she has a good head on her shoulders. She will have a better life’, but how wrong I was.”
“Gramps please don’t. I made a mistake, I'm so sorry, please, forgive me.”
Maxwell shook his head and he looked at Emma with spiteful eyes. She could not hold his gaze and lowered her head, “You know, when your mother came home pregnant, I felt a sharp pain, a pain that cut deep into me and I thought to myself that I could never feel such pain again. How wrong I was, because you, Emma, you have caused me a pain that is far worse than what I felt when your mother betrayed me. Today, you havemade me realize that I made a mistake taking you in when your mother abandoned you.”
“Please don’t say that, Gramps. You don’t mean it,” Emma cried.
“You have no home with me anymore. You have decided to follow your mother’s footsteps rather than the path I laid out for you, so, forget you have a grandfather.” As he spoke, Maxwell stood up. Emma tried to reach out to him but he pulled away. His face stoic, his green eyes blazing, he said, “I have no family, no daughter, no granddaughter. Now, I won’t feel any more pain.”
“Gramps!” Emma called to him but he stalked out. She tried to get off the bed and Carrie hurried to her side. She kept calling out to him and tried to leave but Carrie held her back. “He can’t just leave, Carrie. He can’t abandon me too. I have no one!”
Dr. Kingston who had just gotten to the door as he said his last words hurried after the old man. She met him close to the elevators, leaning against the wall and weeping.
“Mr. Price? I am Dr. Kara Kingston, your granddaughter’s obstetrician.”
“I have no granddaughter.” he straightened up and dabbed his eyes.
“She made a mistake, Mr. Price but are you going to throw her out for that? If you leave her, who else will she have in her life? She is still a child.”
