Just then, the room filled with the sound of a heartbeat. It was strong, fast, and steady.
Ava let out a loud sigh of relief. I didn’t realize how much I had been bracing myself until I felt my own body loosen.
Dr. Harrison smiled. “There it is.”
Grateful tears started to flow from Ava’s eyes.
“The bleeding could be from the fall irritating your cervix,” Dr. Harrison explained while moving the wand across Ava’s stomach. “It could also be from strain, pressure, or a little separation in tissue that can happen. It doesn’t mean the baby is in danger. Sometimes women bleed and everything is fine. What I’m looking at right now is the baby’s heartbeat, movement, fluid, and the placenta. And right now, all of that looks good. He looks perfect.”
My eyes darted toward her. “He?”
Ava looked over too. “He?”
Dr. Harrison blinked slowly. “Oh no...” Then she winced. “I’m sorry. It slipped—”
Ava cut in, grinning from ear-to-ear, “It’s okay. I wanted to do a big reveal, but I don’t even care as long as my baby is okay.”
My son.
I looked back at the screen and couldn’t stop staring.
“Czar’s going to have a little best friend,” Ava beamed.
Dr. Harrison finally took her eyes off the screen and said, “Everything looks good. Heartbeat is good. Baby looks active. I’m not seeing anything alarming on the scan.”
That was when the last of the panic finally released me. Relieved, I dragged both hands over my face. I leaned back in the chair and looked at the screen one more time, at my son still moving around like he didn’t know he had just scared the life out of both of us.
Then I looked at Ava. She still looked shaken, but she was cheesing now.
Dr. Harrison cleaned Ava’s stomach off and gave us the rundown before stepping out. “Since the scan looks good, I’mnot seeing anything that says you need to be admitted. As long as the bleeding slows down, I will tell the ER attending to sign off on discharge. At home, I need you resting. No lifting, no climbing, no overdoing it, and definitely no more ladders.” She gave Ava a pointed look with that last part. “If the bleeding picks back up, if you start cramping hard, leaking fluid, or if baby’s movement feels off, you come right back in. No waiting.”
Ava nodded. “Okay.”
Then she left us alone.
The second the door shut, Ava let out another sigh of relief. Then she shook her head. “I shouldn’t have been on that damn ladder trying to put that picture up. That was so stupid.”
I reached for her hand and held it. “Don’t do that.”
“No, for real. I could’ve hurt my baby.”
“But thank God you didn’t.”
That made her pause and look at me as if she were shocked that I was genuinely relieved as well. But I truly wanted nothing but happiness for Ava and our son. Their peace mattered to me in a way I wasn’t used to feeling about anybody but myself. And the craziest part was how natural that had started to feel.
Ava looked up at me through wet lashes. “Are you okay?”
I let out a breath and squeezed her hand. “I don’t know.”
Her brows pulled together.
I rubbed my hand over my mouth, trying to figure out what I was feeling. “I’m just… I’m really happy he’s okay.” Her eyes softened as I told her what I was feeling. “I’m overwhelmed that I care this much. I’m overwhelmed that I was really in here panicking like that. And I’m overwhelmed because no matter what I thought my life was supposed to look like, all I want right now is for you and him to be good.”
The look in her eyes touched me more than I wanted it to. I wanted to keep that look on her face forever.
“What’s up with that neighbor?” Now that the baby was okay, I needed to know what’s up.
Ava went from relieved to uncomfortable. “Kam is my friend.”
