Free Cancelled by Elizabeth Ann West Page A

clipboard/pen combo and packet of papers back to the front desk.
    “Kellie Szachowski?” A nurse propped the door between the waiting and exam areas, holding a neon yellow, see-through clipboard. Kellie's flip-flops flapped as she made her short journey to the door. Johnathan watch her momentarily as she responded to the nurse's summons. Her tight jeans accentuated her increasing curves. He briefly wondered how long she would be able to fit into them before he jumped to grab the oak door and hold it open for her. Kellie turned back and gave him a raised eyebrow before continuing her path after the nurse.
    Johnathan paced the hallways as Kellie was weighed and asked to give a urine sample. Both were shown to an exam room full of posters of female reproductive anatomy and ironically, advertisements for birth control. A knock on the door startled Johnathan away from his inspection of a counter across the room. An older gentleman with salt-and-pepper hair introduced himself as Dr. Harper. He explained that while he would be Kellie's main doctor, if he ever wasn't available, another doctor in the practice could deliver the baby or respond to emergencies.
    Kellie nodded to Dr. Harper's explanations. Johnathan wasn't so sure he liked this practice, the women in the waiting room were shuffled around like cattle. But it wasn't his choice to make.
    “Johnathan?” Kellie's voice caught Johnathan's ear. He realized he wasn't paying attention and everyone in the room, Kellie, Dr. Harper, and the nurse with entirely too much make up, were staring at him.
    “I'm sorry, what did I miss?”
    “Dr. Harper needs to examine me. Can you wait in the hall?”
    “Oh, right. Sorry.” Johnathan looked at the ground as he took the two half-steps to the oak door, but didn't miss the nurse's confused look.
    “I'll let you know when the doctor is through,” the nurse said, as she closed the door behind him.
    “Thanks,” he said, but he wasn't heard. He pulled out his cell phone and texted Alex. The weirdness of the situation wasn't lost on him and he mulled over telling her all about the baby tonight. But what if he came clean, ruined everything with her, and it turned out the baby wasn't his?
    HOW'S MTG GOING WITH SIMMS? GOING TO STILL MAKE DINNER?
    Johnathan stumbled backwards when the nurse reopened the exam door. He felt stupid for standing and leaning against the door.
    “You can come in now, Mr. Michaels. Dr. Harper has a few questions for you.”
    “For me?”
    The nurse smiled at him. He knew that particular smile. Kellie must have told them they weren't together, together. “Yes, your family history. For the baby.”
    “Right.” Johnathan stepped in and shook the doctor's hand once again. “What can I tell you?”
    Before the man could talk, Kellie interrupted. “Dr. Harper doesn't recommend an amniocentesis for paternity. He says we could lose the baby.”
    Johnathan squared himself to the doctor. “It's not just for paternity. My youngest sister has Down's.”
    Dr. Harper started scribbling in Kellie's chart.
    “I see. Were there other risk factors? Advanced maternal age?”
    “My mother was over 40 when Ava was born. But I also had a cousin with cystic fibrosis.”
    “How old did your cousin live to?”
    Johnathan shrugged his shoulder. “I don't speak to my mother's side of the family.”
    Dr. Harper continued to write. Johnathan interrupted his note taking to ask questions of his own. “How can drug use in early pregnancy affect the baby?”
    “By the mother or the father?” Dr. Harper didn't look up from the chart and asked without judgment to his voice, just clinical observation.
    “Both.”
    Dr. Harper frowned.
    “It was the night we met. I hope that was the only time,” Johnathan said, looking to Kellie. She gave him the evil eye.
    “Technically speaking, as long as neither one of you are regular users, the chances your reproductive cells were affected are slim. For the first few weeks, the baby doesn't live