Free I Want by Jo Briggs

wound was,
but in the abdomen surrounding it.”
    “Ok, if you go behind the curtain and
take off your top, I can have a closer look at the wound.”
    After gently probing
of the wound just above her right hip, and the surrounding abdominal area, her
doctor wrote in her file, and asked her to redress and sit back down.
    “The wound seems to be healed perfectly,
so I do not believe that is what is causing your symptoms. I am going to send
you over to my colleague in the centre to have them do an internal, and
abdominal ultrasound within the next hour. The receptionist will be able to
give you directions, and then I will see you back here later today, after the
scan.”
    Elle sighed at the prospect of waiting
around all day, even if it were within the state of the art private health
practice.
    “Ok, but do you have an idea of what
is going on?”
    “I have my suspicions, but I will get
a better idea after the tests – we should have a definite diagnosis by the end
of today.”
    Elle gave the doctor a small smile,
relieved that a conclusion to her general feeling of poor health could be in
sight.
    Three hours later, Elle found herself
on a narrow bed in one of the ultrasound rooms. The ultrasound technician had
placed the familiar cold gel over her lower abdomen before doing a few sweeps with
the scanner. An image came up on the screen, but Elle did not understand what
she was seeing. The technician made notes, and then said she was going to go
get the doctor to come talk to her.
    A feeling of uneasiness swept over
Elle. She had had ultrasounds before, and they had never needed to send a doctor
in during the examination in the past. What if the fall had caused irreparable
internal damage to the abdomen after all? At the time of her surgery, they had
said she was lucky to escape with the minor damage she had done.
    The door opened revealing her
doctor and the technician. They both huddled over the screen, as Elle’s doctor
did another sweep of the scanner over her belly.
    “Ok, well, it would seem all your nausea
was caused by this area here.” The doctor said, turning to smile at Elle for
the first time, as she indicated to a prominent shape on the screen.
    Frowning, Elle tried to make out what
part of her anatomy the shape corresponded with, “What is it?”
    “This outer shaper is your uterus,
and inside, there is a sixteen-week foetus.”
    “Foetus? How can that be?” Elle stammered,
her hand clutching the side of the bed, as she tried to lean in further, to
stare at the screen incredulously.
    “Well, it would seem, although the
trauma of your fall caused heavy blood loss and presumed miscarriage, there is still
a viable baby in there.”
    “But they said there was no chance
of foetal survival after all the blood loss, they could not find a heartbeat, and
my hormone levels had started to fall.” Elle did still not quite believe what
the doctor was telling her.
    “It could also have been that you had
twins, and one of them did come away. If it had its own separate placenta, this
would account for all the blood, and the hormone levels would have dipped because
of going down to one foetus— it would have soon elevated again.”
    “Can you tell if this baby is ok?”
    “The measurements show it’s a little
on the small side, but nothing to be overly concerned about yet. We just need
to keep a close eye on you through the rest of your baby’s gestation.
    “I genuinely cannot believe this.”
Elle finally responded after struggling to find her voice, a powerful sense of shock
vibrating through her.
    “I realise it’s a lot to take in after
all you have been through. I suggest you have lots of rest, eat well, and I
will see you again in another couple of weeks,” The doctor suggested. “The bathroom
is through that door, once you are cleaned up you are free to go."
    Standing up, Elle thanked the doctor,
and exited the room through the door that had been indicated to her.
     
    ~~~
     
    The revelation of what