Mindbend

When he finished, the doctor sat down and quickly wrote his findings on the chart. Then he asked Je

“Just relax now,” said Dr. Vandermer, finally remembering that his patient was probably anxious. Je

Dr. Vandermer stood up so that Je

“Is that difficult?” asked Je

“Very simple,” said Dr. Vandermer. “ Nancy went to get me an instrument. It will only take a second.”

Nancy returned with something that Je

“You definitely are pregnant,” he said, sitting down at the desk and writing anew on the chart.

Je

“Are you sure?” she managed with a quivering voice.

Dr. Vandermer did not look up. “We’ll confirm it by laboratory tests, but I’m sure.”

Nancy finished writing labels on the specimen tubes and came around to help Je

“Is everything all right?” she asked.

“Everything is perfectly normal,” assured Dr. Vandermer. He completed the chart, then spun around to face her. His expression was as neutral as when he’d first entered.

“Can you give me some idea of what to expect?” asked Je

“Of course. Nancy Guenther will be your nurse practitioner,” Dr. Vandermer said, nodding at the nurse. “She’ll go over things like that with you. I’ll be seeing you for routine visits monthly for the first six months, then every two weeks until the last month. Then weekly unless there’s a complication.” Dr. Vandermer got up and prepared to leave.

“Will I be seeing you each time I come?” asked Je

“Generally,” said Dr. Vandermer. “Occasionally I might have a delivery. Then you would be seen by one of my associates or Nancy. In either case they would report directly to me. Any other questions?”

Je

“Mrs. Schonberg,” began Dr. Vandermer. “I haven’t taken a vacation in five years. I go to an occasional medical meeting and I’m pla

“Just one more thing,” said Je

“I sincerely doubt it,” said Dr. Vandermer, edging toward the door. “Leave the name of your mother’s doctor with Nancy and we’ll call and find out the details. Meanwhile, I plan to do a simple chromosomal study on you. But I don’t think there is anything to worry about.”

“What about an amniocentesis?” asked Je

“At this point I don’t think there is any need for such a procedure, and even if there were, it couldn’t be done before your sixteenth week. Now if you’ll excuse me, we’ll see you in a month.”

“What about an abortion?” asked Je

Dr. Vandermer, who’d had a hand on the door, stepped back in front of Je

“I’m not saying that I want one,” said Je

“I don’t do abortions unless there’s a medical reason for it,” said Dr. Vandermer.

Je

“ Nancy will discuss such questions with you,” said Dr. Vandermer, glancing at his watch. “She knows more about that kind of stuff than I do. Now, if there is nothing else…” Dr. Vandermer moved away from the examination table.

“There is one other thing,” said Je

“Yes,” said Dr. Vandermer, opening the door to the corridor. “Such nausea is present in at least fifty percent of pregnancies. Nancy will give you some suggestions on handling it by altering your diet.”

“Isn’t there something I could take?” asked Je

“I don’t believe in using medication for morning sickness unless it’s interfering with the mother’s nutrition. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll see you in a month.”

Before Je

“Diet is a very important part of pregnancy,” said Nancy, handing Je

Je

CHAPTER 3

Adam turned west on Twelfth Street, heading directly into the wind and rain. It was pitch dark already, despite the fact that it was just seven-thirty. Only a half block to go. He had an umbrella, but it was in sad shape and he had to wrestle with it to keep the wind from inverting it. He was cold and damp, but worse, he was exhausted, mentally and physically. The all-important presentation had not gone well. Dr. Norton had stopped him not once but twice for grammatical errors, interrupting Adam’s train of thought. Consequently, Adam had left out an important part of the case history. At the end Dr. Norton had merely nodded and asked the chief resident about another patient.

Then, to round out the day, Adam had been called down to the emergency room because it was understaffed and had been given the job of pumping out the stomach of a young attempted suicide. Inexperienced in such a procedure, Adam had made the girl vomit, and he’d caught it smack in the chest. And if that weren’t bad enough, fifteen minutes before he was to be off duty, he got a complicated admission: a fifty-two-year-old man with pancreatitis. That was the reason he was so late coming home.

Passing the alley that communicated with the scenic airshaft outside their apartment, Adam saw the assortment of trash cans that the sanitation department noisily emptied three mornings a week. Today the cans were full to overflowing, and a couple of scrawny alley cats had braved the rain to investigate.

Adam backed through the front door to their building and closed the worthless umbrella. For a moment he stood in the ancient foyer and dripped onto the tiled floor. Then he unlocked the i