Better Late Than Never

62

The Obstetrics and Gynaecology Unit of the University of Atlantica Teaching Hospital was functioning at a little over 1AM just as perfectly as it did during the day time; nurses, doctors, and patients going about the needed and usual activities.

In the middle of it all, right on one of the corridors, Ayman stared at the nurse in front of him and told himself that maybe – just maybe – she'd mistaken him and Ayra for another couple who were actually expecting a baby.

He shook his head, his face unusually pale as disbelief and fear held him by a tight leash.

"You don't understand..." He told the nurse, his voice sounding foreign to his own ears. He rubbed a hand over his face and blew out a breath, still terrified by Ayra's scream back at the house. "Ayra and I aren't expecting a baby so you can't tell me she's in labour. I brought her here because she's in pain and it's not stopping but...You can't tell me she's in labour."

The nurse was young and kind, and her smile was understanding. She put her hands together in front of her, quite sure he wouldn't appreciate her reaching out for him, and then she nodded once. "This is a lot to take in, Mr Bello, and I understand. As someone who's worked with patients that have gone through similar ordeals, I know how big of an unexpected blow this can be. However, your wife in a labour and –"

Ayman was a lot of things; scared, tired, and unable to comprehend how one night was going in a way he would never have seen coming. "We took pregnancy tests when we experienced pregnancy scares. Thrice! They were all negative."

The nurse nodded, her smile still on her face. "That usually happens with a lot of cryptic pregnancies. Blood tests pick up the pregnancy hormones faster."

Ayman was snapping. "She had her period, every single month. She even had her period about three weeks ago."

"Those are not actual periods but they can be mistaken for periods in the case of a cryptic pregnancy. Surely something was different. It should have been a little lighter or would have been a little shorter than her regular periods."

Ayman opened his mouth to argue but stopped when he recalled how Ayra had spoken about how her period was quite lighter than normal, right after their first pregnancy scare. She'd said the same thing on their second return to Qatar; her periods were lighter and were a day or two shorter, and that she wasn't complaining about it but it was something she 'couldn't help but notice'.

The nurse, seeing an opening, pushed on. "Cryptic pregnancies are like that, and people go about their lives without knowing they're pregnant. Most cryptic pregnancies come to light a little over twenty weeks, but others don't come to light until labour begins. Your wife falls into the latter category and right now, as shocking and unexpected as it may be, you two are expecting a baby."

Ayman had to lean against the wall for support, his knees weak. He focused on breathing, not knowing what to do or where to start from. He didn't even know how Ayra was doing and it was a small punch in the gut.

The nurse sighed. "Mr Bello."

He raised his head to look at her again and his eyes began to sting, the tears welling up slowly.

"This is a shock, I know, but the reason I called you out here to break the news to you first is because your wife is in a new phase of her life right now and she's emotional and terrified beyond what you can imagine. The worst thing that can happen is her being alone and she needs your support now more than she's ever done."

Ayman's chest squeezed. The nurse continued. "I'm breaking the news to you first because I need you to help us help her. Having you there will be really good for her and I know I can't ask you to just take the news in stride and pretend that all is fine but I need to you to be a little stronger than she is because she'll need it. That much I can assure you."