Two Heavy

Valuing Privacy

*Throwback*

When Grace stepped out of the room to get her brother, she felt some relief that he had arrived. She however had some disturbing thoughts run through her head.

"Is it just a coincidence?" She whispered to herself. She wondered about the kicks that intensified when Lola tried to pick up the chaplain's box. "How am I going to make Phil see any sense in this?" Her thoughts were interrupted as she walked past a group of nurses.

"Didn't you see that Dr Momoh was unsettled? I've never heard of this kind of thing before."

"The ultrasound image showed it."

Somehow, stories of the woman whose baby had eaten his twin had begun to spread amongst the nurses and midwives at the hospital.

Grace looked towards the direction of the voices. She saw one of the nurses move her fingers to her shoulders. She figured it was the sign of the cross. They didn't notice her. She wished they did.

"Aren't these things supposed to be confidential?" Her words made her instantly less trusting of the clinic environment. She shook her head and kept on walking. She turned at a corner and spotted Phil's back close to the entrance of the clinic. Grace cleared her throat and called out his name. She noticed his expressionless face as he turned and walked towards her. Unsure of what to make of his look, she simply welcomed him and asked about his trip as they walked back to the room.

Though Phil was talking to her, she mentally got herself ready to listen in on the nurses' conversation again. She managed to focus on their voices.

"You really believe that story? It's just a rumour. You guys surprise me when you spread some of these your stories. A cannibalistic foetus, pfft."

"A child is a priceless gift. Why anyone would come up with this ridiculous story is beyond me." Another voice spoke.

Grace noticed there was some anger in the voice. Their conversation blurred out as Grace and Phil walked further away from them. Phil was still speaking to her. She realised he didn't notice that she was zoned out of his talk for a while.

"At least you're here now, that's the important thing. Don't stress about your boss." She nicely interrupted Phil as she worked her brain to gather what he had been saying-something about his boss being reluctant to let him leave his station so abruptly.

After Phil had seen Lola and had followed the doctor and the chaplain out of the room, Grace opened up to Lola about what she heard from the nurses.

"I overheard some nurses talking about...well I think they were talking about us."

"About us, how?"

"About the scan, the baby... I heard your doctor being mentioned."

"Oh no," said Lola. "I'm not coming out of this room until I believe all this is in my imagination." She wished it would all end. She wished to be awoken of the nightmare that was playing out. She certainly didn't want to be the talk of the hospital.

"These things are meant to be confidential and I wouldn't trust these nurses to keep their mouths shut." Grace shrugged as she spoke, clearly unimpressed with the situation. "One would have hoped that a patient's confidentiality is of value in a clinic."

At this point was when Phil returned to the room to meet them talking.