The Men's Camp

Chapter 4 Maria - The scare

Maria rushed into the clinic breathless and frightened. Her husband, Sam was on the way. Their conversation was tense, and Maria had tried hard not to cry into the phone. She couldn't believe this was happening right now when the baby was so tiny, and she had been feeling so well. There was no history of problems in her family or Sam's, so she had been sure everything would proceed without any issues.

"Please, I need to see a doctor immediately. I'm pregnant and I'm bleeding. I might be having a miscarriage," she flung the words out hurriedly to the receptionist who sat calmly. The receptionist looked her up and down for a moment before slowly gathering the forms she needed to fill out. Maria felt like she was having a bad dream where everyone moved extra slow when she needed them to rush. She tapped her hands on the counter-top feeling frustrated. The room was cool, but she felt hot. It had been a long rush into the clinic from the distant carpark.

"Fill this in and take a seat, the doctor will be with you shortly."

This was far less than the greeting she had hoped to receive, but she sat on one of the ugly, pink plastic chairs to try and fill in the forms. On the wall, an old television played daytime programs to appease the sick masses who huddled around her. Maria squinted at the page and tried to focus. Her fingers struggled to hold the pen. On one side of her, an older lady coughed and on the other, a haggard mother tried to keep her child amused with a mobile phone. Maria crossed her ankles and bowed her head. This felt like the worst place in the world to be right now. She jumped a mile when someone put their hand on her shoulder. Looking up she saw Sam and he swept her into his arms in a hug.

"I'm so sorry for this," she whispered. Sam bent and peered down at her as she continued, "it's all my fault this is happening."

"Are you kidding? This is no one's fault!"

Maria looked down. She had been working really hard over the past few weeks to get ready for the time when they would be living on one income. She always felt worried about how they would pay their expenses. The guilt throbbed through her body and made her headache. She was sure her stress had caused this to happen. She should have taken sick leave or asked for a lighter workload. So many difficult thoughts were swirling around her head and none of them were being kind towards her.

"How are you feeling?" Sam asked with concern.

Maria's back was now only a dull ache and the stabbing pains had stopped. She tried to reassure him that the worst had passed. Sam gently took the forms away and helped her complete the questions. He handed the forms back to the receptionist and asked how much longer they would have to wait. The receptionist looked bored as she said, "not long."

Despite Maria's misgivings, the doctor called her name after only a brief wait, and she hurried into the nurse's bay with Sam close behind her. A scan showed that the pregnancy was progressing normally, and the baby looked okay.

"It is very early in your pregnancy and these things can happen," the doctor said. He didn't seem overly concerned. "At this point, if you lose the baby, it is probably just a genetic issue and your body is just responding as mother nature intended, by flushing out the bad. We see a lot of these genetic abortions."

In reaction to the doctor's detached explanation, Maria felt tears prickling at her eyes and blinked them back furiously. She knew it was up to her to keep this baby alive and healthy, and now she was failing. The words felt like a personal reprimanding. All of a sudden, she burst into tears and began loudly weeping.

The doctor hesitated at her distress and rubbed his temples.

"I wouldn't normally do this," he started, "but we do have a drug. It's fairly new and it's expensive but for once, the pharmaceutical company gave us a free sample batch to try. It will stop the bleeding and halt any contractions that might have started. If the baby is not genetically compromised, it will save the pregnancy. However, if it's really not meant to be, it will just put off the inevitable for a few days or weeks longer."

Maria felt the joy go straight into her stomach and her body relaxed. Yes!

She was willing to try, after all, a few more weeks with her baby was better than losing it now and maybe, just maybe, it would all be fine. She rubbed at her flat stomach imagining the tiny bean inside, and smiled at Sam.

Sam was watching his wife with wary eyes. They both wanted this baby, but he didn't want to risk her health in any way.

"Are you sure?" he asked carefully. "It's a new drug and the doctor said it's experimental."

Maria wiped at the tears in her eyes before answering, "of course. We have to do this."

Sam just nodded as she signed the agreements. He wanted to hug her and talk it over, but everything was moving quickly. He gave her a nervous smile and Maria squeezed his hand before he left with the doctor.

"I'll be in the waiting area," he promised her.

A nurse took Maria to one of the rooms for day patients. There was a medicine fridge in the corner that held all the drugs.

Maria lay on the cold plastic bed and let herself rest as she felt the pinch of the needle. The nurse spoke soothingly to her as she worked. Maria closed her eyes and relaxed knowing she would be staying here for the next hour. The nurse closed the curtain around the bed and dimmed the lights, "have a little nap," she advised as she left the room.

It was easy to drift away. Maria was often tired these days and she felt like the stress at work was getting to her. She needed more down time. She began to think of all the ways she could try and relax. Perhaps take a meditation class at the gym. One of her friends was always inviting her and going on about the health benefits. Maria had always thought it was a waste of time to just sit in the dark for an hour, but maybe she was wrong. Maybe it was something she should start doing. And craft, that was soothing. Maria thought she should start doing calligraphy again. She had been good at making wedding invitations. She smiled remembering the beautiful scripts she had traced across the page. Her wedding to Sam had been a dream and was her happy place. His handsome smile and gentle eyes were all she needed to assure her that she would be fine.

A sharp sound beside her caused her to return to the present with a jolt. Near her, someone was moving. A strange woman, with her back to Maria was shuffling through the contents of the medicinal fridge. She was grabbing at packets of medicine and pushing them into her bag. Maria half closed her eyes again and watched her cautiously. She wasn't dressed like any of the nurses who worked in the clinic. The woman was thin and had some grey hair streaked through her long dark ponytail.

On the table beside Maria was an empty box of the anti-miscarriage drug that the nurse had used. As the woman closed the fridge door and half turned, Maria could see she was holding some of the same boxes in her hands. She shoved the boxes into her bag and approached the table beside Maria. She picked up the empty box and shook it to check that there were no extra vials inside.

"Who are you?" Maria mumbled, looking up from the bed.

The woman flinched. "I thought you were sleeping. I have to take these to the doctor," she replied as she quickly moved towards the door. Her movements were jittery, and she had a hard face with shifty eyes. Maria was sure she was not a nurse from the clinic.

She looks desperate, Maria thought. Another addict.

Suddenly, there was a disturbance in the hallway as someone started yelling. Maria heard the sound of metal crashing to the floor. The woman took off out of the room and there were more shouts and screams as she crashed down the hall. The commotion carried around the clinic.

The nurse who had administered Maria's shot came running back into the room and ran to the drug fridge. Throwing open the door and staring inside she gasped.

"I can't believe it, not again!"

"Who was that woman?"

"She was stealing our drugs. It happens a lot here, drug addicts know we have medicines and sneak in occasionally. We need better security," the nurse said in an annoyed tone.

"Did she take the miscarriage drugs?" asked Maria

The nurse jerked around and looked at the empty box near Maria.

"Yes, other than the dose you received she took all of them," she said sadly.