“Please ask him to come in.”
Alexander entered without his coat, rain darkening the shoulders of his suit.
He stopped at the foot of the bed.
“Are you all right?”
“The baby seems well,” I said. “They’re keeping me overnight.”
His face loosened with relief, but he did not come closer until I nodded.
Then he took the chair Daniel had left beside the window.
“I’m glad you called me,” he said.
“I wasn’t sure I would.”
“I know.”
The machines hummed softly around us.
For a while, we spoke about practical things: the doctor’s plan, the hospital bag, the nurse’s instructions.
Alexander listened carefully and wrote down the name of the specialist who would check the baby after birth.
He did not try to turn my fear into certainty.
In the morning, the doctor explained that it would be safest to begin labor that day.
