Carter and Lucy arrived back to Chicago mid afternoon. On the flight home, besides the idea of moving in together, the subject of meeting John's family came up. "So when am I going to meet them?" "I don't know, I'm not even sure where they are. Somewhere in Europe I think." "What about your grandparent's?" "Soon, real soon." Lucy let the subject drop, she knew not to press her luck. After unloading their bags into the Jeep and leaving the terminal, it was not long that Lucy had fallen asleep. Carter sympathized with her, as it had been a long emotional weekend in Boston. Maybe it "was" time for Lucy to meet some of the family. "Lucy, wake up." Her eyes opened and she smiles. "How do you feel about meeting Gamma?" "When?" "Here shortly." "I'm a mess." "No, you're not." "Oh, please," she rolls her eyes. As the Jeep pulls in the long winding drive to his grandparent's house, Lucy begins to get fidgety, immediately regretting her decision to meet his family so soon. As they arrive at the back entrance, Millicent Carter greets them, giving John a hug. "John, what a surprise to see you. I rarely see you these days." "I know," motioning his head towards Lucy. "Gamma, I'd like you to meet Lucy," pausing for a moment, "Knight." "Mrs. Carter, it's nice to meet you." "It's nice to "finally" meet you too." "If you'll excuse me, I need to get some clean clothes for work. "Why don't you two kinda,you know,get to know each other."suggested John. Millicent leads Lucy to the kitchen, where she offers her something to drink. "No thanks, I'm fine." "How have you been since February?" "Okay. Huh, I was just thinking, do you think things would have been different if I'd stayed in Chicago after the attack? "I don't know, maybe," Millicent nods. "You have to realize, when my mother took me back to Boston, I wasn't able, either physically or emotionally to make any decisions about my life. I wish I could have been here to help John, but I guess the important this is that we're here for each other now. I feel the world is full of "what if"s". What if, I'd been able to read Sobricki's symptom's better and what if, John hadn't been busy with other patients. For a while, there is silence between the two women, until Millicent asks, "You're the one he's been spending his time with since he's been back, aren't you?" "Yeah, I am." "Are things getting serious?" Before Lucy could answer, John returns with a look of bewilderment. "What's going on?" "Nothing," they both answer, smiling at the same time. "Don't be a stranger, Lucy," exclaims Millicent as she waves goodbye. On their way back to Lucy's apartment, John starts pumping Lucy for answers, "What did you guys talk about?" "Girl stuff." "Like?" "If I had honorable intentions toward her grandson." And you said...." "That's when you came in," she grins. Arriving home, taking a quick shower and changing clothes the mood turns serious again. "Come on Lucy, what did you two talk about?" "You,me,us, and February." He gives her a puzzled look,"Everything okay?" "Yeah, everything's fine" she says in a reflective voice "Well, you ready for bed? We've got an early shift tomorrow." "You go ahead, I'll be in,in a few minutes." "You all right?" She takes a deep breath before she speaks, "John, I'm scared." "About?" Touching her stomach,"The baby." "Everything's gonna be fine, don't worry." "Promise?" "Promise, now let's get ready for bed." When they arrived at work the next morning, everyone was curious about the weekend, "How'd your mom take the new's?" asked a nosy Dave. "She's excited," replies Lucy. "So, what did you guys do while you were there?" he continues. "Well, if you must know, she took us out to an expensive dinner, then treated us to a night alone at the Boston Plaza, any more questions," she says a bit annoyed. "Boy! She must have the bucks!" he replies. "Whatever." The day continued like any other, with minor emergencies and only a few traumas. However, on this day, Lucy had her first OB visit. "John, remember my appointment is a 3:24." "Don't worry, I'll be there."
TIME: 4:00 PM
"Lucy Knight, Dr. Coburn will see you now. Please bring your patient information form with you." Lucy takes one more glance toward the door, looking for John."Boy, is he in trouble!" "Lucy, everything looks in order, I noticed you were on morphine for your pain, after your attack. When was the last time you've taken any medication?" "Actually, not since August. Should I be worried?" "Seeing as though the baby was conceived in September, we'll just keep a close watch on you." Dr. Coburn begins the routine part of the exam- "Blood Pressure is good. Weight, also very good. Heart rate,excellent. Lucy it looks like you're in good shape. Okay, feet in the stirrups." "Great, the humiliation begins," laughs Lucy.AFTER THE EXAMINATION
"Looks like you're about ten weeks along, you can figure you're due date to be around June 24th. Now,lie down and lift you top. We're going to see if we can hear a heartbeat." Lucy was going to kill John for this one, just as she had her mind set for a confrontation,he comes running through the door. "Sorry I'm late, wouldn't you know it all day we're not busy, then right when I needed to leave we get swamped, and seeing as though one of our interns was on a personal errand, we were a little shorthanded." "You're forgiven, this time," she says smiling. "Did I miss anything important?" "We'll talk about it later,"Lucy says. "We were about ready to listen to the heartbeat," the doctor continues. "Lucy, this will be cold," she squirts the gel on her stomach. As she moves the transducer over Lucy's abdomen, the couple hold hands in anticipation. Within a few seconds of searching, they finally hear the sound of a heartbeat. They looked at each other and it was at that moment, Lucy realized she was so blessed to be having John's child. As they are getting ready to leave, John's pager goes off, "Looks like I'm needed downstairs. You okay?" "I need to make another appointment and pick up my vitamins. See you in a few minutes." "Meet me on your way out." An hour had past and still no Lucy, John was growing concerned, because he knew she was anxious to get home,"Hey, has anyone seen Lucy? She's suppose to meet me down here." "Nope. Haven't seen her,"Chunni answers. John calls OB,"Yes," they tell him,"she left about half hour ago." He call the pharmacy,"Yes,she picked up her prescription about twenty minutes ago." Now he was really getting worried as his mind flashes back to February. Then he realizes where she was and pushes the elevator button impatiently. Deciding it's taking too long, Carter takes the stairs to the roof. There, he finds Lucy sitting alone with tears in her eyes, "What's wrong?" "There maybe a problem," the news hits him like a ton of bricks,"What?" "I was on my prescription pain killers shortly before the baby was conceived, I'm so sorry." "It's not your fault. Who was to know what would happen." "I know, but-" "Shh, it's all right,it'll be just fine." "They have me scheduled for a fetoscopy tomorrow at eight." "What time do you have to check in?" he asked. "By seven." "We'd better let Weaver know, so she can have someone cover our shift. You okay, mom?" "Yeah, let's go home," she says with a sad smile. On their way out, they let Weaver know what's going one,I'll just have Dave and Luka pull a double shift. I know they won't mind. Let me know how everything goes. Both of you take it easy." Neither, John nor Lucy slept well that night, both knowing what was going to happen, and both wondering what the results of the procedure would be. Dr. Coburn was able to perform the fetoscopy herself and John was allowed to be with Lucy during the procedure. Even though he had been a surgical intern, nothing prepared him for the helplessness he felt at this time. There was nothing he could do to ease Lucy's fear of the test and what the results might show. As Lucy was recovering, the results were made known to John. As she woke up, he let her know with a light kiss on the forehead, that everything was going to be all right.
Note: A fetoscopy is an actual test that is similar to amniocentesis, on they use a bigger needle and can detect any birth defects and correct them.