There Goes My Life

22.

Derek grasped for Meredith's hand when the doctor walked in and had a concerned look on her face. He tried to read the ultra sound for himself but his mother blocked his path as he saw her pointing to something on the screen. The doctor took a closer look, pushing a few buttons here and there trying to get a clearer angle of the picture. When they finally turned back around Derek and Meredith both held their breaths.

"What is it? What's wrong with the baby?" Meredith asked as her free hand instinctively held her belly, trying to protect the fetus that was growing inside of her.

"There is no easy way to tell you this..." The doctor began, causing the world to shatter beneath the couple as the words became muted. The doctor's voice seemed so very far away as she said that there was a condition affecting the baby. "Amniotic BAND Syndrome or ABS is where there is what looks like a little line... if you look over here" The doctor pointed to the screen. "The amniotic sac has ruptured partially and created this band that if it attaches to the baby or the umbilical cord could have fatal complications."

Derek looked over to Meredith and saw the tears streaming down her face. What was once a happy moment for the two of them had spiralled out of control and they wondered if their child would be alright.

The doctor had continued to speak with them but realized the shock they had to be in so she made an appointment to discuss with them further the complications in the pregnancy for early next week and gave them some literature for them to read, assuring that at this moment the baby was fine and that although this was scary the baby was safe for the time being.

Derek drove home carefully, focusing on the road, trying to push all of the negative thoughts away. When they arrived back at the apartment, Derek sat down on the couch and pulled Meredith to him. "You didn't do this." He whispered, knowing how she was feeling about the condition. He tried to sooth her by pulling one of the pamphlets out. "It says here that as long as the bands don't attach to our little girl she could be perfectly fine." He placed his hand on her belly. "So we just have to make sure that floaty thing in there doesn't attach to our baby."

Meredith stared at him blankly. "It also says that it's very hard to detect this and that we are quite lucky my mom spotted it on the ultra sound. Oh... so that's why some kids have a cleft palate... so it might not be so bad." Derek mumbled on about the things he was reading but his words were not registering with Meredith. She was just too concerned with the words the doctor had said, "It's really hard to tell, if the bands attach it could be as small as a cleft palate, a missing limb or as severe as death if the bands attach to the umbilical cord or around the baby's major organs."

Meredith tried to stay as still as possible as she lay on the couch, resting against Derek, willing the bands to stay away from their little girl. Hoping that she didn't do anything to cause this and praying that everything would turn out alright for once in her life.