Blue Moon of Kentucky

Chapter 38

On Monday morning, Doc Turner called their house. It was the first sign of trouble on the horizon. Loretta was juggling Erin Love and a sack of diapers she was getting ready for the diaper service while Elvis ate his breakfast.

His ears didn't perk up until Loretta turned to him and asked, "Elvis, what is your blood type?"

Elvis frowned. His jaw moved up and down as he continued to chew his bacon. "Why would you... who the heck are you talkin' to?"

"The doctor." Into the phone, she said, "No, I don't think he knows. Honey, tell me what your blood type is."

"I got no idea, Loretty."

"He got no idea. Hmmm–ow!" Loretta winched when Erin Love grabbed a chuck of her hair. She disentangled her child's little fist from her hair while listening to the doctor. "Elvis, do we got any plans today?"

"Well...no."

"No." More talking on the other end. "Yes, the baby's with us, of course she is. Okay, we'll be there."

"So are you gonna have a baby or not?" Elvis asked as soon as she hung up the phone.

"Yes, but somethin' ain't right. He wants you to get your blood took."

"And Doc Turner won't tell you what the hell is goin' on. Of course."

"He said he won't know till after you had your blood took." She handed Erin Love to him and expelled a sigh. "So I told him we'd be there as soon as we're done here."

Elvis cringed. "Don't that sound like fun."

"Well, we'll do that and later I'll take Erin Love to the market."

When her slender arms twined around his neck, he brushed a kiss to her temple and pressed his face to her hair. A brief feeling of utter contentment washed over him.

But they wouldn't go to the market. Instead the waited for the results of the blood test for over an hour. When Doc Turner finally called them back again, Loretta was a bundle of nerves.

"When we took your blood, Loretta, we found out that your blood type is O negative. And Elvis' blood type is O positive. All the negative and positive means is that Elvis' blood has an Rh factor and yours doesn't. Now any child you two have could inherit either of those blood types, but positive is always more common. The first time you get pregnant with a baby that has Elvis' blood type, your body would start making antibodies. Now the first time this happens, you'd simply give birth to the baby. But once you get pregnant with another baby with Elvis' blood type... " The doctor paused. "You know about childhood illnesses that you can only get once?"

"Yes..." Loretta said.

"You only get them once because your body makes antibodies against them."

Elvis squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to block out the mountain of hurt. His heart throbbed, the ache going far deeper than he cared to reason with.

"So my baby is gonna die?" Loretta squeaked, managing to vocalize what he'd been wanting to say.

"What we have to do now is find out what Erin Love's blood type is. Once we did, we'll know more."

A few moments of silence passed between them. Then Loretta clutched Erin Love to her chest and said, "But you can't do that. Look at them little arms she's got. You wouldn't get nothin' outta there."

"Babies much younger than her have their blood taken all the time," Doc Turner said. "When they're born at a hospital, all the babies have their blood tested."

Elvis merely sat there, unable to speak. It felt as though someone inflated a balloon inside his head.

"If we..." Loretta trailed off, swallowed and took a deep breath before going on. "If we find out that she's got positive blood and this baby does too, there still ain't nothin' you can do, is there?"