Problems.
*
Bethany felt her heart sink at the doctor's words. She felt Derek push himself against her, steadying her. "Oh Beth." He whispered in her ear. She put her head in his neck, starting to let the silent tears fall from her eyes, wanting to block out the doctor's voice, not wanting to believe it. The doctor continued in a monotone voice, like it was hurting him to give them this news.
*
Bethany had found out she was pregnant months ago, Derek had been ecstatic, they had been trying for about a year with no such luck, and now that they were, it was like the universe was singling them out for disaster.
*
Bethany was four months into her pregnancy and her and Derek had an appointment to find out the gender of the baby. She and Derek had walked into the doctor's office, excitement all over their features, a slight bounce in their step. Bethany sat on the examination table, the doctor asking her to pull up her shirt. Bethany pulled up her shirt and held Derek's hand, anxious to find out what they would be having. The doctor waved the wand around her stomach, freezing in the middle of her stomach. He waved it around some more, a frown on his face. Bethany felt her heart speed up, but Derek spoke up before she did, "Is there something wrong doctor?" The doctor looked away from them, "I'll be back in a minute." Bethany nodded, trying not to let the fear show in her eyes.
*
The doctor walked out of the room, Bethany immediately looked up at Derek, "Derek what if something's wrong with the baby? This is all my fault." Derek sighed, he too was scared but he couldn't let Beth know, she didn't need anymore extra stress on her. "It's not your fault baby, everything is going to be okay." Bethany looked at him through misty eyes, "You promise?" Derek sighed again, "I promise." He said, not knowing what he was signing himself up for.
*
The doctor walked back into the room, a noticeable frown on his face. "What's wrong?" Bethany asked. The doctor took a big sigh before answering; whatever he was going to tell that wasn't going to be pretty. "We found out that you are expecting twins..." Bethany and Derek smiled, "You scared us is that all?"
*
The doctor looked at them and continued a sad glimmer in his eyes, "But we found something that could affect the pregnancy, we found an amniotic string that could affect Bethany. If you decide to continue with the pregnancy, there's a 50/0 chance that either Bethany or the babies could die at the moment of delivery." Derek felt tears well up in his eyes, "Is there anything you can do? I don't care about the price, just save them." The doctor looked at them with sad eyes, "You can do two things to prevent this. The first is to abort the babies; you'll be able to conceive more in the future, that way Bethany would be saved." Derek looked at Bethany who had been silent the whole time, with watery eyes. There was no way he could choose between Bethany and his kids.
*
Bethany looked at the doctor, "I'm not killing my babies, what's the second option." Derek felt something constrict in his chest, love and fear. He loved Bethany for her decision to fight for their kids, but he was scared that because of them he would lose his Beth. The doctor looked at her, "Are you sure Mrs. Hough, you'll be able to conceive more children." Bethany cut him off before he could finish, "I already said no, what are the other options?"
*
The doctor sighed again, "The last option is to have minimal activity throughout the whole rest of the pregnancy, bed rest for the remaining five months. You have to have specific types of foods and medicine, but absolutely no stress or strenuous activity." Bethany looked at the doctor, a blank look on her face, "I'm doing it." The doctor looked at her with a surprised look on his face, "You're something aren't you?" Derek chuckled, trying to clear the horrible ugliness that was happening, "You have no idea dude."
