Chapter 14: The Ultrasound
333 Words
The second ultrasound was different from the first.
Dr. Lin moved the wand over my belly, and there it was—not just a heartbeat this time. A shape. A tiny, curled-up shape with a head and fingers and toes.
"Look," Dr. Lin said, pointing at the screen. "There's the spine. And there—those are the hands. Ten fingers, all accounted for."
I couldn't speak.
Zhou Ye was sitting in the corner of the examination room. He wasn't supposed to be there—he wasn't family, wasn't the father—but Dr. Lin had let him stay. He sat very still, his elbows on his knees, his eyes on the screen.
"The baby is measuring small," Dr. Lin said, her voice softening. "Shen Zhi, I need to be honest with you. You're not getting enough nutrition. If this continues, there could be complications."
"What kind of complications?"
"Low birth weight. Developmental delays. In severe cases..." She trailed off. She didn't need to finish.
I nodded. I understood.
After the appointment, Zhou Ye drove me home in silence. The grocery bag from yesterday was still on the back seat—I had only eaten half of it. I was saving the rest for next week.
When he parked outside my building, he didn't turn off the engine.
"Shen Zhi."
"Mm."
"Let me help you."
"You already helped me."
"That was yesterday. I'm asking about tomorrow." He turned to look at me. His face was serious. "I'm not a rich man. I'm a small-town doctor. But I have enough. Enough for two. Enough for three, if needed."
"Why would you do that?" I asked again. The same question as before.
He took off his glasses. Cleaned them with his shirt. Put them back on.
"Because that baby on the screen," he said slowly, "deserves a chance. And so do you."
I cried in his car that day.
It was the second time I cried in front of him.
It would not be the last.
- Writer
