Chapter 1 - The Chair That Disappeared
The chair vanished beneath me at thirty-four weeks pregnant, and my husband watched his mother do it.
One second I was sitting beside Daniel in my obstetrician's waiting room. The next, my hip struck the metal arm of another chair. My wrist buckled against the floor. I curled around my belly before I even realized I was falling.
Nobody moved. Then an old woman gasped, a magazine slapped the carpet, and someone shouted for a nurse.
"Emily?" Daniel crouched beside me. "Can you get up?"
I couldn't answer. Our daughter usually kicked when I sat down, especially after breakfast. Now all I could feel was a hard, terrified silence inside me.
Behind us, Linda still held the chair by its backrest. "I wanted to sit beside my son," she said. "I didn't know she'd drop like that."
"I was already sitting," I whispered.
A nurse named Tasha hurried over with a wheelchair. "Don't try to stand. Has your baby moved since the fall?"
I looked at Daniel. "You saw her pull it. Tell them."
His eyes went from me to his mother. There was a pause. Just long enough for me to understand that he was choosing the least uncomfortable answer.
"It happened fast," he said.
Tasha knelt beside me. "Emily, look at me. We're going to check you and your baby."
Linda tried to come closer. "I'm her mother-in-law."
"Then give her some room," Tasha said. "Now."
They took me into an exam room and strapped two monitors around my belly. I counted every click and beep, waiting for proof that my little girl was still there. Finally a rapid heartbeat filled the room. My breath broke into a sob so ugly I couldn't recognize it.
The doctor examined my bruised hip and sore wrist. She said the heartbeat was reassuring, but wanted to watch us because of the fall. Daniel gripped my fingers. "See? She's okay."
I pulled away. "That isn't the same as what happened being okay."
When we returned to the waiting area, Linda occupied the seat beside his. She didn't stand. "You're obviously fine," she announced.
"You're not coming to another appointment unless I invite you," I said.
Linda looked straight at her son. "Daniel, are you going to allow this?"
May you like
He closed his eyes. "Enough, Emily."
Then Linda's purse tipped, spilling a white envelope across the floor. Written on its front were the words BIRTH PLAN - APPROVED CONTACTS. Under my name was a signature I had never written.
