Page 103 of Family Bonds- Gabriela & Luca

“That’s further along than I thought,” he said. Not that he’d know exactly, other than he knew her uterus was enlarged for her age. She wasn’t a super skinny girl, but not overweight.

When she lay on the table and her skin went flat in most spots, it was pretty obvious to him what the bump had meant, but again, he wasn’t going to assume.

“She’s not taking the best care of herself. She admitted to drinking and smoking pot a few times.”

He closed his eyes and tried not to show how much this bothered him.

It was not surprising news.

How many children were born into this world in that exact situation?

Too many to count.

Too many that could use a good home that he would have been more than willing to open his door for.

“I hope she’s going to take better care of herself now.”

“I laid the law down to her and her aunt. I don’t know exactly what they are going to do, but I’m not positive Taylor wants to keep the baby. I asked their plans. Right now, they’ve got two options. Birth and keep it, or birth and adoption.”

“So due in May?” he asked.

“May tenth or thereabouts. It’s a boy.”

“If she wanted to know the sex, I’m assuming she’s thinking of raising it. She has a boyfriend, she said.”

Ava shook her head. “He’s not in the picture. There were a lot of tears in the office. He’s out the door and saying he doesn’t believe it’s his anyway and wants no part of it. It’s kind of sad.”

“And the aunt?”

“She’s stressed. Torn. She never had kids and didn’t really want them, but didn’t want her niece on the streets. I’ll see her again in four weeks.”

“Thanks for giving me an update,” he said.

He’d be watching more on her charts.

“No problem,” Ava said, moving toward the door. “I told her she still needs to make an appointment with your office. She’s missing a few vaccines.”

“I noticed that. I should have said something then, but honestly…”

“I know, too much more to worry about. If she hasn’t gotten them by her next appointment, I’ll remind her.”

The two of them walked out, he went to his ward, Ava going to the maternity ward.

When he got to his floor, things were relatively quiet for five patients.

Luca saw them all, ordered more tests, spoke with parents, then noticed it was almost eight and he was starving.

No reason to go to the ER for an hour. He’d never get out of there if he went down now.

He went to his office to finish up notes and get orders set for the night while he grabbed something to eat.

The cafeteria wasn’t open, so he found a vending machine, searched through and settled on a granola bar and a cookie. It’d hold him over until he was home and could have something more substantial before he crashed into bed.

His phone went off with a text, so he reached over to see what he was needed for and was pleasantly surprised Gabriela’s name popped up saying she hoped his night wasn’t horrible.

He tipped back in the chair and hit the button to call her.

“Hey, it can’t be too nutso if you’re calling me back right away.”