sat back down, looking at Sarah with interest.
‘They didn’t have the tests when you were pregnant but now they do a blood test on all pregnant women that can show them if they are at increased risk of having a child with Down’s. Well, my test came back indicating that there was an increased risk. I had to make a decision. I could do two things. Do nothing and wait and see. Have an amniocentesis test, which carried a small risk of miscarriage, and, following that result, decide whether or not to continue the pregnancy. After a lot of thought and after speaking to women like yourself who have Down’s syndrome children, I realised what a great deal of pleasure they got from their children, and how most of them grow up, like David, into loving, reasonably independent adults. I decided to take the chance. I had almost decided once before to end the pregnancy because, like you, I was a single mother, but once I decided to go through with the pregnancy, it was as if—I don’t know—I had made a commitment to my unborn baby that I would love and cherish it regardless. As they say in the marriage vows. In sickness and in health.’
Sarah paused for a moment and Mrs Loveday patted her hand in sympathy.
‘So I know how scared you are. I know that you want to protect your son, but isn’t it better that he gets to know and love and trust other people and places for that time, hopefully a long time from now, when you won’t be around?’
‘I know you’re right, dear. It’s just difficult to let them have their independence. You won’t know about that now, but just you wait until your son grows up!’
‘That time will come for me, too. As it must for all parents eventually. Take a leap of faith and accept the help Social Services can give you now. After all, if you don’t look after your health, you might not be around as long as you could be. Let us look after you now and hopefully you will be there for David for many more years.’
‘Very well, dear. I guess I don’t really have a choice. But only if they’ll send someone over to stay in the house. I don’t want him upset more than he has to be.’
‘I’ll make sure of it,’ Sarah promised. ‘In the meantime, let’s get you back into your gown.’
* * *
Jamie moved away from the curtain of the cubicle. He had stopped to listen when he’d caught Sarah’s words about her pregnancy. He was dismayed. He had no idea that Sarah had had to face so many fears during her pregnancy on her own. He should have been there for her. And now there was a good chance he was about to inflict further months, if not years, of worry and anxiety. He had to find out if he carried the gene, and soon. He would call Robert and let him know that he had to have the result. Stat.
* * *
Jamie put the phone down with a frown. He checked in with the hospital back in Africa whenever he could and was usually reassured that they seemed to be coping without him. However, today the conversation he’d had with his colleague had worried him. Greg’s usual ebullience seemed to have deserted him and his normally upbeat manner had been subdued. At first he had denied there was anything worrying him until, at Jamie’s insistence, he had admitted his concerns.
‘One of the more experienced doctors has had to return to Europe unexpectedly—a family emergency,’ Greg had told Jamie. ‘We were coping, just about, without you, but now being two doctors down is putting a strain on our already overstretched resources. I simply can’t expect anyone to do more. We’re all working twelve-hour shifts as it is.’
‘Do you need me to come back?’ Jamie had asked. ‘I still have a couple of weeks left to do here, but perhaps if I explain, they’ll let me go earlier.’ Even as Jamie had asked the question he had known it wasn’t that simple. If it hadn’t been for Sarah and Calum he would have already booked the first plane back. He would have hated to let the Glasgow hospital down, but
‘They didn’t have the tests when you were pregnant but now they do a blood test on all pregnant women that can show them if they are at increased risk of having a child with Down’s. Well, my test came back indicating that there was an increased risk. I had to make a decision. I could do two things. Do nothing and wait and see. Have an amniocentesis test, which carried a small risk of miscarriage, and, following that result, decide whether or not to continue the pregnancy. After a lot of thought and after speaking to women like yourself who have Down’s syndrome children, I realised what a great deal of pleasure they got from their children, and how most of them grow up, like David, into loving, reasonably independent adults. I decided to take the chance. I had almost decided once before to end the pregnancy because, like you, I was a single mother, but once I decided to go through with the pregnancy, it was as if—I don’t know—I had made a commitment to my unborn baby that I would love and cherish it regardless. As they say in the marriage vows. In sickness and in health.’
Sarah paused for a moment and Mrs Loveday patted her hand in sympathy.
‘So I know how scared you are. I know that you want to protect your son, but isn’t it better that he gets to know and love and trust other people and places for that time, hopefully a long time from now, when you won’t be around?’
‘I know you’re right, dear. It’s just difficult to let them have their independence. You won’t know about that now, but just you wait until your son grows up!’
‘That time will come for me, too. As it must for all parents eventually. Take a leap of faith and accept the help Social Services can give you now. After all, if you don’t look after your health, you might not be around as long as you could be. Let us look after you now and hopefully you will be there for David for many more years.’
‘Very well, dear. I guess I don’t really have a choice. But only if they’ll send someone over to stay in the house. I don’t want him upset more than he has to be.’
‘I’ll make sure of it,’ Sarah promised. ‘In the meantime, let’s get you back into your gown.’
* * *
Jamie moved away from the curtain of the cubicle. He had stopped to listen when he’d caught Sarah’s words about her pregnancy. He was dismayed. He had no idea that Sarah had had to face so many fears during her pregnancy on her own. He should have been there for her. And now there was a good chance he was about to inflict further months, if not years, of worry and anxiety. He had to find out if he carried the gene, and soon. He would call Robert and let him know that he had to have the result. Stat.
* * *
Jamie put the phone down with a frown. He checked in with the hospital back in Africa whenever he could and was usually reassured that they seemed to be coping without him. However, today the conversation he’d had with his colleague had worried him. Greg’s usual ebullience seemed to have deserted him and his normally upbeat manner had been subdued. At first he had denied there was anything worrying him until, at Jamie’s insistence, he had admitted his concerns.
‘One of the more experienced doctors has had to return to Europe unexpectedly—a family emergency,’ Greg had told Jamie. ‘We were coping, just about, without you, but now being two doctors down is putting a strain on our already overstretched resources. I simply can’t expect anyone to do more. We’re all working twelve-hour shifts as it is.’
‘Do you need me to come back?’ Jamie had asked. ‘I still have a couple of weeks left to do here, but perhaps if I explain, they’ll let me go earlier.’ Even as Jamie had asked the question he had known it wasn’t that simple. If it hadn’t been for Sarah and Calum he would have already booked the first plane back. He would have hated to let the Glasgow hospital down, but
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