His baby.
At first Peter had not wanted to believe the doctor, insisting
that there had been a mistake, a mix-up, that he was just a
friend of Ivy's, and it couldn't possibly be his baby. But the
doctor relayed to Peter, from Ivy, that she had been with no one
else in more than a year before Peter, and no one after. The
doctor offered to conduct a simple blood test that would settle
the matter, but Peter decided against it.
He knew Ivy was telling the truth. It was his baby, and he prayed
that it not be delivered. Not just yet. It needed more time.
Dr. Chen, the resident physician caring for Ivy, said the chances
of survival for the twenty-eight-week infant were roughly ninety
to ninety-five percent.
Peter could not believe this was happening to him. It was not
something he asked for or wanted. Not like this, anyway. He had
assumed (hadn't he?) that she had used some sort of protection.
In the past, he and Kate had never worried about birth-control.
With Kate it was neither an issue or a possibility.
He thought back to their night together, her desperation. He also
recalled the indications of her drug usage. The doctor warned him
that she was very weak, and had admitted to taking drugs during
the pregnancy. The birth would be difficult and extremely
dangerous for her, considering her overall poor health.
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