After all, she told herself, she had nothing to lose.
Chapter 16
"Mr. Jones," Dr. Chen said, lightly shaking Peter's shoulder.
Peter snapped awake. "What time is it?" he asked as he shakily
rose to his feet. Dr. Chen gently steadied him. Daylight shone
through the windows at the end of the hall. He glanced at the
wall clock. Half past noon. He had been asleep for little more
than an hour.
"It's time for you to see Ivy," Dr. Chen said. He led Peter by
the arm through swinging double doors. "And your baby girl."
Peter stopped in his tracks. He felt flushed and his throat felt
swollen. "She's all right? And the baby too? They both made it
though okay?"
Dr. Chen carefully guided Peter to the wall, out of the way of
the busy corridor traffic. "Not entirely," he said. "There were
complications. Both Ivy and the baby are very fragile. The baby
weighs only two and three-quarter pounds. She's in neonatal care
right now, hooked up to life-support equipment."
"But she's alive."
"Yes. She's alive," the doctor said. "The outlook is fair, but we
don't know yet if there is other damage. Damage we can't see from
the drugs."
Peter felt a sudden wave of revulsion. Images of strangely
twisted limbs and gnarled faces flashed in his mind. He himself
and asked, "Is she retarded?"
"There is no disfiguration," the doctor said.
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