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CHAPTER 175: Friday
publish date:
2026-07-23 23:29:50POV: Avalon Pierce
The drive to the hospital was quieter than it should have been.
San Francisco moved around them the way it always did—buses sighing to a stop, cyclists weaving through traffic, pedestrians carrying coffee cups like the day hadn’t suddenly become fragile.
Inside the car, neither of them touched the radio.
Avalon kept one hand on the steering wheel and the other rested over Selene’s.
She squeezed his fingers every few minutes, not because she was afraid but because she knew he was.
“I hate when doctors say ‘probably nothing,’” she said finally.
“So do I.”
“It never sounds like nothing.”
“No.”
She smiled faintly.
“You’ve been checking the mirror every ten seconds.”
“I know.”
“Hey, I’m still breathing.”
“I know.”
“You’ve looked at me twenty-three times since we left.”
“I stopped counting.”
She laughed softly.
The sound loosened something inside his chest a little.
Dr Okafor was waiting when they arrived.
She didn’t meet them in an examination room.
That was enough to make Avalon uneasy.
She smiled anyway.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your day.”
“It’s fine,” Selene said.
“It isn’t,” Dr Okafor replied. “At thirty-two weeks, every interruption feels bigger than it is.”
They followed her into her office.
Dr Okafor sat across from them.
“I wanted to see you because your blood work changed overnight.”
Selene nodded.
“What changed?”
“Your platelet count dropped.”
Avalon frowned.
Silence.
“How much?” Selene asked.
“Enough that I don’t want to ignore it.”
She folded her hands together.
“It is still within a range where many healthy pregnancies continue without incident.”
Avalon heard the word still.
“What does it mean?”
“It could mean nothing more than your body reacting to late pregnancy.”
She paused.
“It could also be the beginning of gestational thrombocytopenia.”
Selene looked at her.
“And if it isn’t?”
“Then we consider other possibilities.”
Avalon felt his stomach tighten.
“Preeclampsia?”
Dr Okafor nodded once.
“It’s one possibility.”
“My blood pressure has been normal.”
“It has.”
“I don’t have swelling.”
“I know.”
“No headaches.”
“No.”
“So why think that?”
“Because medicine isn’t about waiting until every symptom appears.” She turned the monitor toward them. “I compare trends.”
Several numbers appeared on the screen.
Red, blue and dates stretching back months.
“This number.” She pointed. “Has been slowly falling for three weeks.”
Selene leaned forward.
“I didn’t notice.”
“You weren’t supposed to.” Dr Okafor smiled gently.
“I was.”
Avalon looked at the graph.
He didn’t understand most of it but he understood the direction.
Down.
“What happens now?” he asked.
“More blood work today.”
“Okay.”
“We then monitor her blood pressure every few hours.”
“Okay.”
“A fetal non-stress test.”
Selene nodded.
“And?”
“And if everything looks stable, you can go home.”
Avalon exhaled for what felt like the first time since the phone call.
“If it doesn’t?”
Dr Okafor didn’t answer immediately.
“If the numbers continue falling…”
She looked at Selene.
“…our priority changes.”
“To?”
“You.”
Then—
“The baby.”
Neither of them spoke.
Dr Okafor continued carefully.
“Thirty-two weeks is a good gestational age. But every day she stays safely inside is worth something.”
Selene rested a hand over her stomach.
“So we’re buying days, if we can.”
Another silence settled.
Dr Okafor stood. “I don’t want either of you imagining worst-case scenarios.”
“You know us too well,” Selene said.
“I do.” She smiled. “So let’s collect facts before we collect fears.”
An hour later, Selene lay on a reclined hospital bed.
Two monitors rested against her stomach.
Tiny rhythmic sounds filled the room.
Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.
Elena’s heartbeat was steady and strong.
The nurse adjusted one sensor. “There she is.”
The heartbeat grew louder.
Selene smiled.
“Show-off.”
The nurse laughed.
“She’s very active today as always.”
Avalon watched the monitor.
Nothing had ever made him feel as helpless as watching a green line crawl across a screen.
Selene reached for him.
“You look pale.”
“I’m fine.”
“Liar.”
“A little.”
She squeezed his hand.
“She’s okay.”
“I know.”
“You don’t believe it yet.”
“No.”
“You will.”
Before he could answer Elena kicked hard.
Both monitors jumped and the nurse laughed again.
“Oh.”
“That one had opinions.”
Avalon felt the kick through her abdomen.
His eyes closed for a second.
“Hello, Elena.”
Another kick.
Selene grinned.
“I think she heard you.”
Late that afternoon, Dr Okafor returned carrying fresh results.
She looked different this time.
Relaxed.
Avalon saw it before she spoke.
“The platelet count dropped…”
His heart stopped.
“…but not again.”
He blinked.
“What?”
“It stabilised.”
Selene let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding.
“The repeat blood work is unchanged.”
“No further drop?”
“No.” Dr Okafor smiled. “The blood pressure remains excellent.”
“Protein?”
“Negative.”
“The baby?”
“Perfect.”
Avalon closed his eyes.
Just once but long enough to feel relief move through him.
“So?”
“So…”
Dr Okafor handed Selene the paperwork.
“…I am sending you home.”
Selene laughed.
“I like those words.”
“I thought you might, but.”
“There is always a but.”
She pointed gently at Selene.
“Less standing.”
Selene sighed dramatically.
“I knew it.”
“No more pretending you’re twenty-four.”
“I’m only thirty-one.”
“You are thirty-one and carrying an exceptionally stubborn child.”
Avalon smiled.
“That part sounds accurate.”
Dr Okafor looked at him.
“And you.”
“Me?”
“If she refuses to rest…”
“I know.”
“You make her.”
Selene looked offended.
“You’ve both conspired against me.”
“We’re physicians,” Dr Okafor said.
“We specialise in conspiracies that keep people alive.”
Selene laughed again.
The room laughed with her.
Outside the window, afternoon sunlight spilt across the city.
For today, home was still the plan and for the first time since the phone rang outside the community centre, that was enough.
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