Chapter 2 - THE BLUE PILLS
The baby still had a heartbeat.
That was the first thing Dr. Karen Patel told Lucas.
He almost collapsed.
“And Gwen?”
“Stable.”
“Stable means what?”
“It means she is conscious, her blood pressure is improving, and we are monitoring contractions.”
“Is she in labor?”
“Not necessarily.”
Lucas pressed both hands against his face.
The hospital corridor smelled of disinfectant and coffee.
He had spent ninety minutes moving between panic and rage.
Now he had something else.
Questions.
Blue pills.
He told Dr. Patel.
The physician's expression changed.
“What blue pills?”
“I don't know.”
“Prescription medication?”
“I don't know.”
“Has your wife been taking anything besides prenatal vitamins?”
“I thought no.”
Thought.
That word was beginning to disgust him.
He thought Gwen was eating.
He thought his mother merely disliked her.
He thought tension between them was normal.
He thought being a good husband meant providing a beautiful house and telling two adult women to “work it out.”
Dr. Patel ordered toxicology screening.
Then she asked:
“Has Gwen been under unusual stress?”
Lucas laughed once.
It sounded awful.
“My mother made her eat under a table.”
The doctor's expression froze.
“Today?”
“Yes.”
“Has anything similar happened before?”
“I don't know.”
Dr. Patel stared at him.
Lucas felt ashamed.
“I travel a lot.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
“No.”
He looked away.
“I don't know.”
The answer hurt.
When Lucas was finally allowed into Gwen's room, she was awake.
Her hair spread across the pillow.
Monitors surrounded her.
A fetal heart-rate trace moved steadily.
Lucas sat beside the bed.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Gwen said:
“Are you angry?”
His eyes filled.
“Why do you keep asking me that?”
She looked toward the wall.
“Because she said you would be.”
“Who?”
Gwen gave him a look.
He already knew.
Brenda.
“What did she tell you?”
“Not now.”
“Gwen—”
“Please.”
Lucas stopped.
She had spent months not being allowed to control anything.
He would not demand this too.
“Okay.”
He reached for her hand.
She let him take it.
“I'm sorry.”
Her eyes closed.
“For what?”
“For not seeing.”
A tear slipped down her cheek.
“Lucas…”
“I should have seen.”
“You were working.”
“That is not an excuse.”
“No.”
The quiet answer hurt more than reassurance would have.
Dr. Patel entered an hour later.
She asked to speak with Gwen privately.
Lucas stood immediately.
Gwen tightened her hand around his.
“Stay.”
Dr. Patel confirmed.
“If you're sure.”
“I am.”
The physician sat.
“We found a sedative in your bloodstream.”
Gwen's eyes opened.
Lucas went completely still.
“What?”
Dr. Patel named it.
A prescription anti-anxiety medication.
Gwen shook her head.
“I don't take that.”
“Have you ever been prescribed it?”
“No.”
Lucas leaned forward.
“Could the hospital test be wrong?”
“We're confirming.”
Gwen's breathing quickened.
“Blue.”
Lucas looked at her.
“What?”
“The pills.”
“What pills?”
Gwen stared at him.
“Your mother gave them to me.”
Lucas felt the room tilt.
“When?”
“She said they were supplements.”
Dr. Patel asked:
“How often?”
Gwen swallowed.
“Every day.”
“For how long?”
“Three weeks.”
Lucas stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
Gwen flinched.
He froze.
Then deliberately sat again.
“I'm not angry at you.”
She started crying.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
That destroyed him.
Dr. Patel continued carefully.
The detected dose was not immediately life-threatening.
But pregnancy changed medication risks.
And the larger issue was simple.
Gwen did not know she had been taking it.
The hospital would notify appropriate authorities.
Lucas asked:
“Could this cause the contractions?”
“Stress, dehydration, inadequate nutrition, medication exposure—several factors may contribute. We cannot say yet.”
“Is the baby hurt?”
“We don't know yet.”
There it was.
The sentence every parent feared.
Lucas looked at Gwen.
She stared at the ceiling.
Then whispered:
“She told me you knew.”
His skin went cold.
“What?”
“The pills.”
May you like
Gwen turned toward him.
“She said you asked her to make me easier to live with.”
