Knight walked through the double doors to the clinic, letting an old lady with a cane and her husband – or someone else – walk out first. He watched them, a smile on his face. Would he get that old? Would he help little old ladies in and out of clinics, shuttling them to places? Would his kids do that for him?
One thing at a time, Knight, he thought, and went to the front desk. “Hi, I’m back f’r my ultrasound.”
The girl looked up at him. “Hello. You need to sign in, someone will be with you shortly.”
He mentally slapped his forehead – he had to do that before. Why hadn’t he gotten it down pat? He signed a tablet, and touched the stylus to the block that was the reason for his visit. A bright sign saying, “Please have a seat” came up. He turned and sat down.
He heard his name, “Mr. King?”
He got up and went over to the woman. She smiled at him. “An ultrasound of the abdomen?”
“Yup,” he said. He had taken to not wearing belts anymore, but carrying the rose that Scott had given him. The rose hid the baby bump from most people who looked at him, but when he took the rose off his person, it was there for all the world to see. He at first was self-conscious, but last night, when Mal accepted him and his growing stomach, he felt special, and that this was wanted, and he was loved no matter how he looked. However, Knight didn’t want the people at work to notice and think things were strange.
He got undressed in the men’s section, and came out, the johnnie tied around his back and middle. He wore shorts today, so he didn’t have to take those off, just be topless. The woman – a young girl, he thought – brought him into the darkened room. He lay on the gurney there and she started setting things up.
“Just lie back,” and he did, while she squirted warm goo on his stomach, right where the bump was. She said, “Tell me if this hurts at all,” and pressed the ultrasound gently onto it. She gazed at the screen, as she pressed down harder and harder.
Knight watched her, and saw the confused look on her face. She pressed harder. Then she jerked the wand away.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“I’ll be right back.” She plastered a smile on her face, but she was confused and worried. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.”
He felt helpless, and that made him angry. He sat up on the gurney and strained with his cat senses to listen. He heard people talking in his vicinity, heard their words, but they weren’t about him. He heard someone wearing clogs come running down the hall, saying, “He’s my patient.”
“But I thought – ”
“I’ll take over,” said the woman’s voice, cold and close to the door. “I know you were trying to help, but please, Marilyn, not this man, okay?”
“Is he?”
The other woman sighed. “Don’t tell a soul what you thought you saw, or we could be in big trouble.”
The door opened, and Knight sat up straight. It was the woman with the head-scarf that had done the first ultrasound. “Mr. King,” she said, smiling, and shut the door on Marilyn. “I’m sorry about that.”
“What’s going on?”
“My coworker thought that since I was on break she could do a simple abdominal ultrasound.” She gently pushed Knight back down on the gurney. “It’s not as simple as that with you, sir.”
Knight realized they were respecting his wishes. They were trying to keep him under wraps, to not broadcast it through the company that they had a pregnant man coming to them. “Dr. Sacks told you to keep quiet?”
She spread the goo on his abdomen again, and set the wand on top of it. “We have federal rules, Mr. King, that we are not supposed to discuss patients. Only what is necessary in the course of our jobs. She’s under the same rules as I am, and we could get fined heavily from the government if something like this gets out.”
“So they only want you to do the ultrasound.”
She nodded. “To everyone else, it’s a abdominal hernia. To me, you, and Dr. Eickles who reads the ultrasound, it’s a pregnancy.”
“What about the insurance?”
“I don’t know, that’s billing.”
Knight nodded and tried to relax. The woman got settled into her work, and moved the wand around. “Your little boy likes center stage,” she said with a smile. “And there’s the other one here, not so small anymore. I don’t see the extra appendage.”
Knight closed his eyes. “Oh, thank God.” Then he turned his head, “What about the other one.”
“Looking now…I’ve got his or her butt. Look, right here.” Knight sat up a little and looked at the screen. She pointed to a small grey heart shape that was very distinct. Knight laughed. “I wan’ that picture.”
“You got it,” she said, and printed out the picture. “So it looks like you have one boy and one girl.” She took a few more pictures, and moved the wand, trying to get an angle at the third one. “And a third unknown.” She put the wand away. “Maybe next time.” She wiped the goo off of his abdomen and helped him up.
Knight held the picture like it was a precious relic. His child’s butt. This one’s first embarrassing picture.