Chapter 16: The Freezer Drive

The doctor said it was a small bleed behind the placenta, and that it was common.

She said the heartbeat was strong.

I was to lie flat for three days and take it easy for two weeks.

"No lifting, no stairs, no shouting," she said. "Is there someone at home?"

"I'm going to my friend's."

"Good. And your husband?"

I looked at the curtain.

Dean was on the other side of it.

I could see his boots under the hem, planted where he had stood for an hour.

"He can come in for the printout," I said.

He came in and looked at the strip of gray picture for a long time.

He didn't ask to keep it.

I held it out, and he took it by the very edge.

"Thank you for getting the nurse," I said.

"You held onto me."

"I know."

"That's the first time since the party."

"Don't make it a thing, Dean."

"I won't."

He put the printout back in my hand and went out.

I lay and counted the ceiling tiles until Connie came.

I thought I would go home and rest in my own bed.

Connie said no.

"You're staying with me, and that's final," she said in the truck. "Stairs are out."

"Your apartment is up the stairs."

"So you're taking the diner."

She had borrowed a plaid couch from the church basement.

It stood by the pie case with a pillow and a quilt on it.

By Saturday night I was lying there with my feet up, and the diner had turned into a small county fair.

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