Chapter 15: Both Strong

Brandon was standing on the clinic curb in yesterday's jacket, holding nothing.

No flowers this time, and no sunglasses.

Gideon parked at the far end of the lot, and I said I would walk the rest.

"I'll be right here," he said. "With the engine off."

Brandon saw the truck and saw who was in it.

His whole face went still.

"That's him," he said.

"That's the man who handed me a pass when you took mine."

He nodded slowly and did not say anything clever.

Inside, the waiting room was almost empty.

A receptionist called my name, and Brandon stood up when I did.

"Do you want me to wait here?" he asked.

I thought about it for the whole length of the hall.

"Come in," I said. "You're paying for it. You can hear it."

The doctor was a brisk woman with short grey hair who looked at the two of us once and decided not to ask.

I lay back on the table, and she put the cold gel on my stomach and turned the screen toward me.

For a few seconds there was only static.

Then a small fast flutter, and under it another one, slightly out of step.

Two.

Brandon made a sound in his chest.

He had his hand over his mouth, and the tears ran down over his knuckles without any effort at all.

"Both strong," the doctor said. "Both where they should be. You rest, Mrs. Keats. Feet up, no festivals, no long drives."

"I'm Lydia Farrow," I said.

"Of course," the doctor said, and made a note in the file. "Lydia Farrow."

In the hallway after, Brandon took a folded sheet from his inner pocket.

His hand was shaking so badly that the paper rattled.

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