Riot novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: The Clinic

Rhys was already in the waiting room when Bex and I got there on the bus.

He sat in a plastic chair with his elbows on his knees, and he stood up when he saw me.

He did not say good morning.

He did not say anything, and I did not either.

Bex sat down between us and opened a magazine upside down.

The nurse called my name, and all three of us got up.

"Just the father and mother," the nurse said kindly.

Bex put a hand on my back and nodded me forward, and I went in with Rhys one step behind.

The room was dim, and the table crackled under me when I lay down.

The doctor squeezed cold gel on my stomach and said, "You're fourteen weeks, almost fifteen."

Rhys stood against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

The screen showed gray static.

Then the static changed.

A small curve appeared, and a tiny flicker in the middle of it, going and going.

The doctor turned a knob, and the room filled with a fast, wet, galloping sound.

"One sixty," the doctor said. "Nice and loud."

I had known for months that I was pregnant.

I had not known it could sound like that.

My eyes filled, and I turned my head away from the screen.

Rhys took a step forward without seeming to decide to.

He looked at the little flicker, and his mouth opened.

"That is a riot," he said, very quietly.

The doctor laughed. "They all are at this stage."

"Is it supposed to be that fast?"

"Perfectly healthy."

He did not look at me.

His right hand came out of his pocket and hovered over my stomach, an inch from the gel.

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