Baby In A Million

The phone rang several times and Bonnie answered. For the life of her, Ashley couldn’t make small talk and simply asked if she could speak to Greg. In a quiet tone of voice Bonnie said she’d get him, no doubt realizing something was terribly wrong.

“Ashley, honey?” Greg got on quickly. “Are you calling from the hospital?”

“No. St. Anne’s.”

“What are you doing there?” he asked in an anxious voice.

“Helping out until Cord comes for me later. He’s on his way home from Bryce and Zion’s with the group from the clinic.”

She tried to swallow to get moisture back in her mouth. “Greg—just answer me one question. It has to be the truth. It’s a m-matter of life and death to me.” Her whole body was shaking, not just her voi

ce.

“What’s happened?” He sounded haunted.

“The truth, Greg!”

“So help me God,” came the grating rejoinder.

She filled her lungs with life-giving air. “Does Cord have a smoking problem?”

“What kind of a question is that?” Greg demanded, sounding angrier than she’d ever heard him in her life.

A stabbing pain came from her heart. “Just answer me. Yes, or no.”

“Why do I get the feeling Sheila has something to do with this?”

Ashley sank into the nearest chair. “Yes, or no, Greg. That’s all I’m asking.”

“He told me he had one in college. Apparently it flared up again after you left him. He admitted that much to me because he was on the verge of a breakdown not knowing where you were. That’s when I told him about City Creek’s smokeout program. He grabbed for it like a lifeline.”

“Has he smoked in front of you?”

“I know he has wanted to, but since I don’t smoke, he has refrained from doing it around me.”

She could hardly breathe. “So maybe he doesn’t have a problem, and the clinic was simply a ruse to get the two of us together.”

After a long silence, “If you can believe Sheila over your own husband who adores you, then I can see there is no hope of a reconciliation.”

Her eyes closed tightly. It came down to whom Ashley believed.

The agony was starting all ever again. If Sheila was telling the truth about Cord not having a smoking problem, then she was probably telling the truth about her pregnancy.

Clearing her throat Ashley ended with, “Thanks for talking to me, Greg.”

“Wai—”

But she couldn’t talk any longer and put the receiver back on the hook, thankful that Sister Bernice wasn’t anywhere around. The head nun had probably gone outside to summon the children for lunch.

Ashley studied the card she’d unconsciously crumpled. Dr. Robert Moore, OB GYN. The East Bench Clinic.

She buried her face in her hands, wondering where to go from here. This was one time when she didn’t feel like confiding in Sister Bernice. Right now she didn’t feel anyone could help her.

Never in her life had the urge to run and keep on running been as strong, but Sister Bernice’s earlier admonition prevented her from bolting.

As Cord’s wife, it’s your duty to find out the truth.

But whose truth was the truth? Ashley’s old fears were back, threatening the joy she’d been experiencing for the last few days. Sheila couldn’t have manufactured that doctor’s card. No doubt she truly was pregnant. All it would take was one phone call to find out.