Mindbend

Not knowing how soon the nurse would be back, Jennifer hurried. She deposited her large coat and bag on the floor and used the locker for her clothes. Once naked, she tried to figure out the cover-up. She couldn’t tell if it should go on with the opening in the front or the back. She opted for the front. Then she tried to decide what she should do with herself. Should she lie down on the examination table or just stand? Her feet were getting cold from the tile floor. She lifted herself onto the examination table and sat on the edge.

A moment later the nurse returned in a rush.

“I’m so sorry for the long wait,” she said in a pleasant but harried tone. “We seem to be getting busier and busier.

Must be a new baby boom.” She quickly began checking Jennifer’s weight and blood pressure and then sent her to the bathroom for a urine specimen. When Jennifer returned, Dr.

Vandermer was waiting.

Jennifer had always been leery of handsome gynecologists, and Dr. Vandermer evoked that old reservation. He looked more like an actor playing a role than a real doctor. He was tall with dark hair silvering on his temples. His face was square with a sharp chin line and a straight mouth. He wore a pair of reading glasses on the end of his nose and looked over them at Jennifer.

“Good morning,” he said in a voice that did not invite conversation. His blue eyes swept over her, then her chart.

The nurse shut the door behind them and then busied herself with the contents of a stainless-steel pan by the sink.

“Ah, yes. You’re Mrs. Schonberg, the wife of Adam Schonberg the third-year medical student,” Dr. Vandermer said.

Jennifer didn’t know if it were a statement or a question, but she nodded and said that she was Adam’s wife.

“I wouldn’t think this was a good time for you to be having a baby, Mrs. Schonberg,” said Dr. Vandermer.

Jennifer was shocked. If she hadn’t been naked and vulnerable, she would have been angry. Instead she felt defensive.

“I hope I’m not pregnant,” said Jennifer. “That’s why you put in an IUD a year ago.”

“What happened to the IUD?” asked Dr. Vandermer.

“I think it’s still there,” said Jennifer.

“What do you mean you think it is still there?” questioned Dr. Vandermer. “You don’t know?”

“I checked just this morning. The strings are there.”

Shaking his head, Dr. Vandermer indicated to Jennifer that he thought her less than responsible. He leaned over and quickly wrote something on the chart. Then he raised his eyes, took off his reading glasses. “On the history you filled out a year ago you indicated that you had a brother who’d only lived for several weeks.”

“That’s right,” said Jennifer. “He was a mongoloid baby.”

“How old was your mother at the time?” asked Dr.

Vandermer.

“I think she was around thirty-six,” said Jennifer.

“That’s something you should know about,” said Dr.

Vandermer with thinly veiled exasperation. “Find out for sure. I want that information on the chart.”

Putting down his pen, Vandermer took out his stethoscope and gave Jennifer a rapid but thorough physical examination, peering into her eyes and ears and listening to her chest and heart. He tapped her knees and ankles, scratched the bottoms of her feet, and inspected every inch of her body. He worked in total silence. Jennifer felt as if she were a piece of meat in the hands of a very competent butcher. She knew Dr.

Vandermer was good, but she could have used some warmth.

When he finished, the doctor sat down and quickly wrote his findings on the chart. Then he asked Jennifer about her menstrual history and the date of her last period. Before she could ask any questions he motioned her into a prone position and began the pelvic.

“Just relax now,” said Dr. Vandermer, finally remembering that his patient was probably anxious. Jennifer felt an object enter her. It was done smoothly and expertly. There was no pain, just an unpleasant fullness. She could hear Dr.

Vandermer speak with the nurse. She heard the door open and saw the nurse leave.

Dr. Vandermer stood up so that Jennifer could see him.

“The IUD is still in place, but it looks like it is low. I think it should be removed.”

“Is that difficult?” asked Jennifer.

“Very simple,” said Dr. Vandermer. “Nancy went to get me an instrument. It will only take a second.”

Nancy returned with something that Jennifer could not see.

She felt a fleeting twinge of pain. Dr. Vandermer stood up holding a coil of plastic in his gloved hand.

“You definitely are pregnant,” he said, sitting down at the desk and writing anew on the chart.

Jennifer experienced a rush of panic similar to the one she had felt the moment she saw that the home pregnancy test was positive.

“Are you sure?” she managed with a quivering voice.

Dr. Vandermer did not look up. “We’ll confirm it by laboratory tests, but I’m sure.”

Nancy finished writing labels on the specimen tubes and came around to help Jennifer remove her feet from the stirrups. Jennifer swung around so that she was sitting on the side of the examination table.

“Is everything all right?” she asked.