32. Delicate Situation
DELICATE SITUATION
“Taylor,” Luca said on Monday. He’d just left his patient’s room and was moving to another when he saw the teen walking down the hall behind Kate. “How are you?”
“Good,” Taylor said, putting her head down. “Getting my shots.”
Which Kristine must be doing. “Kate, come get me before Taylor leaves. I’d like to talk to her.”
Kate nodded, but Taylor looked unsure. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” he said. “I just want to check in with you.”
“Okay,” Taylor said.
He went to his next patient, and Taylor went into her room.
Fifteen minutes later, he left that room just as Kate was standing outside the door. “Kristine just finished with Taylor’s shots if you want to talk to her quickly before I bring someone else in.”
“Yep, thanks.” He moved to the room and knocked, then opened the door. “How are you feeling?”
“I was better before I came here for that.”
He smiled. “I talked to Dr. Young. I get copies of your records also.”
“Then you know how far along I am,” Taylor said, her eyes filling. “Everyone in school is going to know soon. I mean, it’s not like I’ve got friends or anything, but I feel so stupid.”
“Hey, hey,” he said, his voice low. “Don’t think that way. You’re not the first girl to get pregnant in high school and you’re not going to be the last. But you’re going to need resources and care. I’m sure it’s a lot for you to handle and we want to make sure you have what you need.”
“I’m not keeping the baby,” Taylor said, shaking her head.
“I can’t. I don’t know anything about boys.
My boyfriend won’t return my calls, he wants nothing to do with me.
” Taylor ran her arm under her nose. “If I could have gotten rid of it, I would have, but now I can’t and have to go through with it and I’m scared. I don’t want to do this. I can’t.”
They were in the midst of a breakdown, he could see it.
“Let me get your aunt, or are you here alone?”
“She’s in the waiting room.”
“Don’t leave.” He walked out quickly, told Kate he was getting Cora, and not to let Taylor leave. He opened the waiting room door, saw Cora, and waved her in.
“What’s going on? Is there a problem? She’s been in here a long time for two shots.”
“She got them, but I wanted to talk to her and she’s upset.”
“We’ve had a lot of tears,” Cora said. “Not just on her end. This is just too much. I’m not sure what to do.”
They moved to Taylor’s room, the teen sobbing on the table.
“Oh Lord, not again,” Cora said, moving over to hug Taylor, but the teen wiggled away.
“I’m fine.”
“Her hormones are going to get even worse Dr. Young said. I’m not sure I’m equipped for that let alone the childbirth. The baby.”
“I’m not keeping the baby,” Taylor said firmly. “I told you. I can’t do this. I don’t even want to go to school now. Everyone is going to know soon. Dr. Young said I shouldn’t be playing gym soon either.”
“I’m looking into homeschooling,” Cora said. “Not that I know the first thing about that.”
“I’m sure the school counselor can help with all of that,” he said. “You’ve decided to give the baby up for adoption?”
Cora looked at Taylor. “Yes.”
“Are you sure?” Cora asked. “I think it’s for the best, but it’s not my decision.” Cora turned to him. “Her mother doesn’t want her back in the house, not with a child. It’s too much. So I’m all she has and well...”
He heard the underlying words again. Not something they wanted to do.
“I don’t want a baby,” Taylor said. “I don’t know the first thing about it. I don’t even want to go to school, and you won’t let me drop out.”
“No,” Cora said, shaking her head. “And we shouldn’t be in here taking up Dr. Brewer’s time either with our family drama.”
“I wanted to talk and see how Taylor was doing. She’s still my patient. Or a patient of this practice. Have you contacted any agencies for the adoption? Do you need help with that?”
He should just move to his next patient and refer them to a caseworker, but he couldn’t get his feet to move.
“I don’t know the first thing about it,” Cora said. “And I can’t trust Taylor to do it when she can’t finish her homework half the time.”
“If you’d consider a private adoption, I might be able to help.”
“You know someone?” Cora asked.
He had to be nuts, but his mind had been going down this path for weeks and it felt like he was presented with the right opportunity and he was going to poke around some.
“Possibly,” he said.
“We’ve got time yet,” Cora said. “Or so I think. Do we need an attorney? We don’t know the first thing about this nor really have the funds.”
“No. It will all be covered through the adopting family. If you don’t mind, I’ve got Taylor’s number here in her file and can reach out soon.”
“Sure,” Taylor said, wiping her eyes and looking around.
He grabbed tissues off the counter and handed the box toward her.
“Thank you, Dr. Brewer,” Cora said. “We are swimming in the weeds here. Nothing is going to make the next few months go away.”
“I want it to go away,” Taylor said.
“Then you should have thought of that before you had sex without protection,” Cora snapped.
He felt for the two in front of him, he really did, but maybe this was what he’d been waiting for.
Or looking for.
And he was fucking crazy for thinking it, but why not?
Only there was so much for him to consider and look into and that was what he’d spend the next several days doing.
“If you have questions or concerns, just reach out to the office or call Dr. Young. I know you don’t want to go through this, but it’s very important that you take good care of yourself for the next few months.”
“For the baby?” Taylor asked.
“For both of you. But you more importantly. You’re still a child whether or not you believe it. There is a lot going on in your body, a lot of things you can do to make sure you’re strong and healthy through it too.”
“I’m getting fat,” Taylor said, pouting.
“It’s only temporary,” he said. “Think of it that way.”
“We’ll get out of your way before Taylor bawls again. Come on, Taylor, you need to go back to school.”
“I want to stay home. I don’t want to go.”
Cora sighed. “We’ll talk about it in the car.”
He opened the door for the two of them to leave and saw Kate waiting in the hall.
“Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine. It’s a touchy situation, as you know.”
“Yeah,” Kate said. “Kids having kids is never good. They don’t seem thrilled about it. Taylor told me she doesn’t want to be pregnant or want the kid. I’m a little nervous about that.”
He was too, but there was only so much he could do.
“I’ll make sure Dr. Young is aware of the visit and what was discussed. It’s a delicate situation.”
He moved on to his next patient and continued like that for the rest of his office hours.
When he went to the hospital, he stayed as focused on that as he could also to get through his shift.
At nine thirty, when he walked in the door at home, he went right to his bathroom to shower and change, and rather than climb into bed, he pulled out his personal laptop and started going down a rabbit hole he had no business digging.