“Here, give me the phone.” With a small smile hovering on her lips Liz flipped back the cover of Isabel’s cell phone and said with laughing calmness, “Am I going to have to change this number?”

For a moment she was met with dead silence and then Max stammered, “L-Liz?”

“Why are you harassing your sister, Max?”

“She’s in an enviable position,” he answered. Liz’s heart warmed at the smile she heard in his voice. “I’d be there with you right now if I could.”

“But you can’t,” Liz reminded gently, “You have clients and an obligation to them.”

“I know but—“

“No buts, Max. I’m not sure I can keep Isabel from strangling you if you call again,” Liz said laughingly, sliding a sideways glance at her irate sister-in-law.

Although Max had a successful practice as a marriage therapist, he acted as if he would give it up in a second to be with Liz. Liz basked in the glowing warmth that filled her heart at the thought. She knew that she meant more to Max than anything or anyone.

“I was thinking that maybe we could all do lunch,” Max suggested, “I’m supposed to meet Alex at the gym later anyway.”

Liz placed her hand over the receiver. “Max, wants to know if you want to do lunch,” she whispered to Isabel.

Isabel just shrugged. “Sure.”

“She said yes, Max,” Liz said into the receiver, “Why don’t we have lunch at the café a block from here.”

“That’s fine.”

“Good. It’s a date then. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Wait! You’ll call me as soon as the appointment’s over?” Liz laughingly rolled her eyes. She knew she would never get Max off the phone without making the promise first. She glanced at Isabel again. Her sister-in-law tapped the face of her watch impatiently, “My minutes…they’re ticking away.”

“Max, I promise, I’ll call as soon as the appointment is over. I’ll call you,” she stressed.

“Gotcha,” he said, but Liz barely heard him because she was already breaking the connection.

“You two are so sickeningly sweet,” Isabel moaned as she zipped her cell phone back into her purse, “It’s ridiculous.”

“No more ridiculous than you and Alex making goo-goo eyes at each other all the time,” Liz reminded smugly.

“That’s different. We’re newlyweds,” Isabel protested. It was true. Isabel and Alex had only been married a year. Isabel had become pregnant with A.J. hot on the heels of their honeymoon. Liz and Maria always teased her about how quickly she’d set her mind on being a wife and a mother.

“So are we, Isabel.”

Isabel gave her a “yeah right” look but before she could reply a nurse popped her head into the waiting area. “Mrs. Evans?”

Isabel looked questioningly at her friend. “Do you need me to go with you?”

“No, I’m fine. What we talked about earlier, I’m sure I’m just overreacting. The baby probably hasn’t got enough room in there to do any moving.” Liz smiled warmly even though inside she was quaking with doubt. She hadn’t felt her son move since early yesterday morning. Liz didn’t know why she found that so alarming but everything inside her was screaming something wasn’t right. Which was why she hadn’t mentioned a word of it to Max and was secretly glad he hadn’t accompanied her. She didn’t want him freaking out over something that could very well turn out to be nothing. She needed a level head and Isabel Evans Whitman was as level a head as she could get.

Despite her no-nonsense lawyer persona Isabel Whitman felt uneasy. Her level headedness was not what was speaking out at the moment, but her instincts as a mother. And every instinct she had told her that Liz was scared. But she knew that Liz was fighting desperately to hide her fear so Isabel returned Liz’s fake smile with an equally phony one. She squeezed Liz’s hand. “Everything will be fine.”

Liz could only nod her head before turning to follow the waiting nurse. Isabel watched and at the last minute rose to join them. She didn’t know what she was feeling but she suddenly had the intense need to be near Liz, as if she sensed Liz were going to need her support.

Liz was already in her hospital gown and on the examining table when Isabel entered. Liz’s expression reflected her surprise and relief. “I’m glad you decided not to stay up front,” she confided softly.

“Me too,” Isabel replied just as softly.

Dr. Kadesh came in a few moments later and after briefly introducing Isabel he and Liz exchanged pleasantries. Isabel drifted over into the corner, feeling somewhat obtrusive, and took a seat in the chair situated there.

The doctor matter-of-factly went about his examination while making small talk with Liz. “So have you been feeling any discomfort?”

Liz shook her head, staring up at the ceiling, trying to ignore what he was doing. “No. No backaches or anything.”

“Has our boy been active lately?”

“Not recently,” Liz confided anxiously, “I actually haven’t felt him kick since yesterday morning.”

Dr. Kadesh stood and removed his latex gloves. With one deft movement he tossed them in the trash. “That doesn’t sound unusual. You’re pretty far along,” he smiled engagingly, “might be limited movement in there. But just for your peace of mind how about we hook up the heart monitor?”

His casualness caused the tension to ease from Liz’s body. If he wasn’t worried then why should she be? He was the doctor after all. She was just being paranoid, Liz scolded herself. She was acting like a complete idiot. Liz smiled and sighed and waited patiently for the doctor to hook the heart monitor around her distended belly. She grinned at Isabel who grinned back.

“All right,” Dr Kadesh said, “let’s hear what we can hear.”

Liz closed her eyes, expecting the room to be flooded with the pleasant sound of her baby’s whirring heartbeat. She was met with dead silence. Her eyes popped open and she glanced at Dr. Kadesh curiously. “Do you have the volume down or something?”

Abruptly, the doctor clicked off the heart monitor and began unhooking Liz. She noticed with rising panic that Dr. Kadesh wasn’t smiling anymore. Her heart began to flutter at a maddened pace as she struggled to pull herself into a sitting position. “What is it?” she demanded, despising the terror she heard in her voice.

“I’m not picking up the heartbeat on the monitor,” Dr. Kadesh told her softly, calmly.

The wind was suddenly rushing in Liz’s ears. She couldn’t hear anything but those words. I’m not picking up the heartbeat. I’m not picking up the heartbeat. I’m not picking up the heartbeat. Liz was vaguely aware of Isabel coming to stand beside her. She barely felt her sweep up her hand and squeeze it hard. An etherizing numbness was rapidly spreading through Liz’s body.

“What does that mean exactly,” Liz heard Isabel ask, “that you’re not picking up the heartbeat?”

“It could mean a lot of things,” Dr. Kadesh was quick to reassure, “The baby might be in an inaccessible place, making it hard to pick up the transmission. I want to schedule an ultrasound just to check things out.” Liz nodded dumbly. But she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think, she couldn’t do anything. Only the doctor’s words reverberated eerily over and over in her head. “This doesn’t have to mean anything bad, Mrs. Evans,” Dr Kadesh added quietly. When Liz seemed unresponsive he looked imploringly to Isabel.