I stared at him.
“She’s your daughter.”
My voice sounded thin and unfamiliar.
Melissa stood.
“What do you mean you can’t take her? Ryan, explain yourself.”
He wouldn’t meet her eyes.
Instead, he said quietly, “Look at her back.”
My stomach tightened.
I loosened the blanket and carefully turned the baby.
Near the base of her spine was a small reddish raised area.
It wasn’t large.
But I had seen information about possible complications during the pregnancy.
The moment I saw it, fear went through me.
“Spina bifida,” I whispered.
Melissa’s reaction broke my heart.
“No.”
Then again, louder.
“No. They told us everything was fine.”
Her voice rose until it became a cry.
“They said she was fine!”
Nurses rushed back into the room.
Ryan stood there for another moment, frozen.
Then he turned around.
And walked away.
He simply walked out.
I watched my twin brother disappear through the hospital doorway while Melissa collapsed into a chair.
