It doesn't take long for the nurse to come out to the waiting room and call my name. When I go to pass him, Mr. Scott quickly sets his magazine down and gestures for me to go in ahead of him.

"You're coming?" I ask, casting him a glance over my shoulder.

"Of course, I'm coming. This is my child we're about to implant into your uterus."

I stop and shoot him a look. "Again ... you're making it difficult, Mr. Scott." Before he can say anything, I turn around and walk off.

He huffs and quickly follows behind me.

After the nurse leads us to the ultrasound room where the procedure will be performed, I'm led to a curtained off area to change into a hospital gown. "Have you used the bathroom this morning?" the nurse asks as I exit the changing area.

"No, ma'am. The doctor said I was to have a full bladder to make the ultrasound easier to see."

She smiles at me. "Good job. The doctor will be here in a few minutes to perform the embryo transfer. Do you have any questions regarding the procedure?"

I shake my head. "No, ma'am. He explained everything to me already, and I've researched it online until I'm fairly certain I'll be able to give him pointers." She laughs and pats me on the shoulder.

"I'll be assisting him today. You're in good hands; Dr. Carter is the best there is."

After she leaves, I'm left to sit in the room alone with Mr. Scott. I don't know how to strike up a conversation with him, so I opt for silence instead.

"There will be one embryo implanted. Has he explained this to you?"

I turn to Mr. Scott and give a nod.

Silence lingers for several minutes until he finally drops his head to hands, his fingers rubbing circles over his temples, forearms braced against his knees as he stares down at the floor. Something about his posture and the way his body is coiled so tightly makes me want to console him. My hand reaches over, but before I can touch him, he starts talking, and I jerk my hand back before he notices.

"Sophia had fertility issues so there were only three viable embryos at the time of her death. If this one is unsuccessful, the other two embryos will be implanted simultaneously. This would increase the likelihood of a successful implant and resulting pregnancy."

I look into his eyes and it's then that I see the depth of emotion swirling in them that I first noticed in his photo. He appears to have it together on the surface, but underneath it all ... he's terrified and unsure of himself. I'm sure that in his profession he isn’t familiar with these types of insecurities. Lucky for him, insecurities are what I'm used to and dealing with them is an art that I have perfected.

"Mr. Scott ...” He looks over at me from his seat a few feet away. "One will take. I'm fertile Myrtle. One of them will take." I assure him as best I can, cracking a smile.

He gives a strained smile, but it's a smile nonetheless.

He sighs and straightens back up in his seat. "You're right. One will take."

The doctor chooses that moment to enter. He's already met Mr. Scott prior to my arrival, and I've been seeing him for the past four weeks, so there are no long introductions. Dr. Carter gets right to work.

The nurse helps get me into position—my feet in the stirrups and my butt scooted down to the edge of the table. I'm covered with a paper blanket, and Mr. Scott is sitting to my left just beside my shoulder so he can't actually see any of my girly bits.

"I'm going to insert the speculum and then rinse out your cervix prior to inserting the catheter." I look down at the doctor as he warms the speculum with his gloved hands prior to insertion. So far, it feels like I'm having a pap smear. Nothing too uncomfortable and no pain.

"You'll feel a little bit of fluid leaking during and after the procedure. Don't worry; it's not the embryo coming back out. They're inserted in a fluid to help ease them into your uterus." The doctor shuffles around, and I feel a tiny bit of liquid running out from the rinsing, but nothing any more awkward than he's explained. "All right. Are you ready?"

"Yes." I look over at Mr. Scott, and he nods to the doctor as well.

The door opens and a woman enters with a pink tube that she hands off to the doctor. He takes the tube and sets it down on a sterile tray and then proceeds to insert the catheter.

I feel like I'm going to pee on myself as the nurse assists him with the ultrasound to ensure the catheter is positioned correctly. She presses down on my stomach to get a better angle with the ultrasound, and I nearly lose control of my bladder.

"Oh, god. I really need to pee."

The nurse and Dr. Carter both laugh but continue with the procedure.

All in all, it takes less than twenty minutes. The embryo is implanted via the catheter, and the doctor removes the speculum and helps to push me back and then they situate a pillow under my bottom.

"You did great. You'll need to lie back for the next twenty minutes and then you can go home. You'll be on bedrest with limited activity for the next three days."

"Okay."

"Thank you for everything, Dr. Carter," Mr. Scott says as he stands to shake the doctor’s hand.

They chat for a minute using words and medical terms that I'm unfamiliar with, but I eventually just tune them out and take a small nap. I didn't sleep well last night, worrying about this procedure, and it doesn't take me long to nod off.

* * *

"Ms. Murphy?" I wake to the sound of Mr. Scott calling my name. When I move to scoot up into a sitting position, he shuffles around to help me.

"The nurse came in a little bit ago to let us know that we could leave, but you were sleeping so soundly that I asked to remain here for a little while longer."

I rub my eyes and yawn wide. "How long did I sleep for?"

He smirks. "An hour."

My eyes widen in embarrassment.

"Don't worry, you didn't snore ... loud." He grabs his coat from the chair and offers to help me up from the table.

"I'm so embarrassed. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sleep that long," I call out to him from behind the curtain as I change back into my clothes.

"No worries. I was able to catch up on my emails while you napped. It was a productive hour for me."

I snarl, grateful for the curtain hiding my sour expression. I'm so glad my nap didn't hinder your ability to work, Mr. Stuck-up.

By the time I step around the curtain, I've painted on a fake smile and take my coat from his arm and then exit the room. He follows close behind but continues to glance down at his phone the entire ride down in the elevator and the walk to his car.