The House (37 page)

“Is this true?” Serine drew near. Anna turned to her. Serine then said, “Have you been dating this man, even while Daddy was dying?”

Anna glanced at Serine, and then Inman. She took in the faces of her children. Linda holding her stomach. Brad beside her. David with Heather rubbing his shoulder. Theo who wanted Anna happy. And Serine casting a stare of judgment with the heaviest of sentences. Anna settled her gaze back upon David.

“Yes, I’ve been dating Inman for five months,” she said. “We’ve slept together.”

“I don’t believe you,” David said.

Serine began to cry.

“This is all a lie.” David said to Anna. “It isn’t true. Take it back.”

“Don’t talk to her that way.” Inman stepped forward.

David again cocked his fist.

“David, please,” Heather said. Serine rushed to David, but not in time to prevent him from hitting Inman. Inman pushed back. He was about to punch David when Millicent slumped over. Theo broke her fall, then said. “She’s bleeding.”

Anna and Inman rushed to Millicent.?

Chapter 53

At the hospital Dr. Amy Hilliard explained, “Millicent’s having a reaction to the baby’s blood.”

“Why is this happening? What’s causing it?” Theo asked. “Your baby and Millicent share the same blood type. But your baby is
Rh
positive. Millicent is
Rh
negative,” Dr. Amy said.

“But shouldn’t the obstetrician in Chicago have known about this,” said Theo. “Why didn’t he pick it up during the testing?”

“I don’t know. But Millicent lacks another antigen that the baby’s blood possesses, most likely inherited from you,” Dr. Hilliard said.

You mean in addition to the
Rh
antigen?” Theo said. Anna empathized with his anxiety and anger in trying to understand. He and Millicent had tried so hard to conceive.

“Yes. Your baby is bleeding because your wife has formed anti bodies to two qualities on your baby’s blood cells,” said the obstetrician.

“But isn’t that going to hurt the baby? And to think I caused this.” Theo gripped his head.

Inman grew noticeably anxious as Anna tried to calm Theo. “This is not your fault, Theo. We can stop the bleeding. And we can give the baby a transfusion.”

“I want the baby to have my blood,” Theo said. “Can I do that?”

“As long as it matches the baby’s,” said Amy. “We’ll type your blood and see. But I’m worried about Millicent. She’s lost a lot of blood also. There’s been a tear in the placenta. I can’t quite figure out why.”

“Can she have some of my blood?”

“Most likely not. Millicent has a rare blood type. As I said, she’s
Rh
negative. Only five percent of African-Americans are
Rh
negative. In addition to that, she lacks another antigen that most people have. It’s hard to find blood that lacks these two antigens.”

“There has to be someone out there who can donate blood that she can use,” Inman said. He approached Dr. Hilliard.

“I’ve alerted the Alameda-Contra Costa County Blood Bank,” the obstetrician explained. “I’ve also called blood banks in San Francisco and in L.A. If they have blood that matches, we can fly it up here,” Dr. Hilliard then said, “Does Millicent have any brothers or sisters?” Inman and Theo shook their heads.

“What about her parents?”

“They’re in Chicago,” Theo said.

“They need to get here as soon as possible so we can test them,” said Dr. Amy.

Theo flipped open his cell phone and started dialing as he stepped away.

“What are you going to do while we wait for Henrietta and Thelonius to arrive?” Inman asked the obstetrician.

“Hope the bleeding stops, or that she can receive blood from one of her parents.”

Desperation overtook Inman. Anna drew in a breath.

“It’s that rare, this blood type that Millicent has?” Inman said. He appeared bewildered and fearful.

“Yes. Ninety-eight percent of the human population carries the
Rh
antigen that Millicent not only lacks, but also carries an antibody for. And then she lacks another antigen common to most people.”

“Does she have antibodies to that?” Inman said.

“Yes. That’s why her immune system is attacking the baby’s blood cells.” Dr. Hilliard explained, “Millicent was most likely ex posed to both these antigens when her mother was pregnant with her. Do you know if Millicent’s mother experienced any bleeding while carrying Millicent?”

“She did,” Inman said then as his voice trailed off he added, “You think Millicent has her father’s blood type?”

“That’s my hunch. And I hope he can get here fast,” said Dr. Hilliard.

Inman lowered his head. His eyes receded as if coming into recognition of what he wanted to forget. Anna was all too aware of the look in Inman’s eyes. She had seen it in Edward’s throughout their marriage, and then weeks before he died, it had swirled within layers of shame dosed with regret and sorrow. Years of Edward’s unfaithfulness, and lies wrapped in a package of cautious truth had taught her much. It was all coming clear. The secrecy. Inman’s absence from Millicent and Theo’s wedding. Thelonius’ anger toward Millicent wanting Inman to give her away.

Inman lifted his head. To Dr. Hillard he said, “It won’t take long for her parents to arrive. One of them is already here. I’m Millicent’s biological father.” ?

Chapter 54

During the amniocentesis preceding the intrauterine transfusion of Theo’s blood to the baby, Dr. Hilliard discovered a second fetus inside Millicent. Millicent and Theo were due to have twins in four months. That Millicent was carrying not one, but two babies who were both
Rh
positive, had placed an additional amount of stress on Millicent’s uterus, causing it to attempt to separate from the placenta. Millicent would need complete bed rest through the end of her pregnancy.

While Theo had donated blood to be given to the babies, In man simultaneously gave blood that Millicent was to receive. Anna arrived on the fifth floor of Berkeley General on the morning after Millicent and the babies received their first transfusions. She was half way down the corridor headed for Millicent’s room when In man called to her.

“Dr. Hilliard is examining her,” he said as he approached. “Where’s Theo?”

“He went downstairs for a cup of coffee. I was in the waiting room here.” He glanced back at the room from where he had come.

“I guess I’ll go down the cafeteria and find him.” Anna moved to leave. She had remained quiet and cordial during the last three days, as had Inman. The two of them were focused on Millicent, the babies, and Theo.

“Can we talk?” Inman asked. Anna turned back. “I don’t know about you, but this hospital food is driving me crazy,” Inman said. “I hear there’s a nice restaurant across the street. They say it serves fast.”

Like Inman, Anna had spent the last forty-eight hours subsisting on the food served in the Berkeley General cafeteria.

“That would be nice.”

A half hour later while seated at a table inside the Mediterranean restaurant across from the hospital, Inman nursed a cup of water in an attempt to replenish his body with fluids as the nurse had directed. The two placed their orders. Inman then provided an update on Millicent’s progress since last evening.

“Dr. Hilliard thinks we’re out of the woods.” His use of the word we indicated how the babies Millicent was carrying indelibly bound Anna to Inman. Appearing more relaxed, but not fully relieved, he drank more of his water. “I want to tell you how I became Millicent’s father.”

A weight seemed to fall from Inman’s shoulders as Anna drew still and listened. “Like most of us in the middle of setting up our business, Thelonius was self-absorbed and working as hard as he possibly could,” Inman started. “I was interning for Thelonius one summer while finishing up my MBA program. When I met Henrietta she was doing all she could to absorb the strains set upon her marriage. She was lonely. I was also hurting from a fiancée who kept putting me off. It was not Marilyn.

“My fiancée ultimately returned my engagement ring. Everything she hated about me Henrietta seemed to love. Henrietta made her self available to listen. I didn’t have to hide my feelings. We were young, she was thirty and I was twenty-eight. It wasn’t something I’d planned, falling in love, and sleeping with another man’s wife.” Inman sighed. “When she told me she was pregnant, the seasoned side of Henrietta emerged. I also saw how immature and unprepared I was for being a father. Thelonius was ten years older than me and bound for places in the Chicago real estate world that I dared not even dream about. He would overreact when or if he learned Henrietta was carrying my child. I wanted the best for them.”

“So you didn’t tell him,” Anna said.

“I was no match for Thelonius socially or financially. And Henrietta deserved better. We agreed, Henrietta and I, that she should raise the baby as Thelonius’ child. I wanted the best for her and my child.” Anna’s heart sank when considering how low Inman must have felt about himself to draw such a conclusion. “We never imagined the kind of trouble Henrietta would have while carrying Millicent. Henrietta’s placenta began to tear just about the same time in her pregnancy as in Millicent’s.”

“Five months,” Anna said.

“That’s when the doctors learned that the baby—Millicent—was
Rh
negative. Henrietta was
Rh
positive. The doctor said that normally this kind of thing didn’t show up until the baby was born, or when child was older, maybe never. But, the bleeding from the tear in Henrietta’s placenta exposed Millicent to a large amount of Henrietta’s blood. Millicent made antibodies real fast.”

“So what did they do?”

“Thelonius wanted to give blood. The doctors assumed that he was
Rh
negative. The tests showed he was
Rh
positive like Henrietta.

There’s only a twenty-five percent chance of
Rh
positive parents having a child that’s
Rh
negative. But it was enough to make Thelonius nervous.” Inman closed his eyes then opened them. “They gave Henrietta
Rh
negative blood to replenish the blood she had lost. It shouldn’t have harmed the baby. But as sooner as she received the transfusion, everything went crazy. Henrietta almost lost Millicent.”

“She rejected the
Rh
negative blood?” Anna said.

“Not really.” Inman shook his head. “The doctors explained that it looked like Millicent lacked not only the
Rh
antigen, but also an
E
-antigen or a
Kell
antigen. Most people have them like Dr. Hilliard explained.”

Anna listened.

“I’m Rh negative,” Inman said. “My blood cells also lack the
Kell
and
E
antigens.” He clinched his jaw. “Thelonius started freaking out and demanding answers. Why did
his
baby have this weird blood type that prevented the baby from receiving Henrietta’s and his blood?” Just like Theolonius. Anna thought. The fact that Inman had taken the time to learn about this condition and could explain the intricacies of what had been happening with Millicent as a fetus underscored that he was indeed her biological father. He obviously loved her.

“Theolonius was really confused,” Inman said.

“What did they tell him?”

Inman’s face took on a demeanor of having been worn, and beaten. “From the moment Henrietta found out she was pregnant, we pretty much knew I was the father. When the doctors said Thelonius was
Rh
positive like Henrietta and that Millicent was
Rh
negative, we knew for certain.”

Inman shook his head and gave a wry, sad smile. “But then you know hospitals. They don’t like getting involved in family dramas, particularly not with black folk. As Millicent was getting worse, Thelonius kept asking questions and interrogating everyone. While the lab technicians were running tests and trying to figure out what antigens the baby lacked and where to get the blood, I went to the immunologist—the doctor overseeing the transfusions. I told him that I thought I had a rare blood type. And then I asked him to test my blood and see if Henrietta could receive it without the baby get ting any sicker.”

“Did he suspect you were the father?” Anna asked.

“I could see it in his eyes. And from the look on his face he
knew
I was the father. I’d been at the hospital every day since the obstetrician had admitted Henrietta. And now
I
had come to him and was
hinting
that I might have this rare blood type that the baby needed. He thanked me.”

“So much so that he said nothing,” Anna said.

“Not to anyone. It was no skin off his back. With all the drama going on—Thelonius wanting answers, and Henrietta acting as if she had no idea—both the immunologist and I just wanted to save the baby. Within hours of my visit, he called wanting more of my blood. Henrietta had received what I’d given him, and Millicent hadn’t reacted.”