"Oh my word, what's going on," Maggie said, as the doors closed behind them.
Feeling a slight queasiness that quickly mushroomed into nausea. "I think I've had a leakage."
Maggie had one child and knew what to do next. "Lay down! On the bench. I'll get some towels."
"But I want to see," Linda wailed. When she touched the wetness that had trickled down, it felt viscous, like a raw egg white.
Seconds later Maggie laid towels down on the wooden bench so that Linda could rest on them. Voices and footsteps drifted in from the studio. A few of the other teachers were probably returning from lunch break, as Linda could hear feminine voices. Maggie looked down at Linda's exposed belly and her naked thighs, squinting and shifting her vision.
"I don't see any blood," she said. "Are you having any more pain?"
"No," she said, suddenly wanting to get better. She felt bad since Maggie looked so panicked. She also thought that the leakage had stopped, because the warm fluid that had leaked out of her was getting cold in the cool room and she could feel no other warm tricklings.
Maggie nodded. "We should get you looked at, now! I'll have Emily call your doctor."
"His card's in my purse, she said, suddenly feeling very weak."
Maggie left the room to get the business card and have Emily make the call, but she sent Daisy into the bathroom to have her look in on her. "Oh my god," Daisy said. "I'm sorry to hear what happened. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Linda said, as much to appease herself as anyone else. She wanted to ease the tension everyone around her seemed to be feeling. "My lesson went well. Roger's a good kid."
Daisy smiled warmly. "I know. We practice together."
After a few short moments, Maggie burst into the bathroom, which was becoming overcrowded. "He wants us to meet him at Bethesda North."
Linda's spirits sank. She was hoping that the nurse in his office would just tell her to take it easy for the rest of the day and lie down. "Well, if we're going there, then I need to tell my housekeeper, and my husband."
Maggie carried her purse and held her car keys, jingling them between her long, manicured fingers.
"What are you doing?" Linda asked.
"I'm going to be driving you." Both Maggie and Daisy helped Linda to her feet so she could go to the receptionist and make her calls.