The news.

At 21 weeks, Mariam was beginning to sprout the full belly that cocooned what to her, was the highest manifestation of love. She disrobed from the white hospital gown and poised into her new everyday clothes as she waited eagerly for the results of her ultrasound. She looked around at the models and posters of wombs and stages of fetal development, instructions of health for expecting mothers and then over at the venetian blinds through which rays of sunlight formed patterns on the floor. Good Hope Hospital had been more than just a medical center to her. Her parents spent a large part of their lives serving as doctors there, who fell in love as interns and ended up getting married. She was born in one of the semi-private delivery rooms of this very hospital and her father passed in its Emergency Room 02. She grew up running around the halls, ate the lunches of her childhood at the cafeteria and had her first kiss in the fire escape. She even ended up marrying her mother's then-student, who went on to become the highly respected Dr. Joseph Levenson, Head of Cardiology at Good Hope Hospital.
She noticed the crystal paper weight in the shape of a star, reflecting the light onto the walls and furniture of the room in remarkable geometry. Good Hope always had minimal yet incredibly tasteful furniture. "The baby seems healthy and happy, very strong heart", the Gynecologist said upon returning with her reports, "... and because you said you wanted to know, it's a girl!"
Mariam eyes swelled with tears, out of which a couple, she allowed herself to spill. Her happiness knew no bounds as her lungs filled with a bursting joy that  barely let her even speak. "She is bearing a girl child". She impatiently heard the doctor's instructions for care, breathed a heartfelt gratitude and eagerly yet mindfully rushed her way to the cardiology department. The baby room shall be painted light pink and purple, adorable frilly baby clothes with bows shall be bought and her favorite doll shall be handed down to her daughter to play with.
She imagined her baby daughter with beautiful honey-blond curls like her own and the keen brown eyes of Joseph, that had the power to make it seem like the world stopped to pay careful attention to them. She pictured her going through everything that she herself went through, throwing tantrums over a pony, a doll-house which she would get after persistent request on her eighth birthday, playing "House" and drinking imaginary tea from a tea set. Joseph would want her to tread the path of medicine, which was his religion, while Mariam would encourage her to follow her heart, did she find the passion.
As her heart was in rhythm with her footsteps, she reached the door that said "Head of Cardiology, Dr. Novonis Ther". She first questioned her eyesight and then considered that she was probably deranged with joy. She felt bemused and baffled as she re-checked. It was the same path, same department, same door but a different name. A terrible anxiety gripped her as she thought of the worst. "He was the most sought after doctor in the entire south of the country, was he really sacked? Maybe he was offered a better  pay somewhere else. Did he quit? How could he not have consulted me! Maybe he was concerned I would worry. But how could he not tell me!" she paced her steps over to the reception counter on that floor, and saw Nurse Sarah, a friend she hadn't met in very long. Sarah looked weary and tired, maybe because of the freshly appearing wrinkles on her ever-so-calm face. The wrinkles stretched as Sarah broke into an instant smile upon seeing Mariam, but before she could exclaim, Mariam nervously blurted while she got out of breath "Joseph! Where is he? And why is there another man's name on his door?"
The delight in Sarah's eyes turned into discomfiting distress as she said with composed faintness "Dr. Joseph? But he died three years ago".