Katherine Nouri Hughes *84 Examines Trauma, Loss, and Connection

The Book: Blending intimate character portraits with a sweeping exploration of trauma, displacement, and the possibility of healing, While We Were Waiting (Delphinium Books) tells the stories of two families confronting profound uncertainty in an unexpected way together. Lorraine and Will, a couple from New York expecting their first child through in vitro fertilization, find themselves forced to reckon with past painful memories when Lorraine is rushed to a high-risk obstetrics unit. In the same hospital waiting room, Clement, an Iraqi archaeologist who fled the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) with his family, anxiously awaits the birth of his own child while also confronting past trauma from the lasting effects of war and personal loss. As the stories of these two families converge over the course of a single day, While We Were Waiting explores how shared vulnerability can forge unexpected connections, and, ultimately, how acceptance and love can pave a path forward from even our deepest wounds. 

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The Author: Katherine Nouri Hughes *84 is an American writer of Iraqi-Irish descent. Her experiences living in Cairo and traveling extensively throughout the Middle East have informed her writing, including her other novel The Mapmaker’s Daughter (Delphinium Books). Before shifting to writing, Hughes worked as a communications executive in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors and served as a longtime trustee of the American University in Cairo, WNET/Thirteen, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Today, she lives in Princeton and New York City. 

Excerpt: 

Prologue

In the Manhattan Fertility Services waiting room, the first obstacle had been filling out the forms. Lorraine didn’t have answers to most of the questions, including when she’d last had a gynecologic examination. This riled the receptionist who — by the time Lorraine’s husband got there — had further informed Lorraine that following the consultation there would be a blood draw and likely a pelvic exam. At Lorraine’s side, Will could hear the lid rattling on the kettle; feel the steam coming off Lorraine’s confused stare. Will could see that his wife was trying to contain herself and wasn’t able to. She was telling the nurse stonily and a little too loud that no one had said anything about any of this when she’d made the appointment.

Lorrie. Sweetheart. What’s going on? You’re …all red.

I should have been warned, Will. About every one of these demands. 

Will would not let Lorraine shake his arm off her shoulder. 

Informed, Lorrie. It’d have been better if you’d been informed. Will turned to the nurse. 

It would have been better if my wife had been informed. Of the necessary procedures.

He walked Lorraine to a seat, held her hand firmly till he was reasonably sure she wasn’t going to walk out of the clinic. The nurse disappeared. Shortly after, Dr. Injy Lewis came into the reception area. 

Lorraine Stern?

Without a word, Lorraine looked around to emphasize there was no other patient in the reception area. Will had been concerned something like this might happen.

Ah Lorrie. Come on. 

Lorraine sat there trying to remember why she had ever thought seeing a doctor for the second time since childhood could have turned out any differently. Lorraine answered the doctor.

Yes.

First, forms must be completed before I see a new patient. Second, the nurses here take their instructions from me. Third, your appointment was arranged as a favor — and I’m not big on string-pulling. So. You can fill out the form now. Then I’ll meet you in my office. Then I’ll examine you. Or not. One hundred per cent your choice. There’s an appointment right after this, so if you wish to keep yours, we need to get things started. There’s a lot of ground to cover in the preliminary appointment. 

Lorraine looked at Will. 

I think I’m going to throw up. 

Dr Lewis came over, took Lorraine’s elbow.

Yes, I see that. Come with me.

Neither Lorraine nor Dr Lewis looked back as Lorraine was led away. The receptionist got up to close the door behind them. Will stayed put.

When she was done being sick, Dr Lewis asked Lorraine if she wanted to sit down in her office for a couple of minutes. Lorraine replied.

You mean, as in, to consult.

Watch it Lorraine: Lorraine to herself. Dr Lewis answered.

I mean — as in — to catch your breath. Metaphorically.

Slowly, Lorraine shook her head yes. She didn’t cry or shake. She sat there, looking at her hands in her lap. 

Lorraine — let’s see if we can make things a little easier. 

What do you mean?

Your chart indicates that you have not seen a gynecologist in 20 years.

I know. 

And what prompted that visit?

Painful intercourse. Could I have another water. 

Sure. And subsequent exams?

There weren’t any. 

For 20 years?

Yes. 20 years.

Wow. Want another one? 

Lorraine nodded and put the empty Evian on the doctor’s desk.

Lorraine, it is important to know all there is to know about a patient’s — any patient’s — reproductive health and health generally before IVF is considered. In vitro fertilization is complex.

Lorraine did not say duh. Dr Lewis handed her another water. 

So we will need to know as much as possible about any issues you might have had — infections, fibroids, did you ever have an i.u.d. Etc. — anything that might bear on the process so we can be prepared. 

I can’t open this. 

Dr Lewis snapped the seal and handed the bottle back.          

I got hurt once. 

Lorraine swiped her forearm across her mouth.

And when was that?

Before I changed schools. Seventh grade. 

I see. Can you describe how you got hurt? 

You keep on saying I see, but there’s no way you could see. Besides, you’re blurry. In my vision. 

You are safe here, Lorraine.

Oh sure. 

Lorraine.

I mean… you can’t know where I’m safe, or not. Why do you even say that? Dr Lewis answered her. 

It is true that I don’t know where you feel unsafe. But I do know you are safe — here. A pause.

My mother. 

All right. Yes. Your mother. 

She always protected me. 

Of course she did. 

Rescued me from things. You’re really blurry.

Anxiety can do that, Lorraine. It does do that. It is understandable. How about if you pull your chair back a bit? 

Lorraine gazed. Some spot on the wall. 

You will not tell.

Anything you say here is confidential.

Including to my own husband.

If that is your wish. 

It is. I’ve never told anyone…Lorraine looked directly at Injy Lewis. ... except my mother. So you need to promise.

Doctor and patient were eye to eye. For a moment Lorraine felt as though she were seeing with the doctor’s eyes which were light blue, like Will’s eyes, and as though she were seeing light blue with them. Lorraine was beginning to understand that the doctor’s intolerance — what Lorraine was experiencing as her intolerance — was in fact a pledge. People sometimes call this kind of thing timing. But this was more than that. Without high-grade readiness, timing is just timing. 

Yes or no. 

Lorraine.

That was all the doctor said — Lorraine’s name in a strong, kind voice — and it opened the upstream valve. 

Lorraine then told Injy Lewis what had happened when she was 13. When never became the present tense. 

Excerpted from While We Were Waiting by Katherine Nouri Hughes. Copyright © 2026 by Katherine Nouri Hughes. Published by Delphinium Books.

Review:

“Urgent if uneven, this novel reminds readers that even when life is at its worst, people can choose hope.” — Kirkus Reviews