‘I’m annoyed that you’re not telling me why you’ve called, but it doesn’t matter because I’m already on my way and I’ll be with you in twenty minutes.’
‘No rush,’ she managed through gritted teeth, knowing that he would rush. And in under fifteen minutes she heard the urgent ring of her doorbell.
‘Tell me,’ he commanded, staring down at her pale face and the brave smile she had pinned on it. Fear tore inside him. ‘Okay, tell me on the way to the hospital.’
‘There’s no need...’
‘I’ll come back for that bag you packed. Come on.’
He was at his finest. Strong, calm...utterly in charge of the situation and knowing exactly what to do. She felt safe.
‘Talk to me,’ was the first thing he said once they were both in the car.
For the first time he wished that he had bought her somewhere with less of the illusion of being in the country and more of the reality of being in the hub of things—maybe even next to a hospital.
‘I... Just a bit of pain,’ she said faintly. ‘My stomach.’
‘Contractions? Like Braxton Hicks?’
‘Sorry?’
‘I thought it might be a good idea to do some background research,’ Sergio told her gruffly.
She stared at his fierce averted profile in amazement.
‘It’s not that big a deal,’ he asserted, without glancing in her direction. ‘I like to know what I’m dealing with.’
‘I don’t know what it is, Sergio,’ she whispered, ‘but it just doesn’t feel right.’
‘Don’t talk,’ he urged in a low voice. ‘Try and breathe evenly. The last thing you want to do is hyperventilate because you’re panicked. I’m sure it’s nothing to be unduly concerned about.’
‘They hate you doing this.’
‘What are you talking about?’
Susie leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes. She was doing as he had told her to do, breathing evenly and thinking calming thoughts.
‘The hospital. They hate it when you show up and they have to send you away again because it’s a stupid false alarm. They’re always rushed off their feet. It’s a waste of their time when they have to pander to some pregnant woman who gets twitchy at the slightest...ouch...cramp...’
‘No one would dare send me anywhere unless I was ready to go.’
He rested his hand on hers and gave a gentle squeeze, and she blinked back a flood of tears because right now she just loved him so much she wanted to shout it from the rooftops.
This felt so much like the real thing that she could almost believe it was.
‘We’re nearly there,’ he said, removing his hand and leaving a cool, empty space where it had been.
Busy with trying to stave off the bursts of abdominal pain, Susie was actually only aware that they had arrived when the car stopped and she opened her eyes to find that he had pulled up right outside the hospital entrance. From then on, everything seemed to move very quickly.
He took charge. People obeyed. Nurses who were accustomed to giving orders fell into line with mesmerised obedience. A consultant was summoned.
‘I should have made you go private,’ he muttered at one point through gritted teeth. ‘I should never have let you talk me into using the NHS...’
‘Don’t be silly. It’s as good as...probably better...’
‘You’re as white as a sheet.’
‘I...I’m a little scared, to be perfectly honest...’ she admitted.
Voicing the fear suddenly made her realise that she was, in fact, terrified. What if she lost the baby?
Being established in a bed in the hospital, with people rushing around and someone urgently gathering the necessary team to do a scan in order to establish what was happening, really brought home to Susie just how much a part of her present and her future this unborn baby had become.
Sergio had temporarily disappeared, and a new and scary thought hit her with the force of a sledgehammer.
If she lost this precious possession, then he would disappear from her life faster than a speeding bullet.
There would be no need for him to stick around.
She would return the house she had fallen in love with, pack her bags and leave—because even though the house was in her name he would want it back. Why wouldn’t he? It had been bought for his child, and for her as an afterthought.