I start ranting,’ he said.
To his relief, he heard what sounded almost like a wry chuckle. But then there was another muffled sob. ‘Hold on, honey. I’m going to be there very soon,’ he said. ‘And, Ella, I’m glad you called me.’
‘Really?’ She didn’t sound as if she believed him.
‘Really,’ he said firmly.
He kept her talking all the way from his house to her flat. When he got there, he didn’t bother about a parking permit—he’d willingly pay a dozen parking fines if he had to—but just ran over to her door and rang the bell. When she opened her door, he pulled her straight into his arms and held her close. ‘Everything’s going to be all right, I promise.’
‘I don’t want to lose the baby.’ Her shoulders heaved.
‘You’re not going to lose the baby, not if I have anything to do with it,’ he said. ‘Let’s go.’ He locked the front door behind her, held her close all the way to his car, helped her in and then drove to the Royal Cheltenham, holding her hand between gear changes. She was trembling and he desperately wanted to hold her; but he knew that if he stopped to comfort her it would be that much longer before he could give her a scan and see what was going on. ‘We’re not going to the Emergency Department. I’ll do the scan myself at Teddy’s so you don’t have to wait.’
‘I’m so scared, Oliver. I want this baby so much.’
‘Me, too,’ he said. More than that, he wanted Ella as well. Whatever had caused her to back off from him since the party, they could fix it—because she was more important to him than anything or anyone else. ‘It’s going to be OK, Ella. I promise you.’
She was crying silently, and he hated the fact that he couldn’t do anything more to help; but, at the same time, he needed to get her to hospital safely.
It seemed to take for ever to get to Teddy’s, even though he knew it couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes. But at last they were there and he parked as close to the entrance as possible, then grabbed a wheelchair from the entrance.
‘I can walk,’ Ella protested.
‘I know, but this is faster. Let me do this, Ella. Please. I won’t smother you in cotton wool, but I want to get you in there for that scan.’ His voice cracked and he wondered if she’d heard it and realised that he was as emotional about the situation as she was. And, actually, maybe she needed to know it. ‘Not just for you. For me. I need to be sure you’re both all right.’
He was almost breaking into a run by the time they got to Teddy’s.
‘Later,’ he said to the nurse on the reception desk, who looked at Ella in shock as he wheeled her through. ‘I’ll explain later.’
Annabelle had texted him to say that Room Three was reserved for him, if she wasn’t there when he brought Ella in. Oliver wheeled Ella into the room, scooped her out of the wheelchair and laid her on the bed. The fact that she made no protest this time really scared him.
‘Can you bare your tummy—?’ he began, but she was already doing it.
Please, please, let the baby be all right, he begged inwardly, and smeared the gel over her stomach.
His hands were actually shaking as he stroked the head of the transceiver across her abdomen.
But then he could see the little bean shape, and the heart was beating strongly.
Thank you, he said silently, and moved the screen so Ella could see it, too. ‘Look,’ he said. ‘It’s going to be OK. There’s a really strong heartbeat, not too fast and not too slow. Everything’s going to be fine, Ella.’
Her shoulders heaved, and then she was crying in earnest. He held her close, stroking her hair, and realised that tears were running down his cheeks, too.
He wanted this baby. So did she, desperately. Surely there was a good chance that they could make a decent life together—the three of them, because now he realised how much he wanted that, too.
Finally Ella was all cried out—and then she realised that Oliver was still holding her. And she’d soaked his shirt. And was it her imagination, or were his eyes wet, too? She’d been so frightened that she hadn’t been able to focus much on what he’d said to her, but had he said that he was scared, too?
She wasn’t sure, and her first instinct was to back away in case she was making a fool of herself again. ‘We ought to—well, someone else might need this room.’
‘I want to admit you now and keep you in overnight,’ he said, ‘for observation.’
She shook her head. ‘I’ll be fine.’
‘You’re on bed-rest. Don’t argue,’ he said, ‘and there’s no way in hell you’re working your shift today, so don’t even suggest it.’
‘But someone else might need the bed on the ward more than I do.’
‘Ella, you’re pregnant and you were in a car crash.’
‘A minor crash. At low speed.’
‘Bad enough that they had to get a tow-truck for your car,’ he said. ‘And you were spotting. If any of your mums came in presenting like that, what would you say?’
‘Go home and rest,’ she said, ‘and come back if you’re worried.’
‘And if it was a mum you knew damn well didn’t know the meaning of the word rest?’
‘Then I’d suggest staying in,’ she admitted.
‘I know you think I’m wrapping you up in cotton wool,’ he said, ‘and I know that drives you mad—but what I don’t get is why you won’t let anyone look after you.’
‘It’s a long story,’ she said.
He shrugged. ‘I’ve got all the time in the world.’
He really expected her to tell him? Panic flooded through her. ‘I don’t know where to start.’
‘Try the beginning,’ he said. ‘Or the middle—or anywhere that feels comfortable—and you can take it from there.’
She knew where to start, then. ‘The baby. I didn’t try to trap you.’
‘I know. You’re not Justine.’
She frowned. ‘Justine?’
‘It’s a long story.’
What was sauce for the goose… ‘I’ve got time,’ she said. ‘And maybe if you tell me, it’ll give me the courage to tell you.’
He looked at her for a long moment, then finally nodded. ‘OK. I’ll go first. Justine was the daughter of my parents’ friends. They’d kind of earmarked her for me as a suitable future wife, even though I wasn’t ready to settle down and I wanted to get all my training
