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41
“Of course you could always do a DNA test,” she continued. “But the baby will have to be born first-”
“Sasha, stop this right now,” he pleaded, thinking that her skin looked ashen.
“Why should I? You started it.” She locked her fingers together, as if she were about to start uttering some kind of fervent prayer. “And when the baby is born no one will ever want to take it away-because they’ll be able to see how much…” she gulped. “How much we love one another!”
“Sasha-I don’t want to take your baby away from you.”
“Yes, you do!”
Had he slipped a tight, iron band around her belly and tightened it without her seeing? Sasha stared at him in horror, their argument completely wiped away by this new and terrifying intervention.
“Kaleb?” He saw her wince and recognised the pain and fear, sensing that something was happening now beyond both their control.
“Sasha,” His voice sounded leaden. He seemed to move in slow motion towards her. He saw her stiffen, and then slump, falling forwards and knocking the daisies to the floor, their wilted scarlet petals scattering like bullets.
He heard a cry, and realized that it was his cry, not hers, because the scarlet petals had not been split from the broken flowers, but from the crumpled body of the woman who slid helplessly into his arms.
————
Everything was white. Clean and pure and white. Even the light that dazzled and hurt her eyes so much that she shut them quickly, only seconds after opening them.
“Sasha,” came a low, anguished voice that she knew she ought to recognise. But recognition was difficult because it didn’t sound like the voice she knew at all.
“Shh. She’s sleeping,” said a voice she definitely didn’t recognise. “Let her rest. She needs to rest.”Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.
Sasha heard something else. The familiar/unfamiliar voice murmuring something with an odd, broken kind of urgency. And then peace once more.
Next time she opened her eyes the light had changed. This time it was softer, more golden. Part of her wondered whether she had died and gone to heaven.
“Hello, Sasha.” This time she recognised it properly. Her lips were bone-dry, so she licked them. She blinked as she was caught in the spotlight of his eyes, and then recoiled at what she read in them.
Pain. Harsh and unremitting pain which threw the world into sharp focus. She remembered now. Her own pain. And blood. And Kaleb looking drained, speaking urgently down the telephone. An ambulance, its siren screaming like a demented woman. The unresisting cold steel of a hospital trolley. A man in a mask. A light shining in her eyes. Pain and wetness.
“Oh, my God!” She sat bolt upright and then slumped back against the pillows. “No!”
He caught her and cradled her against him awkwardly, as if he was frightened to touch her. “Wait a minute,” he whispered against her hair. “I’ll fetch the nurse.”
Nurse? Through a sickening daze a bell sounded. Sasha became aware of a dark-haired woman with dimpled cheeks who came to the other side of the bed and tried to shoo Kaleb away, but he wasn’t going anywhere.
The nurse wore a badge which said, ‘Nurse Helen Forbes.’ She looked at Sasha , her dimples disappearing as she wagged her finger like a teacher. “You’re a very lucky young woman, you know, Sasha.”
Sasha turned her head to one side and felt a tear slide slowly down her cheek. Lucky? Like hell! What was lucky about being alive if you’d lost the only thing which mattered? She shook her head.
“Oh, yes, you are.” The nurse shook her head in an exaggerated manner-as if reflecting on the foolishness of pregnant young women in general and Sasha in particular. “Running around the place like that,” she tutted. “Working yourself up into a state. Is it any wonder you had a bleed?”
Through her befuddled state something clicked in Sasha’s mind. The nurse was being bossy. And the nurse wouldn’t dare to be bossy if…
“The baby?” she croaked.
The nurse gave a grudging nod. “Is fine. Absolutely fine. As I said, you’re a very lucky young woman.”
Not quite believing her ears, Sasha turned to Kaleb, a question in her eyes.
He seemed to be having some difficulty speaking, but finally he nodded. “It’s okay, Sasha. It’s okay.” And then he smiled-weak and watery, but definitely a smile. “You haven’t lost the baby.”
Sasha tried to sit up again, but Kaleb’s hand seemed to be very firmly restraining her whilst at the same time managing to give her shoulder blade the most wonderful massage. If she hadn’t felt so drowsy she might have swatted his hand away, but as it was she was enjoying it far too much to want him to stop.
“How long have I been here?” she whispered.
“Only a few hours. The doctor examined you and they scanned you. After that you just wanted to go to sleep- don’t you remember?”.
She shook her head. “I don’t really remember anything. Maybe the sleep blocked it all out.” Perhaps that was nature’s way of protecting you.
“I was there when you had your scan.” His voice held an unmistakable note of pride. “The heart was beating like crazy and the baby is fine!” He laughed. “Though I guess you could say I’m a little biased!”
She put her hand tentatively over her belly. It still felt normal. Another tear slid down her cheek.
“Don’t cry, sugar,” he said softly. “The baby’s safe and you’re safe. Everything’s going to be all right.”
The doctor was even more forthright than the nurse had been. “You do understand everything I’ve explained to you, don’t you, Sasha?” he asked her.
Sasha nodded and looked to Kaleb for support, but he looked just as grim as the doctor. Actually, he looked even grimmer.
The doctor’s face grew serious. “There is no need for any other treatment other than rest. But you must rest. Do you understand that, Sasha?”
He turned to Kaleb. “And you must keep an eye on her. There mustn’t be a repeat of what happened today. She should not be stressed at all,” he finished severely.
“I understand,” Kaleb replied.
“And what about my business?” Sasha put in hastily.
The doctor glowered. “Just how important is your baby to you, Sasha?”
“More important than anything in the world,” she told him truthfully.