Chapter 12
12
‘In twenty-four hours, I’ll be sipping champagne in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower with my handsome husband, and I won’t even be thinking about emptying another one of these.’ Aidan gestured towards the cardboard kidney bowl that contained things Amy didn’t want to think about too much. They’d just dressed the wound of a twelve-year-old boy, who’d gashed his leg on barbed wire after taking a shortcut home across a farmer’s field. It had been a two-person job, largely because the boy was thrashing around so much and then he’d vomited at the sight of the needle Aidan had produced to give him a tetanus injection. There was never a dull day in A he snatched it off me like his life depended on it when I tried to borrow it to take a photo. So I knew he was cheating again.’
‘The man’s a complete eejit, Amy. Can’t say I’ve ever had a holiday from hell quite like that, but they can be intense because of how much time you spend together. If things are already rocky, they can definitely help kill a relationship off.’ Aidan put both hands over his heart in an overly theatrical way. ‘Luckily I’m going with Jase, who is the best company and we can’t wait for our babymoon.’
‘I’ve warned you about being smug and I might not be able to lay my hands on a fork right now, but I bet I can find a scalpel.’ She grinned. ‘Although seeing as you deserve it too, I’ll let it slide one more time. I can’t believe you and Jase are going to be parents in six weeks. How’s Ellen doing?’
‘She’s absolutely huge, bless her, but apparently she’s carrying a lot of water. Typical of my kid to have a taste for the high life already and demand a built-in pool.’ Aidan laughed. ‘Me and Jase thought we ought to make it up to her and her family, so we’ve rented Shell Cottage for them for the long weekend; they arrived this morning. She’s meeting me after I finish work, just for a catch up before Jase and I head off to the airport. I offered to meet her down at the cottage, but she said she wants an hour’s break from the kids after the journey. It sounds like even an hour in a car with two under-sevens is pretty stressful.’
‘I can imagine.’ Amy raised her eyebrows.
‘What about you, what are your plans for the weekend? Any chance you might be meeting up with a certain someone?’ Aidan linked his arm through hers. ‘Imagine all the amazing holidays you’d go on if you were with Lijah Byrne.’
‘There’s more chance of me winning the lottery than that. I saw photographs of him watching his last girlfriend modelling at New York fashion week. So I don’t think an A he didn’t have any medical knowledge, not even basic first aid. It would have been far easier to try and comfort the driver of the car, whose face seemed to be frozen into a scream, the sound she was making still unearthly, but something told him the woman on the pavement needed him more, even if he couldn’t do anything to help in a practical sense. No one deserved to be alone in a moment like this.
‘Can you hear me?’ Lijah crouched down next to her, and she gave a little whimper. ‘Okay, don’t try to talk if it’s too hard.’
‘The baby.’ Her voice was strangled, and one of her legs was at a weird angle. Lijah had to look away as a lump lodged in his throat, even before she grabbed for his hand, clinging to it like she was never going to let go. At least she still had some strength left, surely that had to be a good sign.
‘It’s okay, we’re going to get help. You’re going to be okay.’ He had no idea if that was true, but he hoped to God he was right, as footsteps came thundering down the pavement towards him.
‘Oh my God.’ The young man who’d run up to them looked ashen. ‘My girlfriend’s gone into the hospital to tell them what’s happened.’
‘That’s good.’ Lijah nodded as another woman joined them, the lorry driver just behind her.
‘Whatever you do, don’t move her.’ The lorry driver’s tone was forceful, and Lijah nodded.
‘Can someone please check on the driver?’ The screaming had finally stopped, but she still hadn’t got out of the car.
‘I’ll do it.’ The woman moved towards the door of the car and, as the elderly man suddenly appeared in the road too, visibly shaking, the lorry driver helped him towards a bench by a bus stop, twenty feet further down the pavement.
‘I’m scared.’ The pregnant woman was still gripping Lijah’s hand, but her voice was even weaker than before.
‘I know, but I’m going to stay here with you until help arrives and I promise you and the baby will both be okay.’ He was taking even more of a risk now, not just giving the woman an assurance but making her a promise that might well turn out to be a lie. It didn’t matter for now, though, and Lijah knew it was what he’d have wanted to hear if it were him. It was clearly a struggle for her to speak, but something told him it was a good idea to keep her talking. ‘The doctors are going to be here really soon, but I’ll be here until they do. I’m Lijah, what’s your name?’
‘Ellen, and…’ Her eyes flickered for a moment as if she was trying to focus on him, but instead a single tear rolled down her face, swiftly followed another. ‘The baby isn’t mine.’