Page 13 of The Happy Family

I should be. I felt like I was. But no sooner have I set foot off the edge of the bed that I was sitting on than my legs go weak and wobbly and I almost fall. Thankfully, the doctor’s strong hand catches me and keeps me upright, and he was so quick-thinking that he grabbed my good arm and not my bad one. I think I’d have rather fallen to the floor than my stitches burst open and have to start that process all over again, but as it is, the doctor has prevented any further injuries. But he does look very concerned.

‘Do you need to lie down?’ he asks me, and that might be the best thing for me to do, but not the best thing for the speed of my scan, so I shake my head.

‘No, I’m fine, thank you,’ I reply, brushing over my brief moment of weakness and forcing myself to keep some strength in my legs so I can make it to the room where the scan will take place.

As I’m pushed in a wheelchair through one of the many long corridors in this place, it feels like I’m getting slower and slower, as if quicksand has been spread across all these polished floors and I’m being sucked down into them. Reid and the doctor do their best to keep my spirits up, making light-hearted chit-chat about the weather, the late hour and some football gibberish I don’t really understand or care about.

Then we arrive.

The room where I will have my scan.

I see the machine. The nurse. The bed.

That’s when I actually do fall to the floor.

When I open my eyes, I see Reid staring at me, concern etched on his face. Then I see the doctor, and the nurse who was here just before everything went black. I realise I’m sitting on the bed that I never made it to, and the machine for the scan is next to us, but the screen is still dark and looking unused.

‘Where am I?’ I ask, unsure and wanting to know what happened.

‘You fainted but you’re okay,’ Reid says. ‘I managed to catch you before you hit the floor, and we got you onto the bed.’

I look from Reid to the doctor to the nurse and hate that I was unconscious while they were all doing so much for me.

‘How are you feeling?’ the doctor asks me then, looking pensive. ‘I suggest we leave the scan until the morning and focus on getting more fluids into you.’

‘No, I want to do it now!’ I cry. ‘I feel better. Seriously, I’m fine. Let’s do it.’

I lift my nightdress, exposing my bare belly so that the nurse will be able to apply the gel that will allow her camera to see inside me easier. That shows that I am ready to do this, and after the nurse gets the nod from the doctor, she goes ahead and turns on the machine before applying the gel. I grimace slightly at the coolness of it whilst Reid takes hold of my hand and gives it a squeeze, letting me know that we are in this together, whatever happens in the next couple of minutes. Then the nurse uses the camera to look at my baby, leaving Reid and me to look at the screen and hope for the best.

There are a few tense seconds before we see our baby.

We see movement. We hear a heartbeat. Then the nurse confirms the good news.

‘Your baby looks absolutely fine,’ she tells us, her words causing Reid to let out a relieved laugh. As for me, I find myself weeping, unable to keep my tears in and sobbing uncontrollably. I don’t care. I’m so happy. Sadie might have harmed me, but she didn’t harm my baby.

Once the tears have subsided, I vow that if Sadie somehow survives tonight then I will go after her again.

I will hurt her and, next time, there will be nothing the paramedics can do to save her.

NINE

REID

‘I told you everything would be okay,’ I say, thankful that I don’t have to backtrack on my earlier prediction. ‘He or she is a fighter. Don’t worry about that.’

We still don’t know the gender of the baby because it’s early days, and I’m not even sure Luna wants to know before giving birth or if she wants a surprise. The main thing is that we still have a healthy baby to prepare for.

‘I love you,’ I say as I kiss my partner’s forehead before wiping away a few of the tears she has shed since she got the good news. I’ve been on the verge of tears myself, but they haven’t flowed quite as freely as Luna’s have, probably because I’m foolishly trying to be macho in this room with the doctor and nurse.

‘Fantastic news,’ that doctor says as the nurse offers Luna a wipe to clear the gel from her stomach. ‘Now, I really want you to get some rest. You and your baby. Do you think you’ll be able to follow those orders?’

‘Yes, of course,’ Luna says, wiping the remainder of the tears that I missed before lowering her nightdress back down and allowing me to help her off the bed.

We return to the original bed that Luna was assigned when she got here, and after the nurse has fetched Luna some water and we’ve thanked her and the doctor, we are left alone. That’s when Luna returns to her worries about Sadie.

‘I think you should go and check to see if there is any news,’ she tells me.

‘I can wait here with you for a little longer,’ I suggest, but Luna shakes her head.