Page 58 of The Fallback

In a split second Rosie had run through all the awful possibilities in her mind: her mother was hurt, one of the kids had been in an accident – she even considered briefly that something had happened to their dad and that for some strange reason, her and Chris were being alerted as next of kin.

‘Rosie, where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you.’

Rosie looked at her watch. ‘I’ve been in the lab, Chris, you know I can’t take my phone in there.’

‘For twenty-four hours?’ Chris asked incredulously. ‘You’ve been in the lab for twenty-four hours?’

Rosie reached for her mobile and remembered that not only had she been ignoring Jasmine’s messages, but that yesterday she’d missed some calls from an unknown number, which, given Chris’ tone was probably their landline, and she didn’t have that saved because who actually used a landline anymore? Thinking about all the reasons he could be calling, Rosie suddenly felt terrible for passing judgement on the landline, but not as terrible as she felt for ignoring the calls.

‘Chris, what’s happened?’ she asked again.

Chris sighed, ‘I’m at the hospital, Rosie. No, no…’ he said as she tried to interrupt him, ‘it’s not the kids and it’s not Mum. It’s Jasmine.’

‘Jasmine? What’s wrong?’ Rosie felt a sense of ominous dread seep through her, made worse by the fact she knew she had been ignoring Jasmine.

‘She had a miscarriage yesterday,’ Chris replied, a catch in his throat. Rosie knew him well enough to realise that he was trying not to cry.

‘A miscarriage?’ Rosie asked in confusion. ‘But…but I didn’t even know she was pregnant?’

‘Well, that is a long story,’ he sighed, ‘and I’m sure she’ll tell you it at some point. But I thought you would want to know.’ Chris paused. ‘Rosie, she’s really not in a good way. The doctors say she’ll be fine physically, but she seems really fragile. Rosie, I don’t know how to help her.’ His voice went deep and muffled and Rosie just knew that he was crying properly now.

‘Oh, Chris. I’m so sorry. What can I do? Can I come get the kids?’

‘No, it’s fine, Mum’s looking after them. She’s been great.’

Rosie knew he didn’t mean to compare them, but she was already feeling terrible about not helping out. Not even answering the phone because she was too busy crying over Mitch.

‘I’ll come to the hospital,’ she said firmly, keen to be doing something. ‘Which one is it?’

Chris gave her the name and then stopped. ‘But Rosie, I don’t know what’s happened between you two but she’s said she doesn’t want to see you right now.’

Rosie made a small noise as a strangled sob and gasp escaped her.

‘She’s really tired, Rosie and she’s very upset. I’m sure it’s just a combination of the two.’ Chris said consolingly, Rosie knew that she should have been the one consoling him. She found herself vigorously nodding, hoping that Chris was right and that Jasmine’s refusal to see her had nothing to do with the fact Rosie hadn’t returned her calls.

‘Look,’ he said in a comforting tone, ‘we should be allowed home tonight. Give her some time to recover and then let’s see if you can come and visit in a few days?’

Rosie barely trusted herself to speak. ‘OK,’ she said in a small voice. ‘Can you let me know when you’re home?’

‘Yes, of course,’ Chris agreed.

‘And Chris?’ Rosie asked. ‘I’m really sorry about not being there.’

‘It’s fine Rosie, OK? I’m sure you don’t believe me but I do remember what weekends were like when you’re single and don’t have kids. I’m sure you had better things to do than keep tabs on your phone. But next time, if you get two missed calls from us, can we agree that you’ll consider it serious enough to call us back?’

Weakly, Rosie nodded, before remembering she was on the phone and whispered, ‘Yes.’ Chris’s interpretation of what her weekend had been like was so far removed from the reality that she felt disorientated. She hadn’t been off having fun, living her best single life and all that; when Jasmine had been lying in the hospital Rosie was too busy feeling sorry for herself over her fight with Mitch that she hadn’t even bothered to answer the phone. She put down the receiver and put her head back down on her desk. The report that Rachel was desperate for Rosie to send to the execs at BioChem would just have to wait.

* * *

Late that night, Chris messaged Rosie to tell her they were home. Jasmine was still very tired and had gone to bed, he said. He promised to keep her updated. Rosie had spent the afternoon in constant contact with her mother who was too busy being run ragged by her grandchildren to engage in any discussion about why Rosie had not been in touch or even whether either of them had known about Jasmine’s pregnancy.

Rosie couldn’t sleep that night. Her mind whirled with thoughts of Jasmine and what she had been going through. She felt so guilty that she hadn’t spoken to her properly in ages. Jasmine had obviously been trying to talk to her, but Rosie had been so caught up in her own drama with Mitch that she hadn’t made time to call her back.

At least all this had put him from her mind, she thought wryly to herself as she turned her pillow yet again in an attempt to drift off. Rosie knew that at some point she would have to work out what to do about Mitch, but for the moment she needed to focus on Jasmine and Chris and what they needed. Finally, she fell asleep, certain of what she should do in the morning.

* * *

Rosie woke early, her mind surprisingly sharp and focused given the amount of sleep she hadn’t had. It was a little after eight-thirty when she rang the doorbell at Jasmine and Chris’s house. Rosie wasn’t sure whether her mother had stayed, but knowing Susan, she had left soon after Chris and Jasmine returned from the hospital, sensitive about giving them their space. And it was very likely that Chris had taken the boys to school and would be out when she arrived. Part of her felt guilty about surprising Jasmine like this, and she promised herself that should Jasmine tell her to leave she would do so without complaint. But Rosie felt she had to see her, had to apologise and to try to make it up to her. And Chris had said maybe in a few days, hadn’t he? Did the next day count as a few?

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