Page 49 of Seizing Control: Part Two

On shaky legs, I allow myself to be lead away. The small, green room is dark when the assistant opens the door. She flips a switch, illuminating the area with fluorescent light, then gently places her hand to the small of my back and urges me inside. The stringent scent of a hospital fills my nose, and I try not to gag at the memories it invokes.

“Make sure you don’t empty your bladder.”

Her reminder makes me aware that I need to pee.

I tap my foot as the urge increases, nodding as I tell her, “I read the instructions. I won’t go to the loo.”

“Wonderful.”

Pulling the curtain around the bed, then exiting without another word, she leaves me alone. I watch her shadow turn smaller through the opaque rectangle in the door. My heart is racing. A sense of foreboding settles over me. I am confused by the change in routine. When I attended this same clinic for the Nuchal Translucency scan eight weeks ago, I wasn’t separated from anyone else.

Slash came to that appointment.

Heard my baby’s heartbeat for the first time.

It feels like yesterday, back when I believed everything would be okay.

Back when my head had tricked my heart into believing that Zeke was dead...

Hands cover my eyes from behind. “Surprise.”

My spine stiffens and I raise my elbow, ready to wind my assailant. I drag in a breath, determined to take him out before he can hurt me or my baby, only to find myself melting against the hard chest pressed to my back when I get a whiff of a familiar cologne.

“Lazarus.”

Gentle hands take hold of my shoulders and turn me around. When I’m facing him, my first love cups the nape of my neck and brings my forehead to his. He gazes at me, adoration in his eyes. Caught between excitement and concern, I offer him a tentative smile.

“You don’t need to worry, sweet thing,” he tells me. “I’ve taken precautions. No one will know I’ve been here, except for the technician and Nads.”

My best friends strange behaviour makes sense.

She helped set this up.

“I can’t believe you did this.”

Lazarus leads me over to the bed that bisects the room. He lifts me on to the foam mattress, then stoops down to unstrap my sandals. His fingers massage the arch of my feet. He kneads my calves, pushing my skirt upward, before tapdancing his fingertips along the top of my thighs. The flared skirt I’m wearing allows him unhampered access, and Lazarus takes full advantage of it.

“Oh.” I capture his wrist to stop him from venturing any higher. “One wrong move and I’ll pee.”

“There’s a toilet in there.” Lazarus points toward the nearest door. “Relieve yourself.”

“I can’t... they said I had to drink three glasses of water an hour before the appointment, then hold my bladder until the scan.”

“Surely, there’s an easier way?”

His question goes unanswered because the door is opened, and the obstetrics technician and Nadia enter. Chatting easily, they seem unaware of the fierce looking man in a suit who shouldn’t be in here with me, until the technician does a double take.

Her cheeks flush red. “You’re new.”

“That’s baby daddy number two,” Nadia quips.

I shoot her a heated look.

My best friend laughs.

Throwing her hands in the air, she asks, “What? Tell me I’m wrong...”

“I’m the father,” my first love declares. He scrapes a hand through his hair, then offers it to the flustered technician. “Lazarus.”

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