Page 50 of Prognosis Temporary

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By the time Sebastianarrived at Callie’s it was nearly eight o’clock. A last-minute crisis at Jambalyn had seen him tied up at the hospital, organising an emergency admission to the psych unit.

He was tired and there was a knot of tension between his shoulder blades as big as his fist. He wanted nothing more than to curl up with Callie, lose himself inside her and forget about the entire day. Walking up the front steps, looking at the darkened house, that particular fantasy didn’t seem very likely.

He raised his hand and gave three hard raps against the wood panels of the door. He waited for a minute and rapped again. Another minute passed.

‘Callie,’ he called, knocking for the third time. ‘I know you’re in there.’

More silence greeted him and Sebastian felt a most unnatural urge to rip the door off its hinges. He thumped at the wood instead, pounding his fist on it.

‘Goddamn it, Callie. Open the door!’

He could use his key but that didn’t feel right in this situation and he didn’t think she’d appreciate the invasion of her privacy.

Finally he heard a voice. ‘Go away.’ It was faint but definitely her. ‘Leave me alone!’

Sebastian placed his palm flat against the wood. Her voice sounded feeble and the worry that had been gnawing at his gut all day intensified. ‘I’m not going to go away,’ he yelled. ‘I’m not going to leave you alone. You can push me away as much as you like but I’m still going to be here. Now, open the damn door or I will use my key.’

If he kept thumping like this someone would call the cops and this would be a whole other thing.

He pounded again feeling desperate now. ‘Callie!’

‘Okay, okay. Jesus...’

Sebastian clenched his fists by his sides as a huge well of relief made him light-headed. The outside light above his head flicked on and he heard the lock being sprung and then the door opened.

He didn’t know what would greet him but he wasn’t prepared for the wan-looking woman before him. Her amber eyes were dull, her hair was lank and her eyes had dark rings beneath them

‘Oh, my God!’ She looked wretched and Sebastian stepped closer, a strong urge to hug her riding him. But she shrank back from him into the shadows of the house, which appeared to be in complete darkness, and he stopped.

He pushed his hands into his pockets to prevent a repeat performance. ‘You look...awful. Is there something you’re not telling me?’ His heart pounded as he thought of all the terminal and degenerative diseases he’d come across in his career. ‘Are you...are you sick?’

She snorted. ‘Yeah. Not much of a catch now, hey?’

A spike of undiluted rage hit Sebastian’s bloodstream and he was pleased his hands were firmly ensconced in his pockets as the urge to shake her took hold. ‘You think I care about that?’ he snapped. ‘I just want to know what’s wrong, damn it!’

‘I’m pregnant.’

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Callie hadn’t meantto blurt it like that - she really hadn’t. But in the absence of a better plan it just fell out of her mouth. Geraldine’s you’ll have to talk to him some time taunted her but Callie didn’t think this is what Geri had in mind.

Damn it, she hadn’t been ready to tell him, yet. Although, honestly, she doubted she was ever going to be ready for one of the hardest conversations of her life. It was right up there with begging Andy not to jump and having to break the news to Zack that he was going to go back and live with his mother.

She watched Sebastian’s face grow very still as the news sank in. The light from above shone on the golden highlights in his hair and eyebrows. It danced off his lashes, pooled in the hollows beneath his glorious cheekbones and caressed the twin curves of his lips.

‘That night...after Frank...in the shower.’ He said it slowly like he was trying to piece it all together on the fly. ‘Bloody hell...’ He glanced at her stomach. ‘You’re pregnant.’

Yep. Bloody hell. Callie couldn’t have put it better. He rubbed a weary hand across his eyes and she sighed as she stood aside and indicated for him to enter. Now it was out there they might as well deal with it.

Callie was conscious of the door clicking shut and him following her inside. She crossed to the couch where she’d been lying in a ball of misery all day and sat tucking her legs up beneath her, pulling the blanket over her lap. The only light was coming from the flickering, silent television but he didn’t seem to mind.

‘I don’t know what to say,’ he said, breaking the silence. ‘What to think.’

Callie regarded him steadily. ‘How about that I trapped you into this by insisting that you not wear a condom that night?’

‘No. Jesus...No.’ He sat down beside her. ‘You didn’t put a gun to my head, Callie. I wanted it as much you did. And I know this news must be as much a shock to you as it is to me.’

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