Page 29 of Prognosis Irreconcilable Differences

Jacqui almost laughed at his deeply furrowed brows. ‘You think lazing around your apartment all day is stimulating?’

He shook his head at her. ‘A lot of women would kill for an apartment with that view.’

Jacqui gave him a sad smile. ‘You should know by now that’s not me.’

They entered one of his exclusive suites a minute later. A harried-looking woman, her eyes swollen and red, her belly large with child, jumped at him the second he entered the reception area.

‘I’m so sorry, Nathan. I know it’s irrational. I know it’s stupid. But I can’t lose another baby. I just can’t.’

Jacqui’s gut clenched at the emotional frailty of the stranger. She was obviously distressed, but everything else about her — from her suit to her chic hairstyle, to her trendy frames — said capable, kick-ass, corporate go-getter.

Nathan placed his arm around his patient’s shoulders, his hand rubbing gently. ‘It’s okay, Sonya. Of course you did the right thing contacting me. We’ll do an ultrasound. You’ll see everything’s fine.’

Jacqui watched as the woman who’d looked as if she was about to crumple to the floor a second ago responded to Nathan’s assurance. She gathered herself, looking around, the colour in her cheeks heightening as she suddenly became conscious of everyone in the waiting room pretending not to notice her, conscious of Jacqui.

‘Oh, hello,’ she said. ‘Sorry, Nathan. Did I pull you away from something?’

‘Not at all.’ Nathan smiled. ‘Sonya, this is Jacqueline, my...wife.’

Sonya seemed nonplussed for a moment, and then recovered. She held out her hand to Jacqui. ‘Oh, I didn’t realise...That is, I didn’t know...Oh, dear, I’m terribly sorry. I’m afraid I’m not very eloquent these days. My IQ seems to have fallen incrementally with each week.’

Jacqui gave a half-laugh as she shook the other woman’s hand, liking her instantly. ‘It’s okay.’

‘Are you a doctor, too?’

Jacqui blinked at the rapid topic-change. ‘Sort of.’ She laughed. ‘I’m a vet.’

‘Oh! I love vets. If I wasn’t so happily married and—’ she looked at her stomach ‘—so huge, I’d put the hard word on mine. He saved our darling Jock’s life when he got tick paralysis.’

Jacqui kept a straight face. She didn’t know this woman from Adam, but she’d bet her last cent her pre-pregnant self wouldn’t have been anywhere near as forthcoming. ‘Er, yes, that can be very nasty.’

Nathan blinked. He’d known Sonya for nine years. They were friends. She ran her own PR consultancy. He’d never seen her so...scatterbrained. ‘Is Brian coming?’ he asked.

Sonya pouted. ‘No. He had to fly to Perth early this morning.’

Nathan nodded and patted her hand. ‘Okay. Well, let’s get one of the nurses to sit in with us while we do this, huh?’

‘Oh, no — wait.’ Sonya turned to Jacqui. ‘Do you think you could?’

Jacqui looked at the woman who had been a total stranger until a minute ago. Still was, really. ‘Er...’ She glanced at Nathan. ‘I suppose so. Are you sure?’

Sonya nodded happily. ‘Absolutely.’ She grinned manically for a few seconds, and then it faded. ‘Sorry, it’s probably not very appropriate.’ She bit her lip. ‘I apologise. I’m really not myself these days.’

Jacqui was so taken by her frankness, by her candour, she couldn’t refuse the woman. It was as if she had pregnancy-induced Tourettes. ‘Don’t worry about it.’

Sonya pulled her into a huge hug and Jacqui laughed at the spontaneity. She caught Nathan’s frown over the other woman’s shoulder. ‘Unless, of course, Nathan would rather I didn’t?’

Nathan shrugged. ‘Fine by me.’ And they all trooped into his office.

Jacqui was pleasantly surprised. She’d expected it to be in the same awful minimalist style evident in the reception area. All white on beige on cream, with expensive but indiscernible art and discreetly elegant indoor plants.

Instead it was colourful. Busy. Cute prints of babies in flower pots decorated the walls.

A high, wide couch stood against one wall, an ultra-expensive looking ultrasound machine stood nearby. A large toy box stood against another wall. Nathan’s desk, slightly chaotic, sat in the middle.

He shrugged out of his jacket and helped Sonya onto the couch as Jacqui hovered at the end. Her gaze was drawn to a large corkboard attached to the wall, and her eyes skimmed the photos pinned to it as Nathan placed his stethoscope on Sonya’s belly while he waited for the machine to boot up.

The photos were amazing, and Jacqui’s heart just about crashed to a stop. They were of Nathan. And babies. Lots and lots of babies. And lots of happy couples. There were so many of them they overlapped in places, and there wasn’t a millimetre of cork to be seen anywhere.

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