Page 26 of Just Between Us

Fifteen minutes later,Annie walked through the doors. She strode over to me, threw her arms around me, and hugged me as tight as she used to. The tears I’d been fighting since the moment the cramping and bleeding started filled my eyes and spilled down my cheeks.

“Shhh, it’s okay. I’m sure everything is okay.”

A nurse appeared at that moment. “Lucy Park?” She looked over to where I was hugging Annie.

Annie slipped her hand into mine and motioned towards the nurse with her head. I rose out of the waiting room chair and walked with Annie behind the nurse.

“Just in here.” She gestured to the ultrasound room doorway.

“Can she come with me? She’s my best friend. I need her here.”

The nurse nodded and we both walked into the room. The doctor greeted me with a comforting smile. “Now, Lucy, I believe you’ve had a bit of bleeding and cramping. Is that right?”

I nodded.

“Well, pop yourself on the bed there and lower your trousers and underwear just a little. We’ll have a little look at what’s going on, shall we?”

I did as I was asked. This wasn’t the first ultrasound I’d had so far, and I was praying it wasn’t the last. The doctor covered my lower stomach with gel, pressed against me with the wand, and looked at the screen.

Annie took my hand and squeezed it tightly, watching the screen with me.

“There we are...” The doctor swung the screen around for us to have a better look. “That is one healthy little baby in there.” He flicked another switch, and the room was filled with a swoosh-wooshing noise. “That is the sound of your baby’s heart. It’s fast, it’s strong, and perfectly as it should be.”

I started to cry again. I’d never been so relieved in my life. I glanced up at Annie, who was smiling at the screen with a look of awe on her face.

“It can be common to bleed a little in pregnancy, especially in the first trimester. Even in the second and third, but you said on the phone it was only a little, right?”

I nodded and brushed the tears away.

The doctor handed me a tissue. “Nothing to worry about, I promise. You did the right thing, though. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. I would rest up for a few days, and as long as you’ve got no more bleeding, we will see you at your next routine appointment. If you get any cramping or start to bleed more like a period, then call us up again and we’ll get another look at you, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

I nodded again, taking in everything we’d just been told.

“Lucy! Lucy Park! Where is she?” echoed in the hallway outside the door, and I instantly recognised Rich’s voice. I heard a nurse telling him where I was, and the door opened a fraction of a second later.

“I just got your message. I’m so sorry I couldn’t answer. Are you okay? Is the baby okay?” His words tumbled out as he burst out of his concern.

“I’m fine,” I reassured him. “We’refine.” The doctor moved out of the way and Rich leaned over me and squeezed me tight.

“Thank God everything is okay.” He kissed me on the cheek, and I blushed and glanced at Annie, who was still holding on tightly to my hand.

Rich moved around the bed I was on and hugged Annie tightly too. “Thank you for being here with her.”

Annie sighed. “She’s my best friend, Dad. I couldn’t let her face this without someone here.”

She put her arms around her dad, and his whole body relaxed into her. It was the first time she’d spoken to him, too. Initially, she had stayed away for the first few nights. When she did come back to the house, she said her piece about how angry she was with him. She thought he was behaving like a dirty old man, and that as long as she was still living there, she wanted him to have some respect for her and not have me around.

He didn’t. He did exactly as she wanted, and my mum let him come and stay in our house with me. I didn’t think my mum would ever do that, but I think she figured that once I was pregnant, the damage was already done, as it were. She wasn’t entirely happy about the whole situation, but we had at least talked it over with her and she knew where we both stood on it. Annie hadn’t wanted to hear any of it, and while I understood, I was gutted my friend wasn’t giving me the chance to explain my side of things.

I hoped she would be able to now.

EPILOGUE

ANNIE

SIX YEARS LATER

A lot had changedsince the day Lucy had called me from the hospital, fearing the worst for her pregnancy. Healing our friendship had been the biggest thing. I had never heard Lucy as scared as she was that day, and it broke my heart. I’d also had never seen Dad as happy, or as concerned as he was when he got to the hospital.

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