Page 36 of Lessons in Love at the Cornish Country Hospital

‘Is it something we need to be concerned about?’ Charlie furrowed his bow, as Dr Kowalski shook his head.

‘A haemorrhage always sounds terrifying, but as Danni will know it’s a broad term.’ He smiled as he turned from Charlie to Danni. ‘A secondary post-partum haemorrhage is most likely caused by an infection, but there’s a small chance there may be some retained tissue. We’ll get you straight onto antibiotics to clear any infection, and uterotonics to help reduce the bleeding. Have you got any known allergy to penicillin?’

‘I haven’t got any allergies that I’m aware of.’ Danni held her as-yet unnamed son close to her chest. He’d taken to feeding like a dream, and he was happily snoozing, completely oblivious to the conversation going on around him.

‘Great, in that case we’ll start you on a combination of ampicillin and metronidazole. Hopefully that will resolve things, but we’ll also give you a scan to see whether you need surgery to remove any retained tissue. I’m confident it won’t come to that, but we’ll be keeping you in until we’re certain all is as it should be. I’ll see you soon, Danni, but for now you need to get as much rest as possible.’

‘Thank you, Pieter.’ Danni leant back against the pillows behind her, as Dr Kowalski left the room.

‘Are you okay?’ As Charlie spoke, he gently swept the hair away from her forehead.

‘Yes, just a bit tired and feeling guilty that this is going to delay your parents and Joe from meeting the baby.’

‘The meeting will be all the sweeter when it comes, and all any of them want is for you to get well. So, even if they have to wait a week, they’ll all understand.’

‘God, I hope I’m not stuck in here for that long.’ Danni pulled a face. ‘I love St Piran’s, but right now all I want is to go home and be with my boys.’

‘That’s all I want too.’ Charlie reached out and stroked the baby’s cheek. ‘I can still hardly believe he’s ours, and that I got lucky enough to find the most wonderful woman in the world to do this with.’

‘Hang on to that feeling, because I think it’s going to be a very long time before you get lucky in any other sense of the word!’ Danni started to laugh, but even that hurt.

‘No one deserves more luck than I’ve had already.’ Charlie kissed her gently before pulling away again.

‘We really have hit the jackpot with this little guy, haven’t we? Although we probably do need to decide on a name.’ Danni breathed out slowly and Charlie nodded.

‘I think all of that will be easier when we’re back home and we get settled in to our new life as family. I’ve got a feeling the name will just come to us then.’

‘I think you’re right and I’m sure from what Pieter said that we’ll be home by tomorrow at the latest.’ Danni looked down at her little boy again, already picturing the three of them curled up on the sofa together, with Brenda and Maggie at their feet. It might sound incredibly simple to some people, but it was all she’d ever wanted.

22

Ever since the appointment with Miss Cohen, Chloe had seemed much more like her old self. She was still spending a lot of time online, but she seemed more animated and hopeful than she had before. Even when a friend of hers from work had made the questionable decision to send her a screenshot of Mike’s photograph on an online dating app, she hadn’t seemed fazed.

‘I couldn’t care less what he does now.’ Chloe had genuinely sounded like she meant it. ‘I know what I want my future to look like and Mike isn’t a part of that. I’ve got a plan and, as soon as I feel strong enough, I’m going to start taking steps towards making it happen.’

‘Would it help to talk about what you want to do?’ Wendy had continued to tread carefully, not wanting to shatter the fragile progress Chloe seemed to be making.

‘I know I need to work out how to say goodbye to Beau and find a way to move forward without him, that’s my priority. After that, I want to have the chance to be a mum, whatever that might look like, and I’m not scared of doing it on my own. After all, nothing could be worse than losing Beau, could it? If I’vesurvived that, I can survive anything. One thing this has taught me is that I’m stronger than I’d ever have believed.’

‘You really are.’ It had been an easy statement for Wendy to agree with. If she’d been asked when she first met Chloe whether she thought she’d have the strength to turn her back on Mike, Wendy would never have believed it, especially as it had taken her decades to do the same thing. It was getting easier and easier to believe that Chloe would be okay, and so she didn’t panic when it got to 10a.m. and there’d been no sign of her, or even the slightest sound coming from the guest bedroom. She was probably just catching up on the rest she so badly needed. Ever since she’d lost Beau, Chloe had insisted on having Stan, Gary’s Border Terrier, up in her room with her at night. The little dog was undemanding company, and she seemed to get comfort from having him close by. But she must have recognised the need for a good night’s sleep, because when she’d gone up to bed the previous evening she’d shut Stan in the kitchen for the first time.

‘Chloe, love, are you okay?’ When there was still no sign of her at eleven, Wendy tentatively knocked on the door. Zara had told her that they were both due to go to an eating disorders support group meeting in the early afternoon, and she wanted to make sure Chloe had enough time to get ready. When there was no answer, she knocked a little bit harder. ‘Chloe, you need to get up now, or you’ll miss your meeting with Zara.’

Met with only silence, Wendy slowly pushed the door open expecting to see Chloe still sleeping; instead, the bed was neatly made.

‘What’s up?’ Gary looked at Wendy as she came into the kitchen, after running down the stairs. But that wasn’t the only reason her heart was thudding as fast as it was, a horrible feeling of dread had settled in her chest and it was even worse than it had been before. She knew she was overreacting, but shecouldn’t stop her mind going to the worst-case scenario: that something awful had happened to Chloe.

‘She’s not in her room and it looks so tidy, almost like she was never there.’

‘She’s probably just gone for a walk.’ Gary held out a hand towards her. ‘I love how much you worry about everyone, but you really don’t need to. I expect she’s just tidied up because she feels a tiny bit better, and she doesn’t want to be surrounded by clutter.’

‘Maybe.’ Wendy really wished she could believe him, but the feeling of dread seemed to be getting stronger all the time, and Gary could obviously see it on her face.

‘If you’re really worried, why don’t you give her a call?’

‘I don’t want her to think I’m checking up on her, or that I don’t trust her to remember that she’s due to go to the meeting with Zara.’

‘Just ask her what she wants for dinner tonight.’

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