Page 20 of Together Again at the Cornish Country Hospital

‘She’s Aidan’s surrogate.’ Meg’s hand flew to her mouth in response to Amy’s words, but she regained her composure quickly.

‘Do you know where he is?’

‘He was in paediatrics with a patient.’ Amy was shaking now, even before Meg uttered the words she knew were coming.

‘I think you should go and get him. I’ll get someone else to contact his husband.’

‘Okay.’ Amy was nodding, but her feet wouldn’t seem to move.

‘Would you rather I did it?’ Meg stepped forward and touched Amy’s arm, but she shook her head. Aidan was her friend and as much as she hated the idea of giving him the news, he should hear it from her. Shaking her head again, Amy blew out a long breath and finally took a step towards the door, knowing she was about to have one of the most difficult conversations of her life.

* * *

Amy needed to tell Aidan what was going on, but Lijah was out there, in reception, just a few feet away, and she knew he’d be there for her if she asked him to be. Suddenly she realised shedidwant him to be there for her. She’d been so used to not leaning on anyone for so long, that she fought the urge for a moment. She always had to be the strong self-reliant one in the family, and Zach hadn’t been the sort of person she could ever have relied upon. Since Lijah, there hadn’t been anyone who’d she’d been able to be totally honest with about how she felt, but they’d been together as teenagers, with big emotions that had spilled out whether she wanted them to or not. It would have been impossible not to be honest with him – they used to share everything. She’d known how he felt about his dad leaving and how much he worried about wanting to make sure his mother and aunt were okay. He’d seen how difficult her home life could be because of her brother, and his house had become a place to escape to when Nathan’s behaviour was at its worst. He’d been her rock before, and she needed that today, because she was terrified she was about to break Aidan’s heart.

‘Lij.’ Amy’s chin wobbled as she stood in front of him. His head was bowed and the collars of his jacket were pulled high up around his face, sunglasses obscuring the eyes that would have given him away otherwise, despite the closely cropped hair. If she didn’t know that about him, she might have thought he was playing up to a celebrity stereotype, wearing dark glasses indoors, but even the little she’d seen of him had made her strongly suspect that nothing he did was because he enjoyed being recognised.

‘Hey.’ He got to his feet, removing the sunglasses, his voice filled with concern, and she leaned into him, breathing in the citrussy scent of his aftershave. ‘Is it Ellen?’

‘Yes, no…’ Her voice trailed away and she couldn’t seem to catch her breath.

‘It’s okay, just breathe for a moment.’ He stepped back, and she took a couple of slow breaths until she was finally ready to speak.

‘Ellen is a surrogate and she’s carrying a baby for my friends. It’s been such a long road for Aidan and Jase to get to this stage, and all they’ve ever wanted is a baby of their own. They’re supposed to be going to Paris tonight, for a babymoon, and now I don’t even know if there’s going to be a baby. They’re bringing the obstetric team down, but with an impact like that…’ Amy couldn’t finish the sentence. ‘I need to find him and tell him what’s going on, but I don’t think I can do it by myself. You were with Ellen, so I wondered if?—’

‘I’ll come with you.’ She hadn’t even finished the sentence before Lijah made the offer.

‘Thank you.’ She moved towards the door that led the cubicles, her heart thudding so loudly in her ears that it seemed to beat out the rhythm of her feet. There was a section of the emergency department dedicated specifically to paediatrics, which was where Aidan had taken his six-year-old patient and her mother, after the little girl had fallen off the arm of the sofa when she and her sister were pretending to be unicorns. Unfortunately, Eliza had been wearing a plastic tiara at the time, and some of the shards of plastic had become embedded in her forehead when both Eliza and the tiara had hit the wooden floor. Amy knew he had been waiting for the play therapist to arrive, so that she could distract the little girl, while Aidan removed the splinters of plastic, and glued the wound where some of the skin had split on impact. He’d be checking her over for any signs of concussion in the meantime and would order a scan if he felt she needed one. Amy was almost certain he’d still be with the patient as a result, and her shoulders sagged when she heard his voice, partly in relief and partly because the moment when she had to break the news was getting closer.

‘You’re doing brilliantly Eliza, one more piece and we’ll be ready to get my magic glue out. Then you can pick not one, not two, but three stickers. There are lots to choose from, but maybe not the unicorn ones, because they’re far too naughty aren’t they? Just look what they made you do!’ Aidan’s laugh was echoed by giggling from the little girl and Amy felt her heart contract all over again. He was going to be an amazing dad and all she could do was pray he got the chance.

‘Right, that’s it, that’s the last piece out.’ Amy hesitated, exchanging a glance with Lijah and wondering whether she should wait until he’d glued the wound on Eliza’s head, but she had no idea whether the obstetric team had already made a decision about the baby. What if hesitating cost Aidan the chance, to be there when the baby was born, or worse still cost him the chance to say goodbye. Amy drew back the curtain.

‘I’m so sorry to interrupt. I need to have a very quick word with Aidan.’ Amy gave Eliza’s mother a tight smile and she wondered if the other woman could see how fake it was. The little girl was being kept occupied by the play therapist, and she barely even glanced in Amy’s direction.

‘I’ll be right back, don’t go galloping off anywhere!’ Aidan winked at Eliza, who giggled again and followed Amy away from the cubicle.

‘Hey what’s up?’ For a moment he didn’t seem to notice that Lijah was standing a few feet away and then he grinned, before lowering his voice into the kind of theatrical whisper Eliza’s mother could probably have heard. ‘Ooh very nice too; didn’t I tell you he’d be back?’

‘We need to have a chat, in the relatives’ room if it’s free.’ Amy tried to keep her tone light, but she’d clearly failed as Aidan’s smile slid off his face.

‘What’s the matter, is it Jase?’

Amy shook her head. ‘I really think it would be better if we?—’

Aidan cut her off. ‘Just tell me.’ His voice had risen and there was naked fear in his eyes. He knew something awful had happened and there was no good way of telling him.

‘It’s Ellen; there’s been an accident, she’s been hit by a car and—’ Amy had barely begun before Aidan smacked his fists against his forehead.

‘No, no, no. She’s supposed to be here in ten minutes. It must be someone else. It’s not Ellen, it can’t be.’ Aidan’s eyes were wild with terror by now, and he grasped Amy by the shoulders, clearly desperate for her to reassure him that he was right about it being someone else, but she seemed to have lost the power of speech again and she was terrified she was going to burst into tears if she tried to carry on. Lijah stepped forward instead.

‘It’s definitely Ellen. I was there when it happened. A car mounted the pavement just outside the hospital, but they’ve stabilised her and?—’

‘What about the baby?’ This time Aidan’s question cut Lijah off and Amy swallowed hard, desperately trying to rein in her emotions to allow her to speak.

‘We don’t know yet, they’ve called the obstetrics team down and both Ellen and the baby are in the best possible hands. But you need to get to resus to be with her, I can take over here.’

‘I can’t go to resus, I can’t be with her if they say the baby’s gone.’ Aidan shook his head again. ‘I can’t do it. I just can’t.’

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