Page 65 of Finding Jacob
Even though I wasn’t having a relationship with my parents, I would hope there would be some emotion should my father have to read my eulogy.
It was a quick service, and we were ushered out to our waiting cars. The plan was to follow the hearse to the crematorium, but a wave of nausea washed over me.
“I don’t feel...” Before I could finish my sentence, I felt my legs give way.
I woke in hospital, but not the local NHS one. Instead, I was in a plush room, more like a five-star hotel.
“Where am I?” I asked, sitting up.
Jacob stood from an armchair in the corner. “You’re awake,” he said.
“Or I’m sleep talking,” I said, chuckling.
“A proper hospital,” he said, adding a little spite to his voice. “It appears the one you so loved hadn’t noticed how erratic your blood pressure had been of late and how low your iron levels were. Hence the tiredness and fainting.”
I felt panicked. “The baby—”
“Is fine. You just needed an infusion to bring your iron levels up and some rest.”
“What about my blood pressure?” I asked.
“Rest, and you’ve been tested for pre-eclampsia.”
“Bloody hell.” I’d learned a lot about pre-eclampsia and knew how dangerous it could be.
“You don’t have it, or whatever the correct term is, but the hospital wants to monitor you regularly... More regular than your own hospital wanted to.”
I settled back in my bed. I was a staunch NHS supporter, but there was something rather nice about the room in the rather exclusive and private hospital.
“So, I fainted?” I asked, still a little unsure why I was there. “And how long have I been here?”
“Yes, you fainted. You did come round a little, enough to blame Nathan for his choice of shoes for you.” Jacob chuckled. “He’s outside, I’ll let him know you’re awake, and you’ve only been here a couple of hours.”
“Ifaintedfor two hours?” I’d never fainted before and from my limited knowledge from watching women faint in films, I thought you were out for mere minutes.
“You’re tired. You’ve said it yourself. The doctor will be round at some point.”
“Oh, you’re back, then?” Nathan said as he walked through the door with a couple of coffees. He handed one to Jacob. “If you wanted a nap, you could have waited until you got in the car, ruined my trousers catching you.” He chuckled, but I could detect a hint of worry in his voice.
“Well, I’m sorry for your trousers,” I replied, smirking at him. I then noticed the damaged to one knee. “Fall to your knees for me, did you?” I smiled sweetly at him. “My hero!”
Before he could reply and while Jacob was laughing, a nurse walked into the room.
“Hello, Anna. Are you comfortable?”
“Hi, yes, very, thank you. Do you know when I can go home?”
“I’m sure you can leave later but only after the doctor has seen you. Can I get you anything?”
“A cup of tea would be lovely since I’ve been excluded from this round,” I said, waving to Nathan.
She laughed and it seemed to me that she laughed longer at Nathan, as well as batting her eyelashes. His gaze followed her arse out of the room when she left.
It was a couple of hours later that the doctor arrived. He had told me they wanted to keep regular checks on my blood pressure, I wasn’t showing any signs of pre-eclampsia and it wasn’t unusual for pregnant women to faint. He gave me the all-clear to leave, and to fly, but with strict instructions that I was to return immediately if I had any concerns.
I’d repeatedly reassured Jacob nothing serious was wrong with me, I’d know, I believed. The baby was practicing her tumbling and then moved to kick-boxing when she got bored of somersaults, so I was happy to take our holiday. Knowing we could return at the drop of a hat made us both feel secure.
I felt bad at missing the cremation and sent a quick message to Hannah. It seemed the whole event had been marred by the shittiest of paparazzi clambering for photographs, to the point the police had to be called to deal with them. I hated the press for the way they hounded people, more so Jules when herrelationshipwith the prince became public. She’d have photographers climbing trees to photograph into her bedroom window in the hopes of catching them in bed!
