Page 111 of The Village Midwife
‘We’ve got it, Zoe. I’ve pulled her notes up from the system. So what exactly happened here?’
Zoe briefly went over the events since her arrival at Hilltop, and then the hospital midwife went to question Billie, who was now in a wheelchair, ready to go to a treatment room.
Alex stood at Zoe’s side and watched. ‘Be honest with me,’ he said quietly. ‘Is it bad?’
‘I don’t think so. There might be some placental abruption, but if it’s small enough at this stage, they can fix it.’
‘I have no clue what that means, but if you say it’s going to be all right, then that’s enough. And that’s the truth?’
‘That’s all I can tell you, but I’m not glossing anything over, if that’s what you mean. I’m not going to say nothing can go wrong, but I do think she and the baby are going to be fine.’
Grace came back to them. ‘We’re going to take Billie down,’ she said. ‘We might be a while. Are you going to wait?’
‘Yes,’ Alex said. He turned to Zoe. ‘But we can find a way to get home when we’re done, if you want to go.’
‘I drove here,’ Zoe clarified to Grace. ‘But I’m going to stay for a while too. You might need me.’
‘I don’t think we will—’ Grace began, but Zoe cut in.
‘I’m going to stay anyway. I’d be happier here keeping an eye on things…’ She gave her head the tiniest nod to indicate thatshe meant she intended to keep an eye on Alex specifically, and Grace’s expression indicated that she understood.
‘You might as well go to the canteen and get a drink then. I’ve got both your phone numbers, so I’ll call when we have news. But don’t worry,’ she said to Alex. ‘She’s in the best place. If there’s a problem, we’ll sort it.’
‘Thank you. I appreciate that.’
Grace left them and followed as a porter wheeled Billie away. She cast one last look at her dad that said so much more than words could. She trusted him, she loved him, he was the most important person in her life – that much was obvious. And she was scared too.
‘I’ll show you where the canteen is,’ Zoe said. ‘At least it’ll be nice and quiet at this hour, but I think it might have to be vending-machine coffee.’
‘You didn’t have to do all this,’ Alex said as he brought two plastic cups to the table where Zoe was waiting for him.
‘I’d do the same for any of my mums.’
‘Even when their dad has been unforgivably rude and unreasonable to you?’ he asked.
Zoe gave him a half-smile. ‘None of that is important now. Besides, it wasn’t Billie’s fault. Why would I take it out on her? Or the baby, for that matter.’
‘For what it’s worth,’ he said, ‘and I don’t suppose it’s much, I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you at the quincentenary. I had no right to blame you. You were right – you had Billie’s interests at heart, and, in the end, she’s the only person who matters. I’m not going to try and excuse it, but I wanted you to know it was never about you. I reacted badly, it was a shock and I couldn’t stop thinking about what I’d already lost. The thought of losingmy grandchild as well when we didn’t even have to…It got to me, that’s all. I can’t explain, and I don’t expect you to understand.’
‘I think I do.’ Zoe sipped at her coffee, wincing as it burned her lip. She put it down again. ‘Have there been any more discussions about it since she told you?’
‘The adoption, you mean?’
Zoe nodded.
‘She won’t talk about it. She says her mind’s made up.’
Zoe wanted to say there was time for Billie to change her mind, but she didn’t want to sow that hope into his heart. There was every chance she wouldn’t change her mind, and she couldn’t bear to be the person responsible for destroying him all over again. At least this way, if he thought it was always coming and Billie did change her mind later on, it would make him happy.
‘You’re a good person,’ he said into the gap. ‘I don’t know if I could have been as big as you over all this, not after the way I treated you.’
‘I told you – it’s my job.’
‘No, it’s more than that. You could have told Billie to call these guys and they’d have sent an ambulance for her. But you came with us because you knew Billie needed a familiar face.’
‘I think you might have done too,’ Zoe said with a half-smile, one that he returned.
‘OK, I think I did too. Probably more than Billie did. I won’t forget this.’ He paused, staring into his cup. ‘The day before the quincentenary, when I asked you if you wanted to go for a drink…I suppose I’ve blown that now.’
