Chapter 24

I calledDad’s number and couldn’t get any reply. “Come on!” My frustration and fear started to take over. I thought about calling Declan, but he had made his feelings on the matter very clear. I’d left a message for Dad, but I was scared and I didn’t know who else to call.

I’d started cramping, and I was bleeding. I was terrified something was wrong and I was going to lose the baby. There was only one other number I could think of dialling, and I was almost sure that person wasn’t going to pick up either since I hadn’t spoken to them since the day they found out I was pregnant.

Ring – ring – ring.

“Annie?” Liam answered.

“Please don’t hang up!” I cried, and I was shocked at how much fear came out in my voice. “There’s something wrong, and I can’t get Dad, and I’m scared, Liam. I’m bleeding. I don’t want to be here alone. I didn’t know who else to call.”

“You’re bleeding?”

“I’m at the hospital, waiting to be seen. They want to take me for an ultrasound, but I asked them to wait. I can’t hear them say something bad has happened on my own.” My words flooded out and I couldn’t stop them. Next to Dad, Liam was still the only other human I would want at my side in any time of crisis.

There was a moment of silence, and I panicked. “Liam, are you still there?”

“You’re in the maternity wing, right? I can be there in fifteen minutes. Just breathe.”

He hung up and I didn’t get to say anything else to him.

Fifteen minutes later,Liam walked through the doors. He strode over to me, threw his arms around me, and hugged me as tight as he 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. “Annie Hollis?” She looked over to where I was hugging Liam.

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

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

“Can he come with me? He’s my best friend. I need him here.”

The nurse nodded and we walked into the room. The doctor greeted me with a comforting smile. “Now, Annie, 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 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.

Liam 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 Liam, who was smiling at the screen with a look of awe on his 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 been told. Liam waited for me to get ready, and then escorted me home to Dad’s in an awkward silence.

“Thank you for today.” I smiled, not knowing how to say more.

“Not a problem.” He smiled back.

I would have been lost without him. I missed him. I missed his friendship, and I know how much happier and more alive Dad has been since Liam has been with him.

“I want to say sorry.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I do. I was a bitch, and I need to sort it out because I miss you, Liam. You’re good for Dad. My baby needs a godfather and I want it to be you.” I bowed my head.

Liam’s arms circled me. “Let’s get you to bed for rest, and I’ll make tea and we can talk about it all. For the record, I forgive you with all my heart, because I’ve missed you too. Now, let’s get you inside.”