Page 43 of Pregnancy Clause in Their Paper Marriage
‘What’s going on?’ Sophia exclaimed, but suddenly, instinctively, Christos knew. He pushed his way through the crowd, his heart starting to thud, until he caught sight of her, and froze, transfixed by the terrible sight, a thousand terrible memories tumbling through his mind.
Lana was crumpled on the ground, her beautiful gown stained with blood.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
EVERYTHINGWASABLUR—the lights, the people, the sounds of concern and alarm. All Lana could feel was the intense, excruciating pain, banding her stomach, screaming in her back, obliterating all rational thought.
She’d been feeling twinges on and off all evening and had been determined to ignore them. Stretching pains, she’d told herself. They were natural, her OB had said. She’d had a check-up just three weeks ago and everything had been absolutely fine. Everythingwouldbe absolutely fine, she insisted to herself, because nothing could go wrong now that she was so happy—and so was Christos. He’d told her so, and it had been the next best thing to the words she was trying not to be too eager to hear.I love you.They’d been singing out of her heart every day, but they’d never passed her lips, nor Christos’s. But it didn’t matter, Lana had told herself, because sheknewChristos loved her, even if he couldn’t articulate it.
In any case, the pain had grown worse, harder to ignore, and then, in the middle of a conversation, she’d felt a sudden gush of liquid and she’d doubled over, gasping with the pain that had banded her middle, more intense than ever before.
She’d heard gasps and cries from the people around her before she’d crumpled to the floor. She’d felt liquid between her thighs, seeping into her dress, and when she’d put her hand to it, her palm had come away smeared with bright red blood.
She’d let out a cry, and then a doctor was there, and they were loading her onto a stretcher, and there were the blurred faces of so many people surrounding her, looking scared and concerned, but no one looked familiar.
No one was Christos.
He would hate this, she realised as they carried her to the ambulance. This was his worst nightmare come to life—having to be fully present and available emotionally in a situation as painful and dangerous as this. Facing his deepest fear again, with higher stakes than ever before. This was when love was tested, refined by fire, and what Christos had always been afraid of. Why he’d avoided it...until now.
Why he wasn’t here, by her side, caring for her and their baby?
Because Lana didn’t see him among the faces in the crowd, and she rode in the ambulance alone, passing out halfway through the journey, coming to in an operating theatre, a surgeon peering at her closely.
‘Lana Smith?’
‘Yes...’
‘Your baby is in distress, due to a placental abruption. We need to perform an emergency Caesarean section. Do you give your consent?’
She’d blinked up at him, too woozy to fully understand what he was saying. ‘But...but I’m only twenty-six weeks along...’
‘This is the only way to save your baby.’ The doctor sounded grimly certain, and Lana tried to grab his hand, but found she was too weak.
‘Where’s my husband?’ she asked, her voice a desperate, plaintive thread of sound. ‘Where is Christos Diakos?’
The doctor shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know where your husband is.’ She let out a choked cry and he continued, ‘Do you give your consent?’
‘Yes...yes.’
That was the last thing she remembered.
Lana didn’t know how much time had passed when she woke next, to a hazy blur of light and sound. She tried to blink the world into focus and found she couldn’t. She tried to reach down to feel the reassuring bump of her baby, but she wasn’t strong enough to move her hand. Terror gripped her hard, but then she fell back into unconsciousness, grateful to let the world slide away again.
When she woke again, the world was a little clearer—she saw she was in a hospital room, everything white and sterile, and she was completely alone. An array of monitors and machines were positioned next to her, a steady beeping from one of them the only sound in the room. Tears gathered in her eyes as she looked around for Christos, but she couldn’t see him anywhere.
She opened her mouth to call for him, but her lips were cracked and dry and no sound came out. And what about her baby? With what felt like superhuman effort, Lana reached down to touch her bump—and found, to her shocked horror, that it wasn’t there. She felt nothing but sagging, empty flesh, and she let out a moan, a sound of raw grief, utter terror. Where was her baby?
Where was Christos?
Lying there, in that bright, sterile room, with no baby or husband, she didn’t think she’d ever felt more alone.
This is why you don’t let yourself love people, she thought, closing her eyes against the room, the world.Because it hurts so much when they let you down. They walk away.
Just as Christos had been afraid he would.
The next time Lana awoke, a nurse was in the room, bustling about by her bed. She must have made some sound, for the woman turned to glance at her, smiling when she saw her eyes were open.
‘You’re awake! Well, isn’t that good news?’