After a few blinks, the snow becomes the white sheet and pillow. Not my own. There are voices behind me, muted, the way people talk when they don’t want to wake you up.
I blink again and my eyelids stay closed, and the white world disappears.
The next time I open my eyes again it’s light. The kind of light that is usually morning. The room smells funny. I take a deep breath and feel a sharp stab of pain.
“Umm.” I moan.
Brandon’s face appears above me. “I think she’s in pain.”
Another face comes to look down at me. Someone in medical scrubs. “Hello? Mrs Hazelwood?”
“Lessa.” Brandon corrects her.
“Lessa? Are you in pain?”
“Umh,” I answer.
Someone puts a fat pen in my hand.
“Press.” The nurse positions my thumb on the button. “This is a morphine pen.”
I press and close my eyes until the pain recedes.
“Less?” Brandon’s voice. He sounds tired, his face was shadowed with stubble. I want to stay awake for him but drift down, down into sleep.
The next time, I’m properly awake. I can tell I’m in a hospital room and there’s an IV drip attached to my arm.
“Hello.” A pretty face with large brown eyes and a pixie haircut hovers over my bed.
Laura.
“What happened?”
“You gave us a bit of a fright,” she says.
Fright? Us?
“Brandon?” I ask.
“He’s been by your side for two days. He only agreed to go home for a shower when I promised to sit with you.
“Two days?” I start to ask.
“Elodie and Hal found you.” She moves her chair closer. “She phoned to invite you to dinner. The phone rang and rang. They could see your lights were on so they knew you were home, so when you wouldn’t answer, Hal went round and knocked on the door.”
The only thing I remember was lying on the floor at the top of the stairs.
“What happened?”
Her face softens on a smile. “Hal broke a window in the kitchen and unlocked the door. They found you unconscious and soaked in blood.” She brushes the hair away from my face. “But you’re okay. Everything intact.”
I move my hand to where the pain is still a dull throb in my lower belly. My stomach is flat.
Panic.
I struggle to sit. The pain suddenly sharpens, taking my breath away.
What happened to my baby?
