“Are you ready to leave?”
She shot him a fighting look, and then softened, as if she didn’t feel up for it.
Seeing her shoulders slump with exhaustion, Nate felt unexpectedly sorry for her. Laney had explained to him that Jess’s client was in labour. It was potentially going to be a long night for her. He could, and would, put the house issue aside for now. He wasn’t petty.
They took Laney’s car and agreed that he’d drop her off and then, when she was done, she could call and someone would come back and pick her up. Hopefully, someone else, but Nate kept that thought to himself.
Jess fell asleep almost as soon as they hit the highway, her head lolling to the side, balanced carefully on the sweatshirt she’d balled up into a makeshift pillow.
Nate couldn’t help glancing at her occasionally. She really did resemble his ex. Different, softer, but the same in enough ways to trigger memories. Jess snored lightly, and the sound unravelled something in him, transporting him back to the last time he lay in bed next to Samantha as she slept.
He’d come home late from work and snuggled in behind her. She’d barely stirred, muttered something incoherent, and then slid back into a deep sleep. It was adorable. Her warm body, curled cat-like on her side. Her soft snores. He’d run his hand over her curves, from her gently rounded shoulder down to the scoop of her waist and the rise of her hip. It was a hot night and she’d slept in her underwear. He remembered thinking how very perfect everything was. Perfect was a fragile status. A fine glass sculpture balanced on its edge. He knew that now. One tap and his world had shattered. He wondered how long it took to recover from those kinds of cuts?
Eyes on the road, Nate steadied himself. He was here, driving down a New Zealand highway with a stranger. Not with Samantha in London. He needed to get a grip. And if he was honest with himself, his relationship had never been perfect. It was a shallow illusion.
The highway widened and signs ahead pointed to various destinations, none of them Christchurch hospital. He coughed softly. “Ah, Jess?”
Nothing. He could see he’d need to make a choice soon of which direction to take, and he had no idea which was right. “Jess. Excuse me, Jess?”
Next to him, she stirred and lifted her head. “Are we there already?” She rubbed her eyes with her fists, and Nate couldn’t help finding the action a little adorable.
“No, sorry. I’m just not sure which way takes us to the hospital. Do we take the next off-ramp?”
More alert now, Jess shifted in her seat and focused on the highway. “Right. You’re not from here. I forgot. Just take the next right turn and you’ll see the signs leading to the hospital.”
“Thanks. Got it.”
“Have you been to Christchurch City at all since you’ve been here?” she asked.
“Not really. Just the airport and then straight out to Rangiora. No time for sightseeing yet, I’m afraid. I’m on a work visa.”
Jess nodded. Conversation clearly over. That was fine with Nate. He’d never been a chit-chat kind of person. Small talk always seemed pointless. Who cared about the weather? He used it to build rapport at work, but he much preferred deeper conversations with friends and family and, considering Jess was neither, silence was perfect.
Nate made a right turn, as indicated by Jess, and followed the signs with little red crosses leading him to the hospital. Neither of them spoke until Nate turned the car into the main hospital carpark.
“Do you want me to drop you at the front?”
“No, go around the back. It’s easier.” She pointed to the road leading around the side of the maternity ward, and Nate followed it.
As they pulled into the parking lot, Jess sat up, suddenly alert.
“Over there!”
She pointed to a tall man—surely a basketball-player—standing next to a car, looking around frantically. In the passenger seat, Nate could see a woman with her legs up, bare feet braced against the windscreen.
He quickly parked and Jess was out of the car in seconds, Nate close behind.
“Jess! Thank goodness.” The man paced back and forth next to the car’s open passenger-side door. “I…We just got here. It all happened so fast!”
Jess placed a hand on his arm. “We’ve got this, James. It’s going to be fine. Get a wheelchair from inside, okay?”
“Okay.” With a job to do, James, who Nate assumed was the pregnant woman’s partner, raced into the hospital and out of sight.
The woman in the car gripped the seat, bearing down. “Second stage,” he muttered.
Jess frowned at him, puzzled, and then bent down to the woman’s level. “Zara. I’m going to check where baby’s at, okay?”
He turned around to give them privacy, but his thoughts were racing. The situation was far from ideal. Potentially dangerous for both mum and baby, even with the hospital a few steps away. He watched the door, looking for James and the wheelchair. Imagining the baby being born in the car. In the elevator. What would be the most helpful role for him to take in that scenario?
