14
‘What?’ He sounded incredulous at her statement as his arm slid around her back for support, and Peyton almost laughed. He truly had believed this wouldn’t happen. ‘No.’
‘Yes,’ she choked out. She wished it wasn’t true but she knew it was. Turning a tear-streaked face to him, she barely noticed the dark slash of his brow. ‘I’m only twenty-four weeks. We have to stop it.’ When he didn’t look like he was taking it in, she grabbed the front of his shirt. ‘Wehaveto.’
That did the trick, his brow clearing as a grim determination hardened his eyes. ‘We will,’ he said as he swept her up into his arms.
‘What are you doing?’ She yelped at the sudden loss of gravity.
‘Taking you to A&E. I’ll call Erica to meet us there.’
She opened her mouth to tell him she could walk but he’d taken control; his long strides already had them in the lounge and, before she knew it, he was depositing herverygently into the wheelchair they always kept in the department. Peyton was grateful for the ride as he pushed her in the direction of the lifts, and she listened to him talk to Erica on his mobile.
‘Have your membranes ruptured?’ Valentino asked.
‘No,’ Peyton said with a sniff, new tears falling down her cheeks.
Within seconds they were pulling up beside the elevator and he was stabbing the down button repeatedly as he relayed the information to Erica. He uh huh’d a few more times then said, ‘Be there in two,’ before shoving the phone in his pocket and pushing her inside the lift as the doors opened.
Another contraction hit as they entered the lift and Peyton cried out at theemotionalpain as much as the physical. ‘It’s okay,’ he assured her from behind. ‘We’re nearly there and Erica’s ten minutes away.’
The ride in the lift was the longest of Peyton’s life and by the time Valentino wheeled her into St Auburn’s chaotic accident department, she was already fearing the worst. She was going to lose another baby. And Valentino, whether he thought so or not, would eventually tire of her being an emotional wreck and he’d cut and run.
And Peyton didn’t think she could survive any of it again.
Nat was the first person they saw, her initial look of welcome quickly turning to alarm as she took in Peyton’s tears. ‘What’s happened?’ she demanded.
‘She’s twenty-four weeks pregnant.’ Valentino answered for her, and Peyton was too distressed to care. ‘And having contractions.’
Nat blinked. ‘Pregnant?’
‘Yes,’ he said, his voice strained. ‘Pregnant. Erica de Jongh is on her way.’
One look at Peyton’s blubbering face and Natalie didn’t need any more information. Nor, thankfully, did she comment on Peyton lying to her on the phone call those months ago when she’d rung to check on the result of that pregnancy test. She just took charge and within thirty seconds Peyton was in a cubicle and Valentino was placing her on a gurney.
‘I’ll just get the CTG,’ Nat said, ducking out of the curtains.
Peyton rolled on her side away from Valentino, curling into a ball and sobbing quietly.Why was this happening again?
A hand slid onto her shoulder, tugging gently. ‘Peyton,’ Valentino murmured.
She squeezed her eyes shut at the soft empathy. This was allhisfault, damn it. ‘Go away,’ she choked out, giving her shoulder a violent shrug. ‘Just go away, Valentino. It’ll save you the effort later.’
‘Peyton, look at me.’ He tugged gently on her shoulder again. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’
A block of rage like a molten rock wedged in her chest as Peyton flung herself back to face him. ‘I told you,’ she hissed quietly, aware that only a thin curtain separated them from the next cubicle. ‘I told you this would happen again and that I didn’t want to get close to another baby, to love another baby.’
Half sitting, Peyton wiped at her streaming eyes and nose. ‘But no, you said it’d be fine, you said it wouldn’t happen.You’ – she poked him viciously in the chest, her voice rising even as she tried to tamp it down – ‘made me go along with it.You’ – another poke – ‘made me want him.’
‘Peyton…’
The empathy in that one word would have broken Peyton before all this happened. She was quietly yelling at him and he wasn’t yelling back; he was standing there letting her vent, strong and silent. But she didn’t care – right now Peyton was only capable of processing her own feelings.
‘We don’t know what this is yet,’ he murmured.
She shook her head violently. ‘I do.’ She knew deep in her bones. ‘I. Do.’
He tried to slide his hand over hers but she snatched it away. ‘We discussed this contingency with Erica?—’
