‘You’re right,’ I breathe.
She grins. ‘I know. It’s a gift I’ve developed. Now, if you’renot finishing that cinnamon bun, slide it over. I am aggressively embracing eating for two.’
I chuckle as I nudge my plate her way and check my phone.
Maybe a quick text wouldn’t go amiss…
Smiling, I type:
Let me know if you need some virtual assistance xx
He replies in seconds:
You’re already helping, Baby Girl… trust me
Heat blooms in my cheeks, my smile spreading…
‘I’m not even going to ask,’ Sadie says, grinning around her mouthful. ‘But tell Ax I say hi.’
24
AXEL
The doc’s room is too bright.
The lemon in the air claws up my nose, the yellow cushions glare like warning signs, and that green plant in the corner feels like it’s mocking me with life.
I resist the urge to press a hand to my throbbing skull. I feel like I’ve pulled an all-nighter on Theo’s whisky and refused to admit defeat. Except it ain’t whisky this time. Just zero sleep. And too much adrenaline.
Taylor sits beside me, her hand locked in mine, tension flickering through her skin in tiny bursts.
‘Thank you for agreeing to see us so late in the day, Ms Ellingham,’ she says, her voice too weak to bear. ‘Your phone call suggested you’d found something worth discussing, and I just… we couldn’t?—’
Stand to wait a second longer, my head finishes when she can’t.
Across from us, the doc folds her hands on the desk, eyes kind in a way that makes everything worse.
‘I’m afraid there’s never an easy way to say this…’
Taylor freezes as the doc’s gentle voice hits me like a sledgehammer.
‘…but before I do, I want to stress that there are options available to you. Real options. Okay?’
One of us nods. I don’t know who.
I’m too busy keeping my arse glued to the seat.
‘Based on your results,’ she continues, ‘the issue lies primarily with the sperm production. The levels are extremely low, and what there is, shows very high rates of fragmentation and abnormality.’
Extremely Low.
Fragmentation.
Abnormality.
Each word lands like a steel-toed kick to my chest. My spine burns. My ears roar.
‘This isn’t anything you caused,’ she adds, looking to me. ‘Male-factor infertility is more common than people realise. And it’s nobody’s fault.’
