Page 42 of Wounded Hearts

“I’ll get Evelyn to bring me.”

“See you soon.”

Jace hung up the phone for him as they made the turn into the hospital carpark. He abandoned his car in the drop off zone and Jace was out of the car running towards the entrance as he followed. He saw Jace speaking to the man on reception, waving his hands and looking irate but getting nowhere.

“Tell me where my wife is before I rip your fucking head off,” Jace snarled, the normally chilled man acting out of character as terror for his wife and child gripped him. Then, as if by magic, the anger left his face and he spun and strode away.

Drew followed. “You know where she is?”

Jace was halfway up the stairs to the second floor before he answered. “I heard Zin and Celeste up here.”

Drew nodded, knowing Jace would never normally listen in on someone’s private thoughts but there was literally nothing he wouldn’t do for his wife.

Bursting through the door Drew was shocked to see Mara standing with Roz, Zin, and Celeste. Her eyes flashed to his and he saw the relief in them as she came to him. Her head hit his chest and his arms went around her as he watched Jace push through the doors to the Women’s Health department.

Drew bent his head to her ear. “What are you doing here, Mara?”

She didn’t answer immediately, and he knew she was getting her emotions together. This must be hell for her to watch someone potentially go through what she had, and she’d done it alone. Not with people waiting to hear if she was okay or caring if her baby made it.

After a minute of being held she lifted her head, and he saw the anguish in her eyes but beneath that he saw her strength. “I was at Fortis helping Roz with the blueprints for Blaisdon House when Zin rushed by. Lucy had fainted and then he saw the blood.”

Zin and Celeste moved in closer as Roz paced a little further away, her phone to her ear.

“She was amazing,” Zin said as he held Celeste close. “I panicked, but Mara was calm, professional, and kept Lucy from losing it. Thank you.”

Mara blushed at the praise. “It was nothing.”

“It was everything,” Celeste said with a smile. Drew felt his chest swell with pride.

“The woman has fire.” Roz nodded towards Mara who tipped her head in acknowledgement.

Drew raised his eyebrows in question, and Mara shook her head. She obviously didn’t want to talk about it right then. Lauren captured their attention as she pushed through the door at a run with Evelyn, one of Roz’s Zenobi girls, beside her.

“Where is she?” Lauren demanded as she ran towards them.

“They took her through to a side room. Jace is with her.”

Lauren pushed through the door and disappeared. The hallway was silent as the four of them waited. Drew held tight to Mara’s hand, sliding the other up under her hair and cupping her neck. “You doing okay?” he asked with a gentle squeeze.

Mara tipped her head to him, her expression hard to read. “I think so.”

Drew dipped his chin. “I’m so bloody proud of you, Mara. It sounds like you handled that like the pro you are.”

“It felt good to be useful. I hate that this happened to Lucy, but I’m glad I was able to help in some small way.” He saw her swallow and her eyes grew damp with tears. “I just pray that she and her baby are okay. I know it’s common.” Drew was conscious that she wouldn’t say the word miscarriage. He brushed his thumb along her cheekbone, softly. “But until it happens to you, you don’t realise how devastating it is to lose a baby.”

“I won’t pretend to understand what you went through or what other women go through but speaking from someone on the outside looking in, I would imagine it’s much like losing an imagined future.”

Mara’s eyes flashed to him. “It is. When found out I was expecting it was slightly different, maybe because I didn’t have the love that Lucy and Jace so obviously do. But I imagined how my baby would look, what they might sound like. What they might grow up to be, if they would love sports or craft or be academic. All of these exciting questions and then it’s all gone.”

“I wish I could take away the pain you went through, Mara.” His voice was gruff with emotion as he spoke.

“Some things just have to be borne. We can’t go back, only forward. I see that now and I see that I’m strong enough to recover and to be the person I was meant to be. To have the things I always wanted. I won’t let Brayden Wells take that from me.”

“I love that, but what brought this sudden emergence of strength on?”

“Seeing that I’m still me, that I can still help others and knowing that if I hide, I let him win and that’s an insult to the babies that never got to live. I will not let that happen.”

“You amaze me, Mara.” Drew shook his head in shock at the fortitude and resilience of the woman by his side. He didn’t get to say more as Lauren pushed back through the door. They all stood and approached her and Drew saw how exhausted she was and knew she’d done everything within her healing power to help Lucy.