Page 28

‘Lucky to have a doctor in the family, hey?’ Brett said. ‘We’ll be back shortly.’

Emma sat down beside Dru. ‘What did you mean when you said it was your fault?’

Before Dru could answer, her phone rang again. It was Connor’s ringtone. She glanced down and pressed the red disconnect button.

Emma’s gaze followed hers to the screen. ‘Connor? Why didn’t you take it? He’ll be worried. Do you want me to call him and tell him what’s going on?’

Dru shook her head, and the room swam. ‘No.’

Emma’s eyebrows raised in question. ‘What do you mean, no? Have you already talked to him?’

‘No, and I’m not going to talk to him.’

‘What? Why won’t you talk to him?’

‘It’s his fault.’

‘Dru, you’re not making sense.’ Emma put her fingers on Dru’s wrist to feel her pulse.

Dru moved her arm away angrily. ‘What’s wrong? Connor’s having an affair, that’s what’s wrong. I went to see him and I ran all the way home, so this is on his head.’ she said bluntly. ‘I guess I’m going to be a single mum with two kids unless this one doesn’t make it.’ A raw sob broke from her throat and Emma put an arm around her shoulder.

‘Absolutely no fucking way,’ she said.

Dru widened her eyes; Emma never swore.

‘Emma!’ Her voice was ragged from holding back more sobs.

‘I want you to tell me exactly what’s happened,’ Emma said gently. ‘No, on second thoughts, not now. I need you to stay calm with your blood pressure a little bit high. How long since you’ve had any pain?’

‘Probably a good ten minutes now.’

‘How close were they before we arrived?’

‘Probably a couple of minutes apart.’

‘Maybe you’ve just pulled a muscle and they’re Braxton Hicks.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Dru said. ‘I’ve had a lot of them lately and they don’t hurt. What about my water breaking? What does that mean, Em?’

‘We’ll sort that out when we get to the hospital,’ her sister said. ‘You’re with Dr Rickard, aren’t you? He’s your obstetrician?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’ll give him a call. Sounds like the paramedics are on the way back up now. I’ll get whatever you need from inside and I’ll follow you to the hospital. Is the security code still Ruby’s birthday? Tenth of April?’

‘Yes. One, double zero, four, twenty-one. Thanks, Em. I want to tell you what happened. So you know. I promise I won’t get upset.’

Emma took Dru’s hand again. ‘It can wait.’

‘No. I want to talk about it. Just in case anything happens to me. I want you to know.’

‘Nothing’s going to happen to you, sweetie. You might have the bub today, but I know Dr Rickard will do everything he can to stop that.’

‘Emma, please listen to me.’ Dru glanced up at the lift display. It had gone back to the bottom floor so they weren’t on the way back yet. She spoke quickly. ‘I haven’t told anybody. I’ve sort of told Ellie that I suspected, but today I had proof.’

‘Proof?’

‘I went to Connor’s office when Ruby was at daycare. Oh God, I still have to organise someone to pick her up.’ She put her hand to her chest. ‘I texted Connor but he said he couldn’t.’