Page 34

Connor said he was working, but his texts had been vague and evasive and reinforced her belief that he was moving away from their marriage.

Her phone was beside her on the white cotton blanket, and Dru glanced down at it. So far today, there had been no texts exchanged. When she looked up Emma was standing in the doorway.

‘Hey, Dru,’ Emma said as she walked across and stood by the bed. Dru saw her big sister’s eyes drop to the phone.

‘Morning. Are you here as my sister or are you on duty?’

‘Both. I’m on duty, but not on maternity. I’m on a quick break. How are you feeling?’

‘Bored, frustrated, and wanting to go home. I can’t get anything out of the nurses. When will I be able to go home?’

‘That’s up to Dr Rickard. There’s a much greater risk of infection with your waters breaking.’ Emma sat in the plastic chair beside the bed. ‘But the good news is your baby’s heartbeat is strong, and there is no foetal distress.’

‘So how long will I have to stay in here?’ She looked at her sister and Dru’s heart sank. ‘Come on, Em, tell me the truth.’

‘It’s up to Dr Rickard, but if you were my patient, I’d be keeping you in here until the baby’s born. You’ve had the forty-eight hours of steroids to help mature his lungs, so if you go into early labour again, you won’t need them. You can decide to go home, but you need to know the risks. Has the fluid stopped leaking?’

‘Yes, nothing for a couple of days.’

‘Do you have someone at home to look after you and Ruby? And to drive you to the hospital if your contractions come back?’

Dru looked down. ‘That’s an unfair question.’

‘No, it’s a common-sense question.’ Emma folded her arms. ‘If you have any contractions or more fluid leakage you have to come straight back. How would you get here? As a medical practitioner, I would advise you to stay here. So far so good, with the baby’s health, so here is the sensible course of action.’

‘For eight weeks?’ Dru almost squealed. ‘I can’t stay in here for eight weeks!’

‘Prepare yourself, love. I think you’ll find you have to stay in here until at least thirty-eight weeks, or until they decide on a Caesarean depending on how you go over the next few days. You’re still only thirty-two weeks, another six weeks will give the baby a much better chance.’

‘I can’t stay in hospital.’

Emma raised her eyebrows.

‘I have to be there for Ruby,’ Dru said emphatically.

‘Ruby is fine at our place. I told you. When Connor gets back, we’ll work out something with him.’

Dru muttered under her breath, but Emma ignored her.

‘When Jeremy picked her up from daycare on Monday, she was very excited to be coming over to play. And she slept well the last three nights.’

‘Better than me.’ Dru folded her arms over her pregnant stomach and sighed. ‘I’m sorry, Em. It’s just so frustrating. Will you bring Ruby in to see me?’

‘That’s the main reason I came now. I knew you’d want to see her. Now that you’ve stabilised and the test results are all back, Jeremy is going to bring her in this afternoon. I’m not sure yet how late I’m working tonight. There are a lot of staff off with COVID.’

‘Okay. Thank you. I do appreciate you looking after her,’ Dru said. ‘How is she really?’

‘She’s fine. She keeps mentioning her little brother. I do hope it’s a boy for her.’

‘As long as the baby is healthy, we’ll all be happy.’ Dru’s voice shook a little and she cleared her throat. ‘I told Ruby I was in here to get her little brother or sister. When you were at work last night, Jeremy called and I had a chat with her. She sounded fine.’

‘Yes, Jeremy said you had a good chat and that Ruby went off to bed happy.’

‘He’s a good dad, Em.’

‘He is. With us both working part-time, Akasha always has one of us there.’ Emma’s voice was careful. ‘Have you spoken to Connor yet?’

‘Only by text. He’s “on a case” and has little phone coverage, he says.’