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“We’re heading to Bairnsdale. We’ll drop you back.” Ryan told Len and Bluey.
“Okay.”
Georgie made the necessary phone calls in the car. After that, it was an excruciatingly long drive. Almost three hours, filled with a tense, anxious silence. Mikayla sent a group text about two hours into the drive to say that they’d made it to the hospital and handed Leah over. Callum had gone through to the maternity wing with Leah and Mikayla hadn’t heard anything since. When Georgie and Ryan arrived, they were directed to a waiting area. Mikayla and Rafe were there, sitting side by side on hard plastic chairs. “Hey,” Mikayla said quietly.
Georgie let go of Billy’s hand and he went straight to Rafe, climbing into his lap. Georgie and Ryan sat down across from Rafe and Mikayla. “Hi. Any more news?”
Mikayla shook her head. “No. We haven’t heard a thing.” She got up and walked over to the water cooler. Filling two cups, she brought them back to Georgie and Ryan. Georgie didn’t really want it, but at least it gave her something to do with her hands. She suspected that’s what had prompted Mikayla to get up and get it for her. She couldn’t sit still. Georgie drank the water, toying with the empty cup when she was finished. Her hands were shaking. Ryan reached over and took the cup from her, holding her hands in his. She looked at him. His eyes were calm and reassuring. She forced herself to breathe deeply. Tried to force herself to feel calmer.
Nora and John arrived. Billy moved from Rafe’s lap to Nora’s. Mikayla gave a brief update, which was no update really as she had no new information since the text message she’d sent. The room fell silent. Georgie sat with her fingers linked with Ryan’s. The minutes dragged. She tried not to think about what they were there for. But of course, the more she tried not to think about it, the more she thought about it. Mikayla stood leaning against the wall, head bent, twisting her fingers together. More minutes dragged. Billy said he needed to go to the bathroom. Mikayla said she’d take him. It seemed to Georgie that she jumped at the chance to do something. Anything.
When she was gone, Rafe said quietly, “If…” He couldn’t say it. “She’ll blame herself.”
“That’s not fair,” Georgie said, just as quietly.
“Of course it’s not. But she’s already playing through everything in her mind. Wondering if she did the right thing. Leah…Leah fitted in the ambulance. We had to pull over.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “Mik suspects placenta abruption, so she treated that. Limit blood loss. Start IV. Callum was shaking, but Mik was calm. Just so calm. I couldn’t have done what she did because it was Leah, someone I love. It was all on Mik. So, yeah, she’ll blame herself.” He dropped his head in his hands. “Fuck.” Nora moved to sit next to him, rubbing his back, her eyes glistening with tears.
John’s phone beeped. “William and Juniper have landed. I’ll go and pick them up.”
Mikayla brought Billy back and went to get more water. Everyone took the cups because it gave them something to do. Billy ran to Juniper when she arrived and she scooped him up, burying her face in his hair.
The time dragged on relentlessly. Georgie watched Mikayla bolt to her feet, pace for some time, tapping her hand against her thigh. Then she came back, dropped into the chair next to Rafe, crossed her legs at the ankles, folded her arms over her belly and stared at her boots. Rafe put his arm along the back of her chair, said something quietly to her. She shook her head. Georgie wished for something to say. Anything to make Mikayla feel better. But until they knew what they were dealing with, there was nothing she could say.
Billy laid his hand across his mother’s cheek and dropped his head to her shoulder, closing his eyes. It seemed to Georgie that he’d fallen asleep in less than five seconds. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her own eyes. It was the middle of the night now and the hospital was quiet. In the dull, heavy quiet, every sound seemed magnified to Georgie. The phone ringing at the nurse’s station. The doors banging open and closed. The murmur of voices. It all irritated her. She pushed to her feet, started pacing. Sat down again. “Why do you think it’s taking so long?” She asked Ryan softly. He put his arm around her shoulder.
“Because the doctors are doing everything they can to get us a good outcome,” he said confidently. Georgie chose to believe him. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Maybe she dozed. She wasn’t sure. She had no idea how much time had passed before she opened her eyes again, but when she did, they fell on Billy. He was curled into Juniper, who was leaning against William. They both had their eyes closed. But Billy stirred in Juniper’s arms, opened his eyes and turned his head to the wide doors that led down a long corridor. He looked at them expectantly. She followed his gaze. Through the glass panels, Georgie saw Callum walking up the corridor, hands in his pockets and his head bowed. Her heart squeezed painfully hard in her chest, then started thudding. She forced herself to her feet. At her movement, everyone stirred, looked at the doors and stood up hastily as well.
CHAPTER22
Callum pushed through the doors, looked at the group, seemed surprised to find them all there. He looked absolutely exhausted and Georgie felt a shiver of ice-cold dread assail her. Then Callum’s eyes found Mikayla and his face broke into a smile. Georgie’s knees went to jelly as Mikayla let out a sob, running to Callum and throwing her arms around him. She buried her face in his shoulder as he hugged her, letting go of the tears she’d been holding back for hours. Callum held her, murmuring softly into her hair while she cried.
Georgie felt tears of relief sting her own eyes. Mikayla pulled back but Callum held her, cupping her face in his hands, speaking to her earnestly in a low voice. Words meant for her ears only. She nodded, then he pressed a kiss to her forehead and with his arm around her shoulders, turned to the group. “Sorry, I had no idea everyone was here.” He rubbed his hand over his tired face, then he smiled again.
“All good, son?”
“Yeah, Dad, all good. Thank fu-fudge. Leah’s resting, the babies are in the nursery for observation, but by some miracle, they’re all okay. Leah had placenta abruption, just like Mik said, which meant emergency caesarean. The loss of blood meant she needed a transfusion, too. The doctors said we got here in the nick of time. Even just a few more minutes and it would have been too late.” He reached out and rubbed Billy’s back. “Thanks, mate.”
Billy threw himself out of Juniper’s arms into Callum’s. “I was scared.”
“Me too,” Callum replied, giving Billy a hug. That opened the floodgates for everyone to congratulate Callum, which took some time. “Leah will want to see you all. Can you come back tomorrow?”
“We’re staying in Bairnsdale,” Nora said. “I texted my friend Tracey on the way here. They’re overseas and their house is empty. She said we’re more than welcome to stay there. All of us. So we’ll come back tomorrow.” She swallowed. “To see our grandbabies. I can’t believe it.” John put his arm around her. “Whose names we don’t even know, by the way.”
Callum chuckled. “It’s still Pongo and Perdita at the moment. We’ll talk it through when Leah’s up to it. We’ve got a few ideas but it’s different now that we’ve met them.”
“What are they like?” Georgie asked.
“Tiny and amazing,” Callum answered simply, making everyone smile. “I’m gonna head back. I want to be there when Leah wakes up.” He handed Billy off to William. “I’ll text you, Dad, when we’re ready for visitors. Depending on how Leah’s feeling, we’ll probably keep it to one or two at a time, but we’ll see how we go.”
“Okay, that sounds like a good plan,” Nora said, stepping forward to give Callum another hug. That instituted a round of farewell hugs from everyone.
Georgie stepped forward when it was her turn. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” Callum surprised her then by tightening the hug. “She’s so glad you’re here.”
“Thank you. Me too,” she said quietly, around the sudden lump in her throat. She stepped back, allowing Callum to say goodbye to everyone else. Then he was gone, back through the wide double doors, to Leah and their new babies.
Mikayla sighed, leaning against Rafe. “Jesus, what a night.”
