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Bella
I watch Chloe being wheeled out of the cottage into an ambulance. My heart breaks, I almost don’t recognise her. Frank pulls our car out and follows closely behind to the hospital.
Chloe is settled in a private room when I’m finally allowed to see her.
“You can go in now but she’s sleeping.” I thank the nurse and sit by Chloe’s bedside.
“Hey Chloe. It’s Bella, it’s so good to see you. The doctors will have you fixed up in no time, you’ll soon be home with us.” I whisper as I take her hand in mine. I know she isn’t asleep I can tell by her breathing, I’ve known her long enough. But for whatever reason Chloe doesn’t want to speak right now and that is fine. But I will make sure she knows that I am here.
“I’m going to take good care of you. I have so much to tell you. I’ve missed you so much.”
I kiss her hand rest my head on the side of the bed as I have a silent cry. What we’ve been through these past 2 years is unbelievable. I should write a book. Surely things can only get better from here.
I drift off to sleep praying for a brighter future for us all.
When I wake Chloe is still holding my hand, but she is definitely asleep now. She is doing her tell-tale sniffling snore that she does. I hear a tapping noise and turn to see Damien’s face at the window of the door. I gently take my hand out of Chloe’s grip and leave the room.
Damien looks pained. His stern facial expressions usually soften in my presence, but right now they remain, he looks overcome with worry. I wrap my arms around him, I nuzzle my face in his chest. He rests his chin on top of my head and takes a deep breath. We stay like this for a minute until I stand tall, being brave for the both of us “Let’s go and get a coffee.” Damien nods, with our arms still wrapped firmly around each other we make our way to the hospital café.
We find a table in a quiet corner and sit and drink our coffee.
“Come on, tell me how Josh is.” I ask apprehensively, praying for good news.
“He’s in surgery. Doctor said it would take about 6 hours.” Damien rubs his face with his hands.
“How’s Chloe doing?”
“She’s been out of it the whole time I’ve been here. I’m going to try and speak to one of the doctors when we get back.” We sit in silence for a few minutes.
“He’s going to be ok Damien. You need to keep positive. Josh is strong like you, he won’t let this take him, I’m sure of it.” He stares into his coffee for a few moments before lifting his head to look at me.
“I really hope you’re right, he’s in a bad way.”
“The doctors will fix him up good as new.” I’m not sure if its something to do with the pregnancy or the fact that I have no choice, but my only thoughts are positive and strong ones. We will all get through this, we have to, the alternative does not bear thinking about.
When I think I have helped Damien feel a little better, we return to Chloe’s room. Her eyes are closed and she is very still. It must be the medication making her sleepy. She hasn’t opened her eyes since I’ve been here. I sit by her bedside and hold her hand. I try to ignore the bruising and swelling which has started to appear on her face, it looks so sore and swollen. Her head is wrapped in bandages as well as one of her ears. She would not be impressed if she could see herself now. Chloe always likes to look her best, especially around handsome doctors. Not that I have noticed, none of them are a patch on my husband.
Even though she is asleep, I talk to her about our childhood. Reminiscing about all the memories we made. We were inseparable from the moment we met in nursery. Chloe was always that bit bigger and stronger than me. We were like two opposites that just attracted instantly. In primary school she used to steal the best bits of my lunch, then boss me about in the playground, but she was always there to protect me. If anyone dare come near me or not let me win in a game, she would pull their hair out. Most weekends Chloe would stay at my house, Chloe’s grandma was quite old fashioned, she didn’t have sky TV or a computer, so Chloe came and used ours. My mum and dad loved her like their own, they still do. Damien is sat in the corner of the room laughing at the stories of our teenage years, how we used to sneak alcohol from her grandma’s drinks cabinet. We would pour a little bit out of each one so she wouldn’t notice. We would mix them all together in a 2 litre bottle of coke and sit on the park around the corner and drink it. I shudder thinking about it, vodka, whiskey, sherry, rum and God knows what else all mixed together, yuck. Then there were parties neither of us were allowed to go to so I would tell my mum and dad I was staying at hers and she would say she was staying mine. It worked a treat until Chloe’s cat died and her grandma turned up at my house early in the morning. Dam cat. We were grounded for months.
“I hope our baby isn’t as crafty as you two.”
“They won’t be able to get away with anything with you as their dad. You’ll have them micro chipped at birth! They’ll be fitted with some safety device that tells you where they are at all times and doesn’t let them wander more than a metre away from you, poor thing.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” I can see Damien’s brain working.
“I was joking. Oh, Chloe I am really going to need your help in preventing Damien from making my child’s life boring as hell.” After a good giggle about our past I start to yawn, my adrenaline is definitely starting to wear off.
Damien gets me a blanket and some pillows and I snuggle up on the chair next to Chloe.
“My Bella’s need to rest. I’ll keep an eye on you, just relax.” With a rub on my tummy and a kiss to my head, Damien dims the lights and leaves to room. Exhausted, I am soon asleep.
I wake to sound of alarms, doctors and nurses flood the room and surround Chloe. Damien lifts me out of the chair and quickly carries me out into the hallway.
Chapter 20
Chloe
My heart is broken and physically hurts. I don’t want to live anymore. The love of my life is dead. Why didn’t I realise sooner how strong my feelings were for Josh, I should have told him, now he will never know.
