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I eased into the room and shut the door behind me. “Chiara, do you want to talk to anyone about what happened? Do you want me to call anyone for you?”
She looked surprised at this. “Nah, it’s cool. Really it is. It was just a stupid mistake.”
She glanced at the door, suddenly seeming eager to have me gone from her room.
“If you’re sure?”
“I said I was, didn’t I?” she said defensively.
Sighing, I wished her a good day and left her to her music and ceiling-gazing.
The poor kid. Many, many days I had spent doing that very same thing. Hundreds of them, unable to snap out of my own existential dread. Nothing had made it better. Not even switching schools. Nothing until university, which suddenly injected me with a new lease on life.
I hoped time would make things better for Chiara too.
After I left the house, I was grateful to be out, feeling like a burden had been lifted from my shoulders.
As my driver Nicky took me to the hospital, I first called my favourite salon to make a hair appointment. I didn’t much feel like getting my hair done, but Vittoria would notice if I didn’t.
It occurred to me that the salon would be the perfect place to snatch a moment’s privacy later on. The last thing I wanted today was to see Toby, but I needed to ask him about the spiked drink and see his face while I did it.
The salon was the perfect place for a secret meeting. I might not get another chance, since I was escorted everywhere these days. The salon was inside a busy shopping centre, and nearby was a disabled bathroom where I could meet Toby, hopefully without raising Nicky’s alarm bells.
I texted Toby, saying we needed to speak about something important. I gave him an exact meeting time and insisted he had to come.
Toby had texted me several times these past couple of weeks and left a few urgent voicemails. He was hugely peeved I had not come to stay with him as planned. Each time, I had responded with a reassuring text.Everything is fine. Nothing to worry about.
I had forced myself to put that nasty video of his out of my mind, hoping he feared Marco’s wrath too much to dare release it to the internet or send it to my mom right now.
He was bound to be fuming when he turned up later, but I had a feeling that he would come.
I pushed thoughts of Toby away as Nicky searched for a parking spot outside the hospital. We were in a queue between some other cars.
“I really need to pop to the loo,” I said. “Meet me inside, okay?”
Even as he protested, I opened the door and dashed out. Nicky had no choice but to stay in the car.
I hastened inside the hospital and made my way to the ward for my scan. Luckily, they did not keep me waiting, and the technician took me into a private room immediately.
When the image of my tiny little baby came up on screen, looking like a real person, I gasped in sheer delight, unable to contain the swell of love and joy that exploded inside me.
The technician beamed at me. I was so glad she didn’t ask why my baby’s dad wasn’t here.
“Can you tell the gender?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Not yet.”
She concentrated on scrutinising the images.
“Is everything okay?” I asked. “Does everything look fine?”
“A doctor will take a detailed look at the images later and will get back to you,” she reassured me in a soothing voice.
“But can you see anything worrying?” I insisted, fear spiking.
She shook her head. “Baby looks exactly as baby should so far.”
Relief poured into me, soothing me. I hadn’t even realised how wound up I had been feeling about this scan.
