Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Jack.
He looks like he’s in shock, standing still and silent in the background while people fuss around me, asking how I feel. Numb. I’m numb.
Approaching slowly, his haunted eyes fixed on mine, he comes to a stop at the side of the bed. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
I look away, tearful and ashamed. It’s too late now.
His hand rests on mine and he sits on the edge of the bed. ‘Annie, look at me,’ he demands with a harsh edge. I refuse, so remorseful.
‘Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to move,’ a nurse says, gesturing curtly for Jack to move to the side.
‘One minute.’ Jack snaps, standing firm. ‘Just give me one minute.’ He takes my face and turns me to him, forcing me to look at him. To face what I’ve done. His eyes are watery. ‘What were you thinking?’
‘Sir, please. I need to check Annie’s blood pressure.’
Jack’s jaw begins to pulse, the pressure of his fingertips firmer on my cheeks. He flinches and looks up when Lizzy takes his arm, encouraging him to move and give the nurse the space she needs. Jack shifts to the side under duress and watches the nurse move in.
‘How are you feeling, Annie?’ she asks as she presses a button on a machine to the side of me and slips a small gadget on the end of my finger.
‘Okay,’ I mumble, feeling the band around my arm begin to inflate.
‘That’s good.’ She makes a note of my blood pressure on a mobile device in her hand before removing the band from my arm. ‘Let’s get you sitting up, shall we?’ She helps me up a little, and I manage with surprising ease. ‘What a pickle you’ve got into,’ she chuckles. ‘Patients usually pass out on their way to the operating theatre, not on the table.’
I look at her in a daze. ‘Sorry?’
‘You fainted, dear,’ she says matter-of-factly. ‘We didn’t even get a chance to knock you out. You went white as a sheet! But don’t worry. There’s still time for the procedure if the doctor thinks you’re well enough.’
My mouth goes a little lax, and I look to Jack. ‘She won’t be having the procedure,’ he practically snarls.
‘I’m still pregnant?’ I mumble mindlessly.
‘Yes, dear. Do you think you can stand?’ She gives me raised eyebrows. I don’t know. My legs still feel useless, but there are definitely some tingles of life now. I’m still pregnant? I look to Jack, confused and shocked. What’s he doing here?
His shoulders drop a little and he makes his way over to me, insisting on taking over from the nurse. ‘I’ve got her.’ He sounds pissed off.
The nurse gives me up to him willingly and leaves the room. ‘I’ll give you some privacy,’ she calls, sensing the thick atmosphere.
‘And me.’ Lizzy heads for the door too. ‘I’ll wait in reception.’ The door closes and we’re alone; just Jack and me and a whole load of unanswered questions.
I hear Jack’s light sigh as he holds me. ‘Sit down,’ he orders quietly, moving me over to the chair in the corner.
‘I’m fine.’ I gently shrug him off and head back to the bed, finding my bag, needing to get out of this gown and out of here. I pull my jeans and T-shirt on and slip my feet into my flip-flops. ‘Why are you here?’
‘Why d’you think, Annie?’
‘I don’t know, Jack. That’s why I’m asking you.’ I pull my hair into a ponytail and reach for my slouchy bag.
Jack snatches it away and throws it to the ground. ‘Will you fucking stop?’ he snaps impatiently, taking the tops of my arms and shaking me. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘You said that you didn’t want a baby.’ I sound like a machine.
He looks at me in utter disgust. ‘With Stephanie!’ he yells, but winces at the volume of his voice, breathing in to find some calm. ‘I don’t want a baby with Stephanie, Annie.’ He lets go of my arms and drops his head back, clenching his eyes shut.
‘You never said that,’ I murmur, letting my gaze plummet to my feet.
‘I didn’t think I needed to.’
‘I didn’t want you to feel trapped.’ I grit my teeth, forcing myself to make eye contact with him. His grey eyes have not one spark of life in them. ‘I didn’t want you to pick me because you felt you had to.’
‘Fuck the pity party, Annie.’ He releases me and stalks away. ‘I’ve just walked out on my wife. Again! Except this time I’ve walked out on my pregnant wife.’ He falls back against a wall, looking up at the ceiling. ‘I didn’t know you were pregnant when I made that decision. Lizzy called me as I was walking out of my house with Stephanie hanging off my fucking back.’
I scan Jack’s body over his clothes, seeing a few rips in his white T-shirt. ‘Lizzy called you?’ I mumble mindlessly.