‘Keira!’ Patrizio was on his knees beside her within seconds, his face contorted with worry. ‘What’s the matter?’
She clutched at her stomach, panic widening her eyes. ‘I think I’m losing it…’
‘The baby?’
She nodded and bit down hard on her lip to stop herself from crying out in agony.
‘I’ll call an ambulance,’ Gina said, rushing to the phone, calling out to Marietta on the way, ‘Marietta! Get some towels quickly.’
Patrizio carried Keira to a small bedroom off the study, his face paling when he saw the blood on his hands from where he had been supporting her. ‘Oh, dear God…’
Keira closed her eyes, trying to breathe through the clawing contractions that signalled the end of her baby’s life before it had even had a chance to begin. ‘Oh, no…’ she gasped. ‘This is all my fault. I’ve caused this to happen. I know I have…’
‘Shh, cara,’ he soothed her gently, wiping her clammy brow. ‘Do not talk. We will get you to hospital as soon as we can. Be strong, tesoro mio. Be strong, my darling. Be strong.’
Keira vaguely registered the wail of a siren in the distance before she felt her grip on consciousness begin to slip out of her reach. Patrizio’s features blurred in front of her; his dark eyes looked like bullet holes in the snow, so white was his face. She reached up with a trembling hand and touched his face to see if he was really there beside her, looking and sounding as if he cared for her more than life itself.
Patrizio covered her hand with his and brought it to his mouth, his voice breaking over the words. ‘Forgive me, cara. Forgive me for being such a stubborn fool. I don’t want to lose you. I could not bear to lose you permanently.’ But he wasn’t sure if she had heard him. Her eyelids had fluttered and closed, her breathing became increasingly shallow and her face was the colour of marble just as the ambulance officers arrived.
The doctor came out to where Patrizio was pacing the waiting room with his sister and nephew watching from the sidelines. ‘Mr Trelini?’
‘How is she?’ Patrizio asked, his face ashen with dread.
‘She is fine and so is the baby,’ Dr Channing said. ‘Your wife is sixteen weeks pregnant so she should be out of the danger zone in another week or two. I thought she was going to lose it but the bleeding stopped and as long as she has plenty of bed rest for the next week or two things should progress normally.’
Patrizio stood dumbly in front of the doctor, his face draining of colour.
The doctor peered at him. ‘Are you all right?’
Patrizio swallowed the painful lump in his throat, his chest feeling as if an industrial-sized clamp were on it. ‘Yes…yes, I’m fine. I just didn’t realise she was that…’ he gulped again ‘…that far along.’
‘Yes, well, first pregnancies are often like that, especially when the mother has continued taking oral contraceptives during the first few weeks. It’s a bit hard to establish dates until an ultrasound is performed.’
‘Can I see her?’
‘She is still slightly sedated,’ Dr Channing said. ‘But yes, you can see her. She hasn’t been well for some time, apparently. Her bloods showed she had been exposed to one or two nasty viruses. Has she had flu-like symptoms recently?’
Patrizio felt ashamed that he hadn’t realised how unwell she had been and how he had probably contributed to it with his bullish demands. ‘Yes, she has,’ he answered.
‘Her iron stores are low,’ the doctor told him. ‘I considered giving her a transfusion but with proper nutrition and adequate rest she should bounce back quite quickly. The first trimester of pregnancy is often fraught with these sorts of difficulties.’
‘Thank you,’ Patrizio said. ‘I will take good care of her.’
The doctor smiled. ‘She’s a very lucky girl,’ he said. ‘I see far too many women in here without loving partners to support them through times such as this. I wish you both well.’
Patrizio felt the doctor’s words tear through his chest like a viciously sharp blade. He had not supported Keira when she had needed it most. She had been at least two weeks pregnant the night of their horrendous argument, no doubt the fluctuating hormones of early pregnancy adding to her emotionally charged state.
‘We’re going home,’ Gina said, touching him on the arm. ‘If there’s anything we can do, just let us know.’
He looked down at his sister and nephew and somehow managed to stretch his mouth into the semblance of a smile. ‘Thank you for being with me tonight. I really appreciate it.’
‘It was no trouble,’ Gina said. ‘But it’s you she needs right now.’
He let out an uneven sigh as he turned towards the intensive care unit. ‘I know.’
Patrizio was shocked all over again at Keira’s pallor. She looked as if every drop of blood had been drained out of her. He took one of her limp hands in his and brought it up to his mouth, fighting back tears as he contemplated a future without her. What did it matter if she had betrayed him? She had only done it the once and it had probably been a knee-jerk reaction to what she had suspected he was getting up to in her absence.
Rita Favore was still up to her tricks; only that day he had heard of another man she was targeting with her aggressive seduction techniques. He should have seen it coming and done something to stop it; instead he had ignored it at his peril.