Imogen had to admire the driver’s nature, and though she wasn’t naturally prone to making waves, maternal concern for her unborn child was taking over, so that she was grateful for his tenacity.
“Yes, sir,” the woman spoke calmly even when she was grinding her teeth. “But there’s a process…”
“Imogen.” Theo appeared and crouched beside her, his expression tight with concern. His breath was forced and he looked, for once, not his best. His suit was askew and his face was pale. “What’s happened?”
“We don’t know yet, do we, because we haven’t done the paperwork,” the cabbie responded with sarcasm and Imogen lifted her eyes to him with a combination of amusement and despair.
“Paperwork?” Theo stood, his rage matching the cabbie’s, keeping a hand on Imogen’s shoulder.
The nurse’s eyes bulged as she saw that Theo Trevalyen was at her counter, looking every bit as sinfully sexy and alpha-male as in her fantasies. “Oh, L-l-lord …”
“Yes, yes.” He cut off whatever greeting he had been about to receive. “Why has my fiancé not been seen?” He asked, the word splitting a dagger through Imogen’s world as she lifted her eyes to him and shook her head.
“I’m sorry, sir, we have a …”
“They have a process,” the cab driver interjected with a role of his eyes. “Heaven help the people who turn up to hospital with a medical emergency.”
The nurse spoke into a small microphone in front of her. “The doctor’s coming,” she assured them. “Can I get you anything in the mean time?”
“Water?” He looked at Imogen and she nodded. Theo returned his curt attention to the admissions nurse. “Thank you.” He spun away, his focus squarely on Imogen. “What happened?”
“Right-io,” the cabbie took a step back. “You’re in safe hands now, I can see. I’ll just be…”
“Wait,” Theo kept a hand on Imogen’s shoulder. “Who are you?”
“I drove your missus…”
“He’s my cabbie,” Imogen said, and for some reason, the man’s unexpected chivalry brought tears to her eyes. “He’s just had a baby. Four weeks ago. And so he didn’t, he wouldn’t, let me come in alone.”
Theo expelled a sigh and extended his hand at the same time. “Thank Christ. Pleased to meet you. Thank you.”
“Just doing my good deed for the day.”
“I really appreciate it,” Theo said, missing the puckering of the nurse’s lips behind his back as she ground her teeth tighter. “Please, take this.” He reached into his wallet and pulled out several fifty pound notes and a business card. “For your trouble.”
“It weren’t no trouble,” the driver said with a shake of his head.
But Theo was insistent. “Take it. Put it away for your baby,” he said softly. “Thank you again.”
He returned his attention to Imogen then, his expression a mask of relaxed calm even when she could feel fear radiating off him in waves.
“Everything’s fine,” she assured him. “I’m just having strange feelings. But remember what the doctor said? Everything’s strange in pregnancy. Strange is the new normal.”
He no
dded, but there was tension in it. “Where is the damned doctor though?” He looked down the linoleum hallway just as a middle-aged man began to clip efficiently towards them, his head bent forward, his shoulders slightly hunched. The white, knee-length coat he wore was the only giveaway that he was a medical professional, employed by the hospital.
“Imogen Harper?” He murmured as he approached and then, his eyes lifted to Theo with a formal nod of acknowledgement. “Come this way.”
Theo’s fingers curled around the handles of the chair and Imogen wanted to point out that she could walk, but she wasn’t entirely sure it would be best for the baby. Given the choice between asserting herself as an independent, capable woman and doing whatever the hell she needed to protect her child, she went with the latter.
There were old pictures lining the wall. Advertisements advising unsuspecting passers-by of the consequences of excessive drinking, of smoking, of not eating well. Imogen’s eyes skimmed over them as Theo drove her after the doctor. Once, she caught a hazy glance of his reflection in a glass paneled door they strode past. His face was clenched, his body tight.
She swallowed and her worries deepened. She needed this baby to be okay. Not just for her, but for Theo. She didn’t know how she knew, but somehow she inherently understood: this baby meant the world to him.
And it was her job to keep it safe.
“Here you are.” The doctor stopped walking, finally, near the end of the long corridor, and indicated with a tilt of his head that they should step into the room. It was dark, but as Theo pushed Imogen inside, the doctor flicked a switch and the fluorescent overhead lights flickered heavily to life, with three dark thuds that were almost like Harrumphs – complaints at having been woken from their rest.