Second Chance - Jane Green [140]
There is silence in the room as the screen lights up with a greyish triangle. In the middle of the screen there is something pulsing, and Olivia squints at it, trying to make it out.
‘What do you see?’ she says after several minutes of silence as the radiologist scans and clicks and types numbers into the screen. ‘Is it dead?’ she whispers.
‘Very much alive, I’d say,’ the radiologist says. ‘Look, can you see?’ And she moves the scanner on her stomach, and Olivia and Anna both gasp, for there, quite clearly, legs furled up, arms reaching out, is a baby.
‘You have a thumb-sucker there,’ the radiologist says as the baby lifts a hand towards its mouth.
‘It’s a baby,’ Olivia whispers. And she bursts into tears.
‘So the bleeding? The cramping? What was all that about?’ Paul looks at Olivia, who has walked into the waiting room with such a huge smile on her face he assumes she has lost the baby and is thrilled.
‘I’ve got a tiny subchorionic haematoma. It’s basically a collection of blood between the placenta and the uterine wall. They said that, given the size, it’s probably going to be fine, but I’ll need to be carefully monitored.’
‘You’re keeping the baby?’ Saffron is the only one who dares to ask.
‘I have to.’ Tears well up in Olivia’s eyes. ‘I mean, I don’t know about adoption, or Paul and Anna…’ She turns to look at them as the tears spill out. ‘I’m so sorry, I know you want me to make a decision but I just can’t do that, not yet. The only thing I do know is that I can’t have an abortion. Not now.’
Paul looks at Anna, then back at Olivia. ‘We understand,’ he says, walking over to Anna and putting his arm around her. ‘It’s your baby and your choice. Just know that we’re here if that’s what you decide.’
‘What the hell is going on?’ They are about to turn into the driveway when they see cars lined up and down, parked on the grass, men running around, stepladders everywhere.
‘Oh fuck,’ Saffron whispers, just as someone turns and shouts, pointing at the car. ‘They’ve found me.’
‘Saffron! Saffron!’ Dozens of paparazzi swarm the car, light blubs flashing in the windows as Saffron buries her head.
‘What the hell do I do?’ Paul, in his panic, has frozen, not knowing whether to try to reverse out of there, or whether to keep going. Either way, he’s convinced he’ll run at least six people over.
‘Let’s just get inside,’ Saffron says. ‘They’re not going anywhere. I guess it was too good to last.’
‘Olivia! Are you okay?’ They get inside, slamming the door in the face of what feels like a pack of wolves, and Holly gives Olivia a huge hug as Will explains he’s covered the windows with sheets, that they just about managed to get reception on the mobile phone, and the police are on their way.
Paul’s face is grim as he directs everybody into the kitchen, then he goes to the front door, opens it wide and waits for the photographers to stop yelling for Saffron, to quieten down enough to hear him speak.
‘You are standing on private property,’ he says calmly and clearly. ‘The police are on their way, and I would suggest you all get off my property immediately, or you will be arrested for trespassing.’
‘Where is she?’ someone shouts. ‘We just want one shot,’ another says. ‘A quick comment,’ says someone else.
‘You have two minutes to get off my property,’ Paul says and, grumbling and swearing, the paparazzi start moving their equipment to the top of the driveway.
‘Will it make a difference?’ Olivia asks.
‘Not much,’ Saffron says. ‘They’ve all got these super-powerful zoom lenses. The best thing to do is exactly what Will did – cover up the windows.’
‘It’s just like a movie,’ Olivia says. ‘Now we’re all prisoners in the house.’
‘Saff,’ Holly says quietly, pulling her aside and taking her hand. ‘There’s someone upstairs to see you.’
‘What? Who?’ Saffron is immediately suspicious.
‘You need to go,’ Holly says. ‘Your room.’
Saffron walks upstairs, shooting quizzical looks at the others, who