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He looked into the ward sister’s eyes ‘How is she?’

‘She’s being stabilised right now’

‘Andthe baby?’

His voice cracked again He hadn’t expected that question to hurt so much, nor for it to mean as much as it did When had been the critical moment that this unborn life had crept into his heart and taken residence there? The world seemed to tip on its axis as the woman’s face assu to reassure hiuessed she must have been asked that question a million times before

‘I’m afraid it’s too early to say’

He could do nothing but accept her words and he nodded gri rooly brick wall There was a stack of old nantly—a little heap of plastic bricks piled in one corner, presu children to play with

Children

He hadn’t wanted any of his own—that had always been a given He hadn’t wanted to risk any child of his having to go through what he had gone through But now, suddenly, he wanted this baby so bad He wanted to nurture the child that the baby would grow into

I will never abandon ht fiercely He will know nothing but love from me—even if I have to learn how to love him from scratch

He closed his eyes as the ht him a cup of coffee in a plastic cup, but it lay untouched in front of hi room with a ward sister beside hi to his feet and felt the trueof fear His hands were cla in his chest

‘How is she?’ he demanded

‘She’s fine—a little shocked and a little scared, but she’s had a scan—’

‘A scan?’ For a second he felt confused He realised that he’d been thinking in Greek instead of English and the word sounded alien to him

‘We needed to check that the pregnancy is still viable, and I’hted to tell you that it is’