Innocent Wife, Baby of Shame

‘Keira? Can you hear me?’ he asked.

She murmured something unintelligible but didn’t open her eyes.

‘I love you, tesoro mio,’ he said, stroking her face with his fingers. ‘I have been such a fool. I have never stopped loving you.’

‘Garth?’

Patrizio froze.

‘Is that you?’ she said, moving her head back and forth on the pillow, her eyes still closed. ‘

I’ve been waiting for you…’

Patrizio released her hand and got to his feet, his chest feeling so constricted he couldn’t draw in a breath. She was deeply unconscious and yet the first person she had called out for was Garth Merrick. Didn’t that tell him all he needed to know? He was never going to be the person she turned to when things got her down.

‘Is everything all right?’ the nurse on duty asked as she picked up the chart off the end of the bed.

He gave himself a mental shake and brushed past her to leave. ‘Yes,’ he said brusquely. ‘Everything is just fine.’

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

KEIRA woke to the sound of a cheery nurse at the end of her bed. ‘Mrs Trelini, your parents are here. Do you feel up to seeing them or would you like me to send them away?’

She dragged herself upright, wincing as her body protested at the movement. ‘It’s OK,’ she said. ‘Send them in.’

‘Oh, my poor little darling,’ Robyn said as she rushed to Keira’s bedside and enveloped her in a gentle hug. ‘Patrizio called us and told us you were in hospital. He was so distraught. Are you all right? How is the baby?’

‘We’re both OK, Mum,’ Keira said, holding her mother’s hand tightly.

Her father stepped forward, his throat rising and falling as he put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Keira…’He swallowed again. ‘I have been such a fool. Your mother and I have had a long talk. I don’t know what to say…other than I love you and hope you get better soon.’

Keira reached for him and was comforted by the warmth of his embrace, deeply moved too by the moisture she saw in his eyes as he eventually straightened.

‘When are they letting you come home?’ her mother asked.

‘I’m not sure; tomorrow, I think.’

‘We’ll leave you to rest,’ her father said. ‘Patrizio is waiting outside. Call us if you need anything. And, when you feel well enough, we’ll have you both over for a barbecue or something.’

Keira smiled at her father. ‘That would be nice, Dad.’

He bent down and kissed the top of her head. ‘Take care of yourself, princess.’

‘I will…’

Patrizio’s expression was haggard and his dark gaze looked shadowed with weariness as he came to stand beside the bed after her parents had left. ‘I thought you were going to die,’ he said. ‘I cannot forgive myself for not looking after you properly.’

Keira reached for his hand and laid it across her belly. ‘It’s yours, Patrizio,’ she said softly. ‘The baby is yours.’

‘I know,’ he said, swallowing deeply. ‘The doctor told me you are four months pregnant. Can you forgive me for my part in what has happened?’

She blinked back tears. ‘There’s nothing to forgive,’ she said. ‘You didn’t do anything wrong. That was me, remember?’

He removed his hand and began to pace the room but the space was too limited for anything more than a stride or two before he had to turn. He reminded Keira of a caged jungle cat, frustrated and restless to be free.

He swung back to face her, his coal-black eyes misty. ‘I want to call off the divorce but I must insist that you promise you will never see, speak of or even mention Garth Merrick ever again.’

She began to pluck at the sheet covering her body. ‘If that is what you want.’