‘Milly...agapi mou...’ My love. The words had slipped out, spoken from the heart, and he was glad. He put his hands on her shoulders, easing back so he could look into her face. ‘Are you all right in yourself? You are not hurt...?’ Her chin was smeared with blood, a bruise on one cheekbone. It made Alex ache.
‘Just scraped.’ Milly sniffed. ‘But, Alex, the baby, our baby...’
A fist closed over his heart. ‘You have had the scan?’
‘Not yet. But I’ve...’ She dropped her voice along with her eyes. ‘I’ve had bleeding and contractions...oh, Alex, I’m so scared.’
He pulled her to him again, stroking her hair as he offered her words of comfort. Agapi mou. Kardia mou. My love. My heart. He didn’t know if she understood what they meant, but he couldn’t keep himself from saying them. From meaning them. Now that she was in his arms again, the life of their child in danger, he knew he meant them more than anything he’d ever said in his life.
He loved her. And he would tell her, whether she loved him or not. She deserved to know. He wanted her to know. He needed it.
‘Milly Santos?’
They both tensed at the sound of her name on the nurse’s lips. Alex helped her rise shakily to her feet and then he accompanied her into a darkened room for the scan.
‘Please make yourself comfortable,’ the nurse instructed. ‘The technician will be with you shortly.’
Moments later the technician came in, a kindly-looking woman with a sympathetic smile. Alex watched, his heart caught in his throat, as Milly lifted her shirt, revealing the slight swell of her baby bump. Their child, right there. Tears clogged his throat and he swallowed hard. Their child.
‘Let’s see how baby is doing,’ the technician murmured in Greek, and they both waited breathlessly as she squirted the cold, clear gel on Milly’s stomach and then began to swipe and probe with the wand. Within seconds an image appeared on the screen, black and white and blurry. Their baby.
And it wasn’t moving.
‘Alex...’ Milly’s hand grabbed hold of his hand, and he held on tightly, wanting to imbue her with his strength. His hope. Please, God. Please, not this time...
And then, like the miracle it truly was, the tiny form on the screen flung out an arm. The technician turned up the volume on the ultrasound machine and the room was suddenly filled with a loud whooshing noise.
‘Baby’s heartbeat,’ the technician explained. ‘Sounds a bit like a galloping horse.’
‘You mean...the baby is okay?’ Milly asked tremulously, in halting Greek. She turned to Alex. ‘Can you ask her...? I don’t understand enough Greek...’
‘Of course.’
He spoke swiftly to the technician, and then turned back to Milly, unable to keep the emotion from his voice, his eyes. ‘The baby is all right. Perfectly healthy. They want to keep you in hospital for a few days, and then bed-rest for a while after that, because the contractions are a concern. But everything looks okay, Milly.’ He broke off, finding it hard to speak. ‘Our baby is going to be all right.’
They didn’t talk as Milly was taken in a wheelchair to a hospital room, the best Alex could procure. She looked exhausted, her face pale and grey with fatigue, and Alex knew she needed to sleep.
‘Alex...’ she began, sounding uncertain, and gently he pressed his fingers against her lips.
‘Shh. You need to sleep. We can talk later, Milly.’ He settled himself into a chair by the bed. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’
She nodded slowly, her eyelids already fluttering, and within minutes she was asleep.
* * *
Milly woke slowly, blinking the hospital room into focus as memories rushed through her. The fall. The ambulance. Alex.
She turned her head, her heart leaping into her throat at the thought that he might have left, but he was there, just as he’d promised he would be. His unmarked cheek was resting on his hand, his scarred cheek turned to her, his eyelids drooping in sleep. He looked wonderful.
Alex’s eyes fluttered open and then his electric-blue gaze trained on her and he straightened. ‘You’re awake.’
‘Yes.’
He leaned forward, scanning her face. ‘How do you feel?’
‘Aching all over. And still so tired.’ Tremulously, wanting to be brave, she reached for his hand. He took it, twining his fingers with hers. ‘Alex...’
‘Wait.’ His voice was rough. ‘Don’t say anything, Milly.’