Leave Me Breathless

‘Sorry.’ I hear her breathe. ‘I’ll just tell this baby to hold off until Daddy’s finished his pint, shall I?’ A few rushed pants. ‘The midwife is five minutes away.’

‘Fuck,’ he curses, turning and running out of the pub.

‘Jake!’ I yell, going after him, abandoning the two beers we very nearly got to finish. ‘Jake, wait.’

‘Cami’s in labour,’ he yells over his shoulder, breaking out in a sprint across the road. ‘I’ve got to get home.’

‘I’ll drive you. You’ll get yourself killed the state you’re in.’

He throws me an indignant look. ‘I’m fine.’

‘Your forehead disagrees.’ I point up, and he reaches to wipe the sweat away. ‘Get in the truck. I’m a better driver than you, anyway.’

‘Fuck you.’

I chuckle, falling into the driver’s seat. ‘Is someone with her?’ I pull out of the space fast and zoom down the street, weaving in and out of the traffic.

‘A friend. Heather.’ He goes straight to his phone, and a few seconds later he’s talking again. ‘I’m on my way. How is she?’ Jake’s quiet for a few moments, and my attention splits between him and the road. The guy has always been tense, but he’s off the charts at the minute. ‘I should be half an hour, depending on traffic. Can she wait that long?’

I take a sharp right and sail through a red light.

‘Make that twenty minutes,’ Jake adds. ‘Put her on.’

Another sharp corner, and Jake motions up ahead to another set of lights that are currently on amber. I take his hint and swerve around a few mopeds in front, putting my foot down.

‘Hey, angel,’ he breathes, and I smile, the softness in his voice making my big body melt a little. ‘Ryan’s driving perfectly sensibly,’ he assures her, turning his eyes onto me. ‘Yeah, I’ll tell him. Just breathe like we practised. okay? You can do it. Where’s Charlotte?’ His smile is epic as he listens to Cami. ‘Sounds like you’re in good hands.’ He jumps in his seat as the sound of a monster scream fills the truck, and I look his way, eyes wide. ‘Focus on the road,’ he grunts, putting his phone on speaker. The sound of Cami’s wail fades, and I hear her start panting.

‘Ooh, that was a sharp one,’ she sighs.

‘Dad!’ A little girl’s voice comes across the phone, sounding excited as opposed to anxious.

‘Hey, princess.’ Jake’s tone has gone even softer, and his body virtually dissolves into the seat beside me. ‘You taking care of Cami for me?’

‘Yep. She’s sweating really bad, though. And she’s really red.’

‘She’ll be fine. I’ll be there as quick as I can, okay?’

‘You better hurry, Dad.’

‘I’m hurrying, princess.’ He falls into the door when I skid around a corner, cursing when he hits his head on the glass. ‘Trust me, I’m hurrying. See you soon.’ Jake clicks off the call and rubs at his forehead, bracing his other hand on the dashboard. ‘Put your foot down, Ryan,’ he mutters sarcastically just as I whiz past a fancy Ferrari, the driver flipping me the finger. I honk my horn in reply and focus on getting my mate to his wife before his baby arrives.

I can’t claim Jake’s not without his own trauma by the time I pull up outside their house in West London, but I do know he won’t have missed the birth. Jake hops out after giving me his customary manly slap of appreciation on the shoulder. ‘Thanks, mate.’

‘Call me!’ I yell as the door slams and he runs up the path. ‘And good luck, buddy,’ I say to myself, watching him fall through his front door.

I sit there for a few moments, idle by the curb, just reflecting on a few things in my own life. Not that there’s much to reflect on. Just one thing. I smile and pull away, ready to get my arse out of the shitty apartment I’ve been crashing in for too long and go home.Chapter 2HANNAH

Bullets of amber lights dance across the dirt track before me, jumping as the wind rustles the canopy of trees above. I look up, squinting, letting the sound of the breeze in the treetops hypnotize me. The sway of the branches, the creak of old wood, the apricot glow trying to fight its way through the leaves. It’s all so damn perfect.

It’s home. At least, it is for now.

I edge toward the tip of the hill, pushing my bicycle along with my feet until the front wheel dips ever so slightly. Then, kicking my legs out to the sides, I throw my head back and let gravity take over, speeding down the hill with a laugh, the sounds of my delight echoing around the woods. The wind in my face is glorious, the whoosh of air passing me purifying.

I’m approaching the bottom of the slope far quicker than I’d like, kicking up clouds of dust in my wake. The basket on the front of my bike jumps as the dirt road meets the paved section, sending a few of the raspberries I’ve picked catapulting into the air. ‘Oh shit.’ One hits me square in the forehead, the ends of my head scarf whipping at my cheeks. I quickly pull it free, stuffing it in my pocket before the wind whisks it away.