A Mother's Secret

‘I know exactly who you are. That’s why I’m telling you now to have a seat in the waiting room. If you don’t do exactly as I say I’ll have you removed. Have I made myself clear?’ She was obviously used to dealing with difficult relatives and her diminutive size strangely only seemed to make her a more formidable force.

Logan’s feet carried him closer. The man was shaking with rage. If he was going to take a swing for the nurse, Logan wanted to be ready to stop him.

The man’s face was almost the same colour as his hair. After a few tense seconds he stomped down the corridor, still ranting under his breath.

Logan shook his head. ‘What a prat. I bet his wife doesn’t even want to see him.’ He turned back to Gemma. She looked scared. She looked in shock. ‘Gem? What’s wrong?’ He walked over and put his hands on her shoulders.

His touch seemed to spur her into action. Her legs moved quickly, pacing up the corridor and staring through the gaps in the curtains surrounding the cubicles. She was like a woman on a mission. What on earth was she doing?

She searched through four empty cubicles then another three with patients she obviously didn’t know. He could tell immediately when she’d found who she was looking for.

‘Lesley!’ She disappeared at once behind the curtains. A chill swept over his body. It was the way she’d said the word. She’d sounded almost...haunted.

Realisation was sweeping his body, making every tiny hair stand on end. Lesley. The friend she’d been a surrogate for.

That’s why she’d stopped in mid-step in the corridor. The boorish redhead must have been Patrick. But this was a maternity hospital and Lesley couldn’t have children. Did she work here? Gemma hadn’t mentioned anything on the flight here.

Logan was torn. This was the thing that had pushed them apart. But no matter what his feelings on the matter, his only concern here was Gemma. He’d seen her face. He needed to be sure she was okay.

He stood at the gap in the curtains. Lesley was lying on a trolley, her face badly bruised and swollen, her abdomen revealing a pregnancy. Logan’s first reaction was horror at the wounds inflicted on the pregnant woman. His second, surprise that Gemma’s friend was pregnant in the first place. He’d thought she couldn’t have kids.

Gemma was over in an instant, her arms wrapping around her friend’s neck. ‘Lesley, are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt?’ She hesitated then put her hand gently on Lesley’s. ‘You’re pregnant.’ He could hear the surprise in her voice. But there was real and absolute concern in her voice. He didn’t doubt how much she cared about her friend, even if they had been estranged.

Lesley didn’t answer. She was sobbing. Logan turned away, not wanting to invade either of the women’s privacy but wanting to make sure he was close enough to support Gemma if needed.

After a few minutes Lesley lifted her head. Her lips were burst, her nose looked as if it was broken. Purple livid bruising was appearing across her face, the tops of her arms and...around her throat. He’d tried to strangle her?

Logan’s hands clenched into fists. His pregnant wife. And he’d tried to strangle her. It didn’t matter to him that he didn’t even know this woman. How dared a man do this to his wife?

His stomach curled. Gemma had been right. She’d been so right. Logan couldn’t bear the thought of what Isla might have been exposed to if Gemma had handed her over to this couple.

Gemma was cradling her friend’s head, slowly stroking the back of her tousled hair. ‘Lesley, I’m so sorry.’ She bent a little lower, shaking her head. ‘Obviously, I’m happy that you’re pregnant, Lesley. And I’m praying that your baby is safe. You have to tell me, is this the first time Patrick’s done this?’

Lesley’s sobs got louder as she shook her head. ‘It’s been worse since I’ve been pregnant. He can’t stand the fact that there are things out of his control.’ She put her head in her hands. ‘After all those years, all those treatments, I just fell pregnant out of the blue. Then Patrick started questioning if the baby was his.’

Logan could see Gemma’s shoulders start to shake. Was she going to start crying too?

Then he noticed her stance, how she was holding her body. No. Gemma was mad. Gemma was enraged.

‘Have you reported him to the police, Lesley?’

‘No! I can’t. He’s my husband. What would people think?’ She shook her head fiercely. ‘He’s a doctor. He can’t have something like this on his record.’

Gemma’s voice was shaking. ‘Lesley...’ she pointed at Lesley’s abdomen ‘...you have a baby to protect from a violent man. You owe it to your child to report Patrick’s actions.’ She lowered her voice until it was almost a whisper. ‘What if he’s harmed your baby, Lesley? You’ve waited such a long time for this. You can’t let him harm your baby.’

There was another burst of sobs. ‘They’ve scanned me. They think the baby is fine but I’ve to stay in for other treatment.’

Well, that much was obvious. The maternity staff would be determined to keep her and her baby safe. They would want to give her time to consider what had happened. They would want to give her options. It was a sad fact of life that for a lot of women domestic abuse was much more prevalent during a pregnancy.

But Lesley was still clearly trying to work through things. ‘It isn’t the baby he wants to hurt, Gemma. It’s me. He won’t touch the baby once it’s here.’

Logan could see the rage build in Gemma’s face, although to the outside world she appeared icily calm. Her professional demeanour meant she could say the words she should, he only hoped her personal feelings wouldn’t take over.

‘You don’t know that for sure. Lesley, as a paediatrician, I need to tell you that your child is at risk. By raising his hands to you today he put the life of his child in danger. This is a child protection issue. The staff at this hospital will already have reported this incident to the police.’

‘They need my permission!’

‘No. No, they don’t. They consider you, and your child, vulnerable. They have a responsibility to report this.’ She placed a hand over Lesley’s. ‘It’s time, Lesley. It’s time to tell the truth about Patrick. It’s time to realise he can’t do this and to protect your baby.’

Her face crumpled and she knelt beside the trolley. It was clear she would try anything to get through to her friend.

‘I’m sorry, I really am. But you’ve got to look after yourself. And you’ve got to look after this baby. Do you have somewhere safe you can go? Could you call your mum? I’m living on Arran now—if you want to get away from everything, you can come and stay with me.’ Logan flinched at her words. Gemma had a bigger heart than he could ever have expected. She was willing to open her door to her friend in her time of need. Even though she knew it would be hard. Even though she knew that Isla would meet the woman who had been meant to be her mother.

He could hardly imagine anything more difficult. But for Gemma it seemed more important to keep the baby and Lesley safe. He shouldn’t have expected anything less.

Lesley dissolved into a fit of tears, shaking her head, her hands wrapped across her stomach. ‘I don’t know, Gemma. I just don’t know. How can I get away from Patrick? You know what he’s like. I’m surprised he hasn’t busted the doors down to get in here.’ She started to shake. ‘What if he hurts my baby, Gemma? What if he hurts my son?’

‘A boy? You’re having a boy?’

Lesley nodded as Gemma enveloped her in a hug. ‘I am so happy for you.’ She knelt beside the bed. ‘Let me help you. Please, let me help you keep that baby safe.’

Her hands stroked her friend’s hair. Her eyes met his. ‘I have a friend with me, Lesley. A friend who will help. If we can get you the all-clear, we can whisk you out of here tonight. Take you back to Arran wit

h us. You can have a few days to decide what you want to do.’

Lesley’s voice was shaking. ‘I think I want to go home. I think I want to go home to my mum in Uist.’

Uist. One of the other Scottish islands. She’d need to try and get her a flight from Glasgow to Benbecula. It would take some organising.

Gemma nodded and took a deep breath. ‘Then come home with me. I’ll arrange your travel.’

Lesley was shaking. ‘What about Patrick? What about my things?’

Gemma shook her head. ‘There’s nothing you can’t replace. We’ll get your things. Just not right now.’ She gave her friend another hug. ‘Let me go and speak to the sister. Let me try and find out what’s safe for you, and for the baby.’

She turned towards Logan and walked towards him. He could tell by the expression on her face that it was taking every ounce of self-control she had just to hold herself together.

She could have said so much more. She hadn’t even mentioned Isla. She hadn’t even mentioned the fact that five years before her friend had contemplated taking her baby into an environment where Isla could have been at risk. He could only imagine how much was circling around in her brain right now.

Lesley was the victim here. They both knew that.

But even Logan couldn’t hide his feelings of anger at what Isla could have been exposed to. It made his blood run cold. He didn’t know Lesley. He hadn’t been her friend. But if it had been Gemma lying on that bed, could he have been so rational and self-contained?

Not a chance.

He admired her self-control.

He took a few steps backwards down the corridor and held out his arms to her as she almost collapsed into them. He moved her further along the corridor, away from Lesley’s cubicle and into one of the side rooms.

Her whole body was shaking. She couldn’t stop it.

Logan was consumed with guilt. She’d been right.

The hunch. The bad feeling. The uncomfortable vibes.