Chapter 15

Everyone thought that it was wonderful news that Donna was expecting another baby, none more so than Rosie, who was telling everyone that she was going to be a big sister – she liked that idea, to her it would be just like having a real live dolly!  She was delighted when her maternal grandma offered to take her out to buy the new baby a present!  Although she loved her little girl dearly, she was getting to a very demanding age, and Donna was not feeling her best at the moment and was glad of a break.  She decided to make the most of it, by just putting her feet up and watching TV.  She was not at all amused when a giant yellow teddy bear suddenly appeared in front of her, closely followed by her husband.

“Jon, do you mind?” she said, pushing it away.

“Do I mind what?” he said, sitting down next to her, and putting his arm around her shoulders.  “Don’t you like it?”

“It’ll be great when the baby’s about three!” she snapped, glaring at him.  “You could’ve got something a bit more practical!”

“What’s up with you?” he said, offended.  “Was it something I said?”

To his utmost surprise, her eyes filled with tears, and she covered her face with her hand, crying softly – this was not the reaction he had been expecting!

“Donna!”   He pulled her close, stroking her hair.  “What on earth’s the matter?  I thought you were so happy – what’s brought this on?  Come on, talk to me!  Is it something I’ve done?”

“I want to be happy” she said, tears flooding down her face  “but I keep thinking about what happened last time, and I’m scared it’ll happen again!  I couldn’t bear it if it did. It tore me apart!”

“I know” he said, his eyes clouding over as the painful memories came flooding back.  “it hurt like hell, but try and remember, we’ve got Rosie!  If you had one healthy baby, there’s no reason why you can’t have another!  Don’t dwell on the past, Donna, look to the future.  I can understand why you’re scared….”

“No, you can’t!” said Donna, pushing him away.  “You weren’t carrying that baby, so you can’t understand how I feel!  No man could possibly understand, no matter how hard they try!”

“That’s not fair, Donna!” he said, his eyes filling with tears.  “It wasn’t my fault I was born a man!  I didn’t have much choice in the matter!  I was hurting, too, you know!  Don’t try and belittle my pain, Donna, because it was just as real as yours!”

“I’m sorry!” she whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder.  “I’m not being fair, and I know you’re right!  I am happy about this baby, in fact I can’t find the words to describe how I feel. Don’t take any notice of me, I’m just feeling a little fragile at the moment – I feel so vulnerable sometimes.  Blame it on my hormones!  I’m sorry, love – I was just being a woman!”

“Don’t apologise!” he said, as his lips gently brushed against hers.  “I wouldn’t want you any other way!”

“If you keep kissing me like that, I’ll have to attack you!” she said, smiling. “Don’t make me do something you’ll regret!”

“Oh, I won’t regret it!” he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

He cupped her face in his hands, his eyes searching hers.  His smile had faded, he was deadly earnest now.

“Are you really happy about this baby, Donna?” he said.

“Yes” she replied, her voice a husky whisper.  “Of course I am!”

“No doubts?” he said, kissing her again.

“No doubts” she confirmed, returning his kiss with equal passion, as she slowly and deliberately ran her fingers up and down his back, slowly driving him insane, reminding him of some of the many reasons he had fallen in love with her.

As far as Donna was concerned, the next subject on the agenda was the painting of the baby’s room.  Lemon would be nice, she thought, suitable for either a boy or a girl.  She had seen some roller blinds with pictures of Winnie the Pooh which had caught her eye, and one or two other items she insisted the baby absolutely HAD to have!  He did not know it yet, but Donna had decided that, on Jon’s next free day, he was going to start painting the spare room!  He knew better than to argue with her when she had made up her mind!  As he stood there on the ladder, attacking the walls with a paint roller, he was thinking he could have thought of a better way to spend his day off, but  he did not want to upset her – it did not take much at the moment!  He was beginning to grow tired of constantly moving the ladder over whenever he couldn’t reach the next bit of wall, and, as he approached another corner, he decided he really could not be bothered to move it again, and stretched over as far as he could – not a wise move!  He suddenly felt the ladder begin to tip, and before he knew it, he was on the floor, with the ladder on top of him.  He screamed in pain as his wrist gave way beneath him, he sat there clutching it to his chest, rocking back and forth as pain radiated through it.

On hearing all the noise, Donna hurried upstairs to see what was going on.  She gasped at the sight that met her eyes.

“What happened?” she gasped, kneeling next to him.  “How did you manage to fall off the ladder?”

“Oh, it was easy!” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“You know what I mean!” she said.  “Let’s look at that wrist!  It might be broken!”

As she gently pressed his rapidly swelling wrist with her fingers, his scream of pain and rather colourful language confirmed her suspicions.  Despite his protests, she insisted on taking him to the hospital to have it checked out.  Eileen very kindly offered to have Rosie while they were gone – she had proved to be a true friend since they had known her – a real diamond.

“Please hurry, Donna!” he pleaded, as the pain in his wrist began to make him feel quite sick.  “It hurts like hell, it’s absolutely killing me!”

“We’re almost there!” she said, putting a gentle hand on his arm.  “Don’t pass out on me, will you?  I can’t carry you!”

He tried to force a smile as she turned into the hospital car park.  It was proving rather difficult to find a space.  Donna suggested that he went on ahead and booked himself in, and she would find him when she had parked the car.  As the receptionist noticed the beads of sweat standing out on his forehead, and the fact that he was deathly pale, she quickly advised him to sit down before he hit the deck.  She decided to keep a surreptitious eye on him, just in case he decided to keel over right in front of her!  He gratefully sat down in the chair, leaning back and closing his eyes, trying to block out the pain, when suddenly he heard a familiar voice – it couldn’t be?  He opened his eyes, and realised that it could.  Right in front of him, she couldn’t have been any closer, was Emily in her wheelchair – he noticed a nasty bump on her forehead.  She seemed as surprised to see him as he was to see her!

“What have you done?” she said, then, pointing to her head  “I fell out of my chair and banged my head, so my mummy brought me here so the doctor can look at it!”

“I think I’ve broken my wrist!” he said, fighting the urge to either pass out or throw up – he wasn’t sure which would come first.  “I fell off a ladder!”

“You should be more careful!” she scolded, making him smile despite feeling so wretched.  “Donna said you are so accident prone!”

“Yes, I am!” he said, then, something occurred to him.  “When did you see Donna?”

“A few weeks ago” she replied, surprised that he didn’t know.  “She came to see my mummy and daddy, and asked them if I could come and see you, but they said no.  I was really sad, but I’m glad she came – I really like Donna, I think she’s so pretty!”

“So do I!” he said, his voice expressionless, not quite able to take in what he had just heard.  Obviously nothing had changed – despite Donna’s best efforts.  Bless her heart, he thought, she had obviously tried to spare his feelings by not telling him, but by another cruel coincidence, he had found out anyway.  Before he could say another word, Emily’s mother gave him a cold stare, and whisked her away, and Donna came in, having at last found a parking space, and sat next to him, blissfully unaware of what had just happened.  Eventually, his name was called, and Donna went with him to a cubicle, where a doctor began to examine his wrist.  The doctor sent him for some X-rays, then came back into the cubicle to talk to them.

“I’m sorry” she said.  “but the x-rays show that there is a small fracture, and you’ll need to go to the plaster room to be fixed up, your activities will be limited for a while, I’m afraid!”

“Just what I needed to hear!” he said “the perfect end to a perfect sodding day!”

Then, as Donna and the doctor stared in surprise, he turned his head to one side, and covering his face with his good hand, he began to weep uncontrollably, all the emotions of the last few days suddenly coming together and completely taking over.

“Hey!” said the doctor.  “Come on, what's all this?  What on earth are you crying about?  You're a grown man, for goodness sake!  Pull yourself together and stop being such a baby!"

Donna stared at her, unable to believe her ears.  So much for the caring profession!
 

"Has it ever occurred to you that you may be in the wrong job!" she said, glaring at her.  "He's crying because he's scared, he hates hospitals, for reasons which I won't even bother to go into!  Leave us alone, please!  I think you've said enough!  Come on, love, it'll be all right - is it still hurting?"

He nodded wordlessly, trying desperately to control himself.  As Donna held his hand, whispering words of comfort, trying to reassure him that the pain would soon ease, he was quite happy to let her think that was the reason behind his tears – if she knew the truth, then she would realise that, far from soon easing, the pain was only just beginning – all over again.