The Meant to Be Collection

by Claire Highton-Stevenson

  “Baby, dry your eyes, it's too cold for tears. Mommy is going to be fine, I promise. Help is on its way.” Rain rubbed at her face and sniffed. They all began to climb the bank, following Storm as she led the way. Lucy was thankful that the new boots they had just bought them had such a great grip. She watched them all the way, holding her breath with every step they took, until finally, they were there. Safe.

  She turned her attention back to Nicole. Dark eyes were trying to focus on her. “Hey Beautiful.”

  “What happened?” Nicole asked.

  “We got hit by a truck,” she said honestly. “But the kids are okay, they are up on the roadside waiting for the ambulance. How do you feel?” There was no need to tell her about Paul Nixon right now.

  “Okay, I guess,” Nicole shrugged. She tried to lift her arm, but it was too heavy. Everything was just too tiring.

  “Try not to move, you hit your head on the window, I don’t know what other injuries you have, so you have to stay still. Are you warm enough?”

  “Yeah. The baby is kicking like crazy though.” She smiled. “You’re cold.”

  “I’m okay.” Her teeth might have been chattering by then, but she wasn’t the one that was stuck inside the car.

  There was shouting from above. Lucy looked up just as paramedics and firemen began descending the bank towards them. The girls were coming too.

  “Please, can you get her out? She’s 8 months pregnant,” Lucy gushed as soon as the first responder arrived. She had been calm until now, but with help finally here, her fears were overwhelming her. She was having flashbacks to the roadside after the coach crash. Lights, blue and red, flashing over her. People were talking loudly around her, and yet it all sounded muffled.

  “Ma’am, did she lose consciousness?” the paramedic asked Lucy, but she was rambling, almost incoherently lost in her past.

  “This isn’t happening, no! I can’t do this again. Please, God, please not again.”

  The paramedic tried once more. “Ma’am, can you calm down? I need you to calm down.”

  “I can’t, I just…you have to help her!” She was trembling, her breathing erratic, and when the paramedic went to touch her she freaked out. “Don’t! Don’t touch me until you have helped her!” she screamed, shrugging her off.

  She felt a tiny hand take hers. Small fingers wrapped around her left hand and then another took her right hand. She felt the calm wash over as she realised she wasn’t Lucy Owen, a pop star in a coach crash, anymore. No, right now she was Mama, and three little girls needed her. She looked down at them one by one, Rain to her left, Summer to her right, and Storm standing, facing her. Dropping to her knees to be on their level, she wrapped her arms around the twins, and Storm hugged her neck.

  “I’m sorry, so sorry babies,” she said to them all. When Storm finally let go and Lucy saw her, she almost screamed for the paramedic.

  “Storm, where are you hurt?” She ran her hands all over her face and head, but didn’t find a cause for the blood covering her cheek and coat.

  “Mama, stop,” she said quietly. “Mama. It’s not me.”

  “What? You’re bleeding.”

  “No, Mama. I’m not,” she said gently as she raised her hand to Lucy’s face. “You are!” Lucy stared at her, felt her fingers touch her, and watched as she produced them in front of her eyes as proof. She hadn’t felt a thing, this entire time her face had been bleeding. “You are bleeding Mama, please let the lady look at it.”

  Lucy turned to find the paramedic waiting, smiling at the girls in thanks for helping to calm the situation. “Ma’am before I check you out, can you tell me if Nicole lost consciousness?” Lucy shook herself. She could do this, she had to do this. For them all.

  “Yes, initially she was out, I think we both were. When I came around she was whimpering, but not awake for a while. Is she going to be alright?”

  The paramedic gave the information to her partner before turning back to Lucy, “We’re going to do all we can to make sure they both are, can you climb back up with your children so we can do what we need to do?”

  Lucy nodded, looked once more at Nicole and saw her smile and nod. “Go be with our girls.”

  At the top of the embankment she found the girls huddled together in the back of an ambulance, laughing at something the medic was saying to them. Finally, Lucy allowed the paramedic to patch her up. She cleaned the wound and covered it with a bandage. “They’ll wanna look at that when you get to the hospital.”

  “Okay, thank you.”

  Sheriff Jenkins arrived in her marked vehicle and pulled it over to park near to where Lucy was standing. Blue and red lights flashed a warning to others travelling the route. She waved over to Lucy and strode confidently across the road.

  “You okay?” she asked, clearly concerned. Lucy shook her head, looking around to check that the girls were still out of earshot.

  “No, I’m not okay, Sherriff. This wasn’t an accident,” she hissed. The police officer tilted her head, listening. “Paul Nixon, the truck hit fast and I didn’t see much, but when I climbed out of the car and looked up the bank…he was there. Standing right here.” She pointed to the floor.

  “You’re sure about that? You’ve had a nasty bang on the head.”

  “I am sure, yes…I’d recognise that arrogant prick anywhere. But you can check for yourself, he’s down there.” Lucy pointed back down the hill. They both moved closer to the edge and Jenkins looked down. “Over there, to the left. I climbed up the bank to call the paramedics and he drove at me.”

  “He drove at you?” Shock etched the face of the sheriff.

  Lucy nodded. “He was mad, that much was obvious.”

  Jenkins threw out some instructions to other officers and sent them down to search the wreck of the red truck at the bottom.

  “And he just drove over the edge?”

  “I don’t know if he intended to, but yeah.” Her leg was starting to hurt, a deep throbbing within the joints. “I don’t want Nicole hearing about it right now…or the girls, especially Storm.” There was a lot of shouting from below. They were bringing Nicole up.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  The girls arrived at the hospital with Lucy. Nicole was being brought in separately. For Lucy it was torturous. She wanted to be with the girls, to make sure they were okay. Not just physically; they had been frightened and were still worried. Lucy knew this was the moment she would step up and be the parent they all wanted her to be, but she was scared herself. Everybody assured her that the girls would be fine, that Nicole was fine, but she needed to see for herself.

  She was sitting in a treatment room. Summer had climbed into her lap, and Rain was clinging to her arm. Storm was quietly sitting against the wall on a bench. The quiet was interrupted when a tall, dark-haired man in a white coat walked in.

  “How are you doing?” he asked, kind eyes staring directly at Lucy before sweeping the room and acknowledging the girls. “Can I take a look?“

  “Sure, but I am fine. Can you tell me about Nicole?” They all wanted to know where she was and when they could see her. Summer turned and burrowed into Lucy’s chest.

  “You have a gash on your forehead that probably needs stitching,” he said, noting the amount of blood that was seeping through the makeshift bandage. “And, you’re limping. I’d like to take a look at your leg.”

  “There isn’t a need to do that, my limp isn’t related to this accident,” she explained, not really wanting to go into further details.

  “Well, that’s good. And, your arm?”

  Lucy looked down at her left arm, wrapped around Summer. She could see a massive bruise appearing. Her head now felt sore. She had been running on adrenaline so far and had barely felt a thing until the doctor started pointing things out.

  His name tag read Dr. L. Lau. Lucy allowed him to take a hold of her arm. He gently pressed around the area as he occasionally glanced up at Lucy. She kept her eyes on him the entire time.

  “I
think you might be lucky, it doesn’t appear to be broken,” he explained gently placing Lucy’s arm back down. “So, can I take a look at your head?”

  “Can it wait, please? I need to find—” He didn’t take any notice and began to remove the bandage from Lucy’s forehead.

  “Nicole, yes…” He held up a mirror to Lucy’s face. She had a half-inch long gash on her forehead that was bleeding quite profusely down her face. It was one of the reasons why the children had been so frightened.

  “Okay.” Lucy nodded. “Do it. But then I want to know about Nicole.” Summer jumped down and sat with Storm.

  “Of course, I will be as fast as I can, but I won’t rush it as it will scar.”

  “Doc, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it isn’t really going to make a difference to my face.”

  The doctor blushed slightly. Of course, he had noticed the scar on the woman’s face, but that didn’t mean he had to make it worse. “I will do my job properly, thank you,” he said, smiling at her.

  “Can I make a quick call?” Lucy asked.

  The doctor nodded. Rita answered after just a few rings.

  ~E&F~

  “What’s happening?” Rita asked worriedly as she rounded the curtain to find the doctor finishing off the last stitch on Lucy’s face.

  “I don’t know, they haven’t told me anything.” She grimaced, the last stitch tugging a little as the Lidocaine wore off. When he was done stitching and had cleaned up Lucy’s face, Dr. Lau left them alone to go and deal with another patient.

  “Would you sit with the girls while I go and ask someone?” Lucy said, standing from the bed she had been lying on. She was a little unsteady on her feet. Her leg ached from all the activity of the last few hours. Painkillers would kick in soon, but in the meantime, she had to grin and bear it.

  Rain had fallen asleep. Rita had brought some magazines with her and Storm had grabbed one. She was reading quietly to Summer about the actress that played Andi Stark, her favourite TV cop. Shelly Hamlin had just announced her relationship with another woman. Storm thought it was exciting that her Mom was just like Shelly.

  “Of course, go, go.” Rita waved her off.

  Lucy kissed each child on the forehead. “I’ll be right back, soon as I find out what’s happening with Mummy. Stay here with Rita and be good girls, okay?”

  As she stepped outside of the room, her phone rang. She admonished herself for not having turned it off. Pulling it from her pocket, she saw that it was Sheriff Jenkins calling, and so she answered.

  ~E&F~

  The emergency room was hectic. Reception was busy and the staff there were already dealing with other people, taking phone calls and organising doctors. Lucy waited patiently in line and tried not to think about the reasons why it was taking so long to find Nicole. She was worried, even as she considered the facts and tried to keep herself calm. The accident was bad, but it could have been so much worse. Everyone seemed to be okay, Nicole was talking and alert. So, she should be fine. That’s what she kept telling herself while she waited.

  Finally, she reached the front of the queue. “Hi, I need to find Nicole Granger. She was uh, she uh was brought in earlier,” Lucy stuttered as the woman on reception stared at her scarred face. “Car accident. She’s pregnant.” The woman looked down at her keyboard and typed in Nicole’s name.

  “Yes, we have her. I’ll get someone to come over and speak to you.” Before Lucy could even thank her, she was already addressing the next person in the queue. Lucy stepped aside and waited, again.

  When a nurse came out and ushered her towards a small room, Lucy thought the worst. Her jaw clenched as she prepared herself mentally.

  “What is happening? Why won’t you let me see Nicole? Where is she? I want to see her now.” The questions tumbled out. She had no control over it.

  “Ma’am, I am going to take you through, but I need to explain a few things first, okay?” The nurse spoke gently, her hand guiding Lucy by the elbow as they moved inside the side room.

  “Just tell me straight,” Lucy said. She sat down slowly and waited, her breath held.

  “Nicole is in labour.”

  “What? I need to…” The nurse placed a hand on Lucy’s arm and gently pushed her back into a sitting position.

  “She is in labour, but the baby is in distress. We need to help him or her out a little,” she explained.

  “What does that mean? Are they both alright?”

  “Yes, they are both in very good hands. Obviously, the baby is a little earlier than planned. We think because of the shock of the crash, the little one has decided time’s up.” She smiled and sat down beside Lucy. “The baby is just under 34 weeks, so we're hopeful that everything has developed along as it should do, but the baby will be placed in the neonatal intensive care unit just to be on the safe side.”

  “And Nicole?”

  “Will hopefully give birth naturally but, if the baby becomes even more distressed, then we are prepared to do a C-section. Either way, there is nothing to worry about, you’re going to be a mama again anytime now,” she said, standing and smiling. “So, come on then, let’s go see Mom.”

  Lucy followed like a lost child, hands firmly in her pockets as they walked along a brightly lit corridor to a small room.

  Entering, the first thing she heard was Nicole swearing.

  “Honey, what’s wrong?” Lucy said, rushing to her side. “You said she was okay.” She reached for Nicole’s hand as she spoke over her shoulder back at the nurse.

  “Okay?!” Nicole shouted. “I am not okay. I am in agony; this baby is trying to kill me!” Nicole’s face scrunched up in pain as another contraction hit.

  “Oh.”

  “Yes, OH! Where the hell have you been?” she continued to shout. Every contraction had been getting longer and more painful. She hated being by herself, and even though she understood that Lucy and the girls needed to be checked over, rationality had gone out of the window. The baby kicking while she was in the car waiting to be helped out had been uncomfortable, but she hadn’t been in labour until her waters broke as they were bringing her up the hill. Lucy was with the girls and so, she just assumed they would let Lucy know.

  The grip on Lucy’s hand was like a vice. “They wouldn’t let me see you till...”

  “Till what?” Nicole asked, only now finally opening her eyes from the pain of the last contraction to really look at Lucy. “Oh my God, you have stitches. Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine. The kids are fine, they are with Rita.”

  “I want to see them,” Nicole sobbed. Lucy looked to the nurse, who just nodded with a smile.

  “Okay, I’ll go and get them then.”

  “No, don’t leave me again.” She sobbed more.

  “Okay, but...” Lucy was confused now, what the hell was she meant to do? “So, you don’t want to see...”

  “Of course I do, I want my babies.”

  “Right, I will be less than 2 minutes, alright? But I have to leave to go and get them. I promise you I will be back in 2 minutes,” she said, kissing Nicole’s cheek. Unclasping her watch, she handed it to Nicole. “See, you check on me. Two minutes.” And she was off. She ran out of the labour room and into the corridor that led back to the ER. She forgot all about the pain she was in. Rounding the corner, she found the room where she had left them all. She opened the door and found four sets of eyes looking up at her expectantly.

  “Come on, I found Mummy and she wants to see you all.” She grabbed Rain and Summer under her arms, and with Storm and Rita both giving chase, she led them through the corridors, back the way she had just come until she came flying through the door of the labour room.

  “You’re 20 seconds late!” Nicole cried, and then gasped in pain as another contraction rocked through her. Placing the twins gently to the ground, Lucy moved quickly to take her hand and feel the vice like grip almost shatter her phalanges.

  “Mommy!” Summer called out. She tried to run to Nicole,
but Rita grabbed a hold of her.

  “It’s okay, baby.” Nicole smiled, gritting her teeth as the contraction slowly eased. Rita loosened her grip, and both Summer and Rain edged closer to their mother, both of them frowning with concern. “It’s just the baby coming.”

  “The baby is hurting you?” Summer asked. She pulled at the covers and tried to climb up.

  “No…yes…It’s not…” Nicole didn’t quite know how to explain.

  “So, are we ready for the rest of the birds and the bees discussion now then, Darling?” Lucy grinned, grabbing Summer and stopping her from her attempted ascent. She was aware of the glare she had just gotten. “Anyhow, so as you can see girls, Mommy is fine.”

  Rain tugged at Lucy’s sleeve to be lifted. When she was high enough, she dipped her head down to Nicole’s tummy and spoke to the baby. “Yay baby, come on out so we can play.”

  The baby gave a little kick.

  ~E&F~

  Rita took the girls home with her, once Lucy promised to call as soon as there was any news. At first, they didn’t want to leave, but Rita had promised they could stay up and wait for Lucy’s call. She knew they would all be asleep long before that happened, but it had placated them, and she ushered them out of the room with a wave and a smile, leaving Lucy to deal with Nicole and the imminent arrival.

  “I need to get up,” Nicole suddenly said while already moving to stand.

  “Woah! Hold up, let me help you?” Lucy said, quickly jumping to her feet to be by her side. Nicole’s gown lifted slightly when she pulled back the cover and revealed an almighty bruise on her right thigh and hip.

  “Jesus, why didn’t you say you were hurt?” Lucy gasped.

  “I’m fine, it’s a bruise from the door. It isn’t anything to worry about. I have been prodded and checked by several professionals. I am okay, Lucy.” She spoke gently, knowing how tough this whole thing was on Lucy; not just the baby coming early, which was stressful for them both, but the crash. It had to have brought up issues for Lucy. “I’m more worried about you right now,” she whispered as Lucy leant her forehead against Nicole’s.

  “Me?”