New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollow

by Jessica Redland

  ‘Any change? Sam asked, re-appearing with a throw from the lounge draped over one arm, a couple of cushions, her medical bag and a golf brolly.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Damn. It’s been longer than a minute.’ She opened out the brolly and thrust it at me. ‘Can you hold this over her and phone for an ambulance?’

  Shading Beth from the afternoon sun, my hands shook as I dialled 999. While I gave the details to the emergency services operator, Sam worked calmly and quickly. She placed the cushions under Beth’s legs to elevate them and dug her stethoscope out of her bag. I felt so proud of her but also so ashamed of my own behaviour. I’d shouted at and walked away from a pregnant woman twice. Yes, she was my ex and she’d behaved deplorably but had my behaviour really been any better?

  ‘Baby sounds good but Beth’s pulse is racing,’ Sam told me, which I relayed to the operator.

  ‘There’ll be a first responder with us in about ten minutes,’ I said, disconnecting the call. ‘An ambulance could be up to half an hour.’

  ‘Thanks. We’ll need it. Even if she comes round soon, she’ll need checking over in hospital after her fall.’

  She put her stethoscope back in her bag. ‘Can you keep talking to her? She knows your voice so she’s more likely to respond to yours than mine.’

  I crouched down beside her. ‘Beth? It’s Josh. Can you hear me? We need you to wake up.’

  Beth released a soft moan and her eyes started to flicker.

  ‘Keep going,’ Sam encouraged.

  ‘That’s great, Beth. Try again. You collapsed but you’re okay. Can you hear me?’ It felt so alien to be speaking to her in gentle tones when all our recent exchanges had been full of anger and bitterness.

  Beth murmured something as her eyes flickered open but it wasn’t coherent.

  ‘It’s Samantha and Josh,’ Sam said, loud and clear. ‘You’re at the farm and you fainted. There’s an ambulance on its way.’

  She murmured again.

  ‘We can’t hear you,’ I said. ‘Does somewhere hurt? Is it the baby?’

  Beth’s eyes flickered once more. ‘Archie?’

  Sam looked at me questioningly. My dad’s name was Paul and I had no idea who… ‘Oh shit! The baby!’ I dropped the brolly and pelted towards the farmyard. Please don’t say he’s trapped in the car in this heat.

  My heart pounded as I neared Beth’s car and spotted the Eeyore ‘baby on board’ sign displayed in the back window. There he was – a sleeping baby lolling in his car seat. Or at least I hoped he was sleeping.

  I grabbed at the back door handle and then the front one. ‘It’s locked,’ I yelled in Sam’s direction as I raced round the car, trying the other two doors and the boot.

  I frantically scanned for something with which to smash the window but there was nothing. I was about to run into the rescue centre, my mind racing as to what I could use when Sam ran towards me, arm outstretched.

  ‘I’ve got the keys,’ she called. Seconds later, the locks clicked open and I flung the back door open, recoiling at the heat. I swiftly unclipped the straps, grabbed Archie and stepped back clutching him protectively against my chest.

  Sam reached the car.

  ‘It’s boiling inside,’ I told her, lifting Archie away from my chest. His eyes were closed and his face was red but he was breathing.

  ‘We need to get him cool and hydrated,’ she said, reaching for him. ‘Look for a changing bag. I need a bottle or a sippy cup. I’ll be in the kitchen.’

  ‘Do you think he’ll be okay?’

  Her eyes widened. ‘I honestly don’t know but I hope so.’

  16

  Samantha

  I ran back towards the farmhouse with Archie in my arms.

  ‘I’ve got him,’ I called as I rushed past Beth.

  In the kitchen, I opened a drawer containing hand towels and tea towels, scooped up the entire pile and dumped them on the table. With one hand, I lay out one of the towels, placed Archie on it and swiftly removed his T-shirt and trousers.

  ‘The first responder’s coming down the track,’ Josh said, bursting through the door with a changing bag. ‘Do you need me or should I be with Beth?’

  ‘Me first. Can you wet one of those towels with cold water and bring it to me? Then fill the washing up bowl with cold water and bring me that.’

  Moments later, I gently lay the wet towel across Archie’s body. He kicked out his arms and legs in protest and released a loud wail. A good sign.

  Josh turned off the tap and placed the bowl on the table beside me. ‘Did we get to him in time?’ he asked, his voice shaky.

  ‘I think so. Can you see if there’s a cup in the bag?’ I dunked another towel in the water.

  Josh produced a sippy cup from one of the bag’s side pockets. ‘It feels hot.’

  ‘Tip it out and fill it with the cooled down water from the kettle.’

  I wrung the second towel out and dabbed Archie’s face with it before placing it across his legs. Josh handed me the cup.

  ‘Thanks. How old is he?’

  Josh’s brow furrowed, suggesting he was calculating it. ‘Nearly eleven months I think.’

  I propped Archie up and held the cup to his lips. After he’d taken a couple of eager glugs I looked up at Josh. ‘Can you check on Beth now and tell the first responder what’s happened?’

  With one more anxious look at his half-brother, he left the kitchen and I released a long breath.

  ‘I know, sweetheart,’ I said as Archie scrunched up his eyes, balled his fists and started to howl. ‘You’re going to be okay. And so is your mummy.’

  As I swapped over the towels, I lightly stroked the side of Archie’s cooling face and hoped I wasn’t lying on either count.

  Josh and I stood shoulder to shoulder as Beth was wheeled into the back of the ambulance. Archie, cooled down and now in his baby carrier, was secured in place.

  I slipped my hand into Josh’s. ‘Give me a call and I’ll pick you up when you’re ready.’

  He didn’t say anything but he squeezed my hand. I could only imagine the turmoil he was going through right now. An ambulance journey with the ex-girlfriend he despised and the half-brother he’d never wanted to meet wasn’t how he’d have wanted to spend the afternoon.

  Beth hadn’t had to ask him to accompany her and I hadn’t needed to suggest it; he’d stepped up and offered which couldn’t have been easy.

  He sighed. ‘I’m going to have to phone him, aren’t I?’

  ‘He needs to know. Do you want me to do it?’

  ‘No. It’s not fair on you. I’ll ring him from the ambulance.’

  ‘All ready if you want to clamber in,’ said one of the paramedics.

  Josh kissed the top of my head. ‘I’ll see you later.’

  The pained expression in his eyes was the last thing I saw before the doors were closed and the ambulance pulled away.

  17

  Josh

  I hated leaving Sam on her own after everything she’d been through this weekend but even I knew it would be wrong to abandon Beth no matter how much I despised her. Having her collapse had been bad enough but the situation with Archie had been terrifying. For a brief moment, anger had surged through me at her careless ineptitude leaving a baby in the car like that – like those thoughtless imbeciles who left their dogs to cook while nipping to the pub or the supermarket – and I’d had to remind myself that she’d never have done that intentionally. Dropping to the ground unconscious wouldn’t have been part of her plan.

  ‘Paul,’ Beth murmured.

  I clenched my teeth as I removed my phone from my jeans pocket. The last person I wanted to speak to right now was him, but it had to be done and I was the only one who could do it.

  ‘There’s no service,’ I told her.

  ‘Keep trying.’ Her eyes pleaded with me.

  I kept checking my phone all the way to the hospital but the signal was too weak. The thought of speaking to him after all this time was seriously gri
m and I was unwilling to prolong the experience with a horrendous I-can’t-hear-you broken-up conversation. It would have to wait until we got to Reddfield Hospital. Except, when we arrived, it made more sense to me to find out where they were taking Beth first. Procrastination at its best.

  ‘Promise you won’t leave,’ Beth whispered as the back door to the ambulance opened. She grabbed for my hand but missed. I told myself I’d be in the way if I reached out and took her hand but that was a lie. I could have done. If I’d wanted to.

  ‘Please,’ she pleaded, her voice stronger as they wheeled out her stretcher. ‘I’m scared.’

  ‘Okay,’ I agreed. With a sigh, I picked up the baby carrier. Archie was fast asleep, his cheeks red, his rosebud lips pouting. I swept his dark hair back from his forehead then followed the stretcher in a daze, gazing down at my sleeping half-brother. Around me, information was being passed between medical staff and, when an auburn-haired nurse reached for the baby carrier, I had to force myself to release my tight grip on the handle.

  ‘You’ll look after him?’ It was such a stupid thing to say. Of course they would.

  The nurse gave me a gentle smile. ‘I’m Anna and he’s in good hands. Are you Dad?’

  I shook my head. ‘No. I’m his…’ I couldn’t bring myself to say the words out loud. ‘I’m not related.’

  ‘Then why don’t you make yourself comfortable in the waiting room down there and to the right?’

  A set of double doors to the left automatically opened and, moments later, they disappeared out of sight leaving me standing in the corridor, alone.

  Not related to Archie. I’d told myself that lie so many times that I’d almost believed it.

  I had felt some sort of momentary connection towards him but it wasn’t because of who he was. It was only because we’d been through something traumatic together. He could have been a random stranger and I’d have felt something if I’d been the one to help save him.

  I ran my hands through my hair and sighed. I couldn’t keep putting off the inevitable. I made my way out of the main entrance and past a couple of patients wearing hospital gowns, drawing greedily on cigarettes right under the enormous ‘No Smoking’ sign.

  As I made the call, I willed it to go to voicemail, yet knew I wasn’t going to be that fortunate.

  ‘Josh? Is that you?’ He sounded uncertain.

  ‘Yes.’ It was more of a sound than a fully formed word.

  ‘It’s so great to hear from you. How are you?’ He sounded genuinely delighted and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t have an everyday friendly conversation with him. I couldn’t ask him how he was because I didn’t care. I couldn’t feign interest or compassion, especially after the experience I’d just had.

  ‘Beth collapsed and she’s on ward two at Reddfield Hospital with your kid,’ I said, my voice completely devoid of any sort of emotion. And then I hung up. I leaned back against the brick wall and released a slow, shaky breath.

  My phone started ringing, the caller ID of ‘TWAT’ flashing up. It was childish of me to have done that to his number but I’d been livid with him at the time and it was tame compared to what I could have called him.

  ‘What?’ I snapped as I reluctantly accepted the call.

  ‘What the hell are you playing at, saying something like that then hanging up?’

  My jaw clenched. How dare he be angry with me after what he’d done. ‘What the hell am I playing at?’ I cried. ‘Do you really want to play that game?’

  He sighed. ‘Are they okay?’ he asked in a softer voice.

  ‘I believe so.’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘It means I believe so. They’re being checked out.’

  ‘Reddfield Hospital, you say?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I’ll be there as soon as I can.’

  And now I had a dilemma. Stay and face him or go? I’d hated that man for a year and a half. As far as I was concerned, he was out of my life and I wasn’t ready for him to be catapulted right back into it but Beth had made me promise to stay. And there was Archie. I needed to know he was okay… but only because Sam would want to know.

  Back inside the hospital, I bought a coffee then headed into the waiting room and did the only thing I could. Waited.

  About an hour later, there was still no sign of him. Anna – the nurse who’d taken Archie from me – appeared with the baby carrier and the changing bag slung over her shoulder. Archie was wide awake, kicking his legs and chewing on a brightly coloured, caterpillar-shaped teething toy.

  ‘Beth tells me you’re this little man’s half-brother,’ she announced, placing the carrier on the empty chair beside me. I could hear the unspoken question: Why didn’t you say so earlier?

  ‘It’s complicated,’ I muttered.

  She smiled. ‘Isn’t it always?’ She placed the bag on the floor by my feet. ‘The good news is that young Archie here is absolutely fine. His temperature’s normal, his fluids are topped up and there’s no need for us to do any further observation. Mum’s going for a scan and she was keen for him to be with his family in the meantime. So are you okay if I leave him with you?’ It was obvious from her tone that it was a statement rather than a question so I nodded.

  ‘Good,’ she said. ‘He’s had a change too so all he needs from his big brother is plenty of cuddles.’

  She’d smiled at me and been friendly enough but I felt well and truly chastised. Probably my own guilt at refusing to have anything to do with an innocent baby who’d had no influence over his parentage.

  Aware that the handful of other people in the waiting room were watching me, most not even trying to disguise it, I unclipped the straps and lifted Archie out of his carrier. I wasn’t used to handling babies and was probably doing it all wrong but hoped that I was giving off ‘back-off’ vibes. There was a time and a place for ‘helpful’ advice from strangers and this was definitely not it.

  I sat Archie on my lap and turned him towards me so I could study his face. He kept pulling the caterpillar out of his mouth, showering me with slobber as he waved it around, then shoving it back in his mouth for another chew.

  He’d inherited the Alderson colouring with his dark hair and brown eyes. I could visualise baby photos of me and the resemblance was striking. Uncanny, in fact. Oh no! No way! My shoulders tensed for a moment and I held my breath … then slowly released it and relaxed. No, he definitely wasn’t mine. Beth would have had to have been pregnant for about eleven months for there to be any possibility of that. At least that part of our situation wasn’t complicated. The resemblance was simply down to us sharing the same father.

  I held out my index finger towards him. Archie grabbed it with a slobbery hand and I felt a warm feeling in the pit of my stomach as he fixed his dark eyes on mine, smiled, and waggled my finger.

  After a while, he started grizzling so I wandered over to the window with him. The hospital was built in a quad and the waiting room overlooked the gardens in the middle where patients and visitors were sitting on benches or ambling along the pathways.

  ‘What can you see?’ I self-consciously asked him in the sort of sing-song voice adults seemed to use when talking to babies. ‘Can you see that little girl over there?’ I pointed towards a toddler pushing a toy pushchair. ‘She’s got a penguin in her buggy. Do you like penguins?’ Something about the word ‘penguin’ seemed to amuse him. His eyes sparkled and he jiggled with excitement in my arms, so I continued, emphasising the word each time. ‘I love penguins but I’ve never treated one at the practice. We don’t get many penguins round here. Do you know where penguins live? They live in—'

  ‘Josh?’

  My whole body tensed as I slowly turned to face my estranged father. He looked absolutely knackered and I couldn’t help feeling it served him right for starting over with babies in his fifties. He’d always been slim but he’d lost weight – sleepless nights no doubt taking their toll. His dark hair was cropped short and peppered with grey. Pr
esumably that was Beth’s influence, trying to make him look younger and trendier, although he must have drawn the line at having it dyed. I bet she repeatedly nagged him about it. She’d no doubt get her own way eventually. As always.

  He glanced down at the baby in my arms then narrowed his eyes at me. ‘Why have you got Archie? And why was Beth with you?’ He might as well have asked me if I was sleeping with her because the sharp edge to his voice and the suspicious expression on his face suggested that was what he meant.

  Biting back a tirade of verbal abuse, I straightened up and fixed him with a hard stare. ‘Your girlfriend seems to be okay and should be back from her scan shortly and your son is in good health too. I think that’s what you meant to ask.’ I’d managed to keep my voice low but bitterness clung to every word.

  A vein pulsed in his forehead which I knew to be his tell-tale sign that he was livid. He had no right to be. I was the innocent party in the mess he’d created.

  ‘That would have been my next question,’ he snapped.

  ‘If I was in your situation, it would have been my f—’

  ‘Paul Alderson?’ Anna cut me short as she looked expectantly in our direction.

  He whipped round. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Beth’s asking for you. Do you want to come with me?’ She smiled at us both then turned and left the room.

  Without another glance in my direction, he walked towards the door. I don’t know what possessed me. It was so juvenile and unnecessary but I shouted after him, ‘So I’ll just continue to look after your son, should I, while you check on my ex-girlfriend?’

  He marched back to me, grabbed Archie and gave me such a filthy look. ‘She was my girlfriend first,’ he hissed then snatched up the baby carrier and bag and stormed out of the waiting room.