Lee's stomach turned as he hurried to Chloe as she lay in a crumpled heap on the floor at the foot of the stairs. As soon as he reached her, he flung himself to the ground beside her, his stomach churning nervously as she swallowed and slowly sat up, shuffling over to the base of the stairs. Her gaze remained fixed on the ground as she rested the side of her head against the bottom step, biting her lip to try and control the pain that she was feeling. Lee watched her closely, numb from shock at what he'd just witnessed. He knew that for as long as he lived, that he would never forget the sight of Chloe tumbling down the stairs. His gaze flickered to her left wrist when she took it in her hand, wincing slightly as she held it tightly, trying to keep it still.
"What the hell is going on through here?!" Duncan exclaimed as he hurried into the hallway, his eyes darting between Lee and Chloe as he took in the scene.
"We have to take Chloe to hospital." Lee said firmly, trying to suppress the panic that he was feeling. He quickly stood up, taking charge of the situation to try and control the intense fear that was swirling around his stomach.
"Did she fall down the stairs or something?" Duncan asked, suddenly making the connection between the sounds that he had heard coming from the hallway. Lee nodded slowly, quickly pulling on his jacket and shoes.
"Can you drive us, so that I can keep an eye on her?" Lee asked, swallowing the dry lump that was rising in his throat.
"Yeah sure." Duncan said quietly. Chloe's eyes flickered upwards when Lee appeared in front of her, his face mere inches from hers.
"C'mon Chlo, we have to go." he told her firmly. He quickly reached out to take her hands, pulling her to her feet. She cried out in pain, pulling her wrist out of his grasp. Chloe winced as she landed roughly on the floor.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." Lee muttered, his stomach churning with guilt as he watched her gently massaging her sore wrist.
"I think I've broken my wrist." she admitted, gritting her teeth in pain.
"It's instinct to put your hand down when you have a fall." Duncan told her, when he quickly reappeared, holding his car keys.
"I was trying to protect the baby." she whispered. Lee nodded slowly, swallowing the bile that was rising in his throat that as a result of his argument with Chloe, the two of them could lose their baby. Freyja was so precious to the two of them and he knew that neither of them would be able to cope without her in their lives. Lee hesitated for a moment before carefully scooping Chloe up and holding her carefully in his arms. She resisted him for a brief moment, before realising that she was too weak to fight against him. Lee watched her as she wrapped her arms across her chest, carefully resting her injured wrist against her arm, to try and ease the pain she was feeling.
"I'm sorry." she whispered, snuggling against his collarbone, in a vain attempt to provide herself with some comfort.
"You have nothing to apologise for Chlo." he replied, quickly walking towards the front door, shooting Duncan a small smile when he opened the door for him and allowed him to pass.
"None of this is your fault." he added, carefully placing Chloe into the back of Duncan's car. She nodded slowly, glancing up as Duncan climbed into the driving seat and quickly started the car.
"Can't you come and sit with me?" she mumbled, a note of pleading in her voice as she gazed at Duncan.
"I can sit with you Chlo." Lee piped up, trying to ignore the hurt he was feeling that she was turning to Duncan for support instead of him.
"I'll be fine, you can sit in the front with Duncan." she said quietly.
"I need to keep an eye on you." Lee argued.
"I said I'm fine." she snapped.
"Yeah that's what you said earlier." he snapped back.
"Lee, just stop arguing and get in the car." Duncan said firmly, rolling his eyes as Lee as he glared at him.
"This is wasting time, we need to get her to the hospital." Duncan pointed out. Lee nodded slowly and eventually admitted defeat, quickly climbing into the passenger seat.
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Chloe's eyelids fluttered open, as she squinted in the brightness of the hospital lights. Duncan smiled as she slowly raised her head from his shoulder and locked eyes with him.
"I think they are ready for you Chlo Bo." he told her, glancing at Lee nervously when he felt him watching the two of them closely, unable to tear his eyes away from the love of his life, who was continually pushing him away and turning to another man for comfort in her time of need. Chloe tentatively stood up, quickly reaching out to hold Duncan's shoulder when she felt herself wobbling.
"Do you want me to come with you Chlo?" Lee called after her as she slowly walked towards the doctor that was waiting for her.
"No, I'll be fine." she called back, not quite able to bring herself to be in Lee's presence after his words. Even though she was desperately trying to forget about what he'd said, she couldn't bring herself to move on from it. He'd opened all of her insecurities and she couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever found her beautiful, or whether his words were merely a means to an end. She'd always known in her heart that he was so much better than her and way out of her league, but now she had the final proof. Despite months of him telling her how beautiful she was and how much making love to her was the best sex he'd ever had, he'd confirmed what she had suspected all along.....that it wasn't, and was in his words 'horrible'.
"Okay, take a seat for me please Chloe?" the doctor asked, snapping her out of her thoughts when they finally reached a small room in the hospital. Chloe perched on the end of the bed, watching the doctor as he closed the door behind himself and took a seat beside the bed.
"So, I'm Dr West." he stated, quickly introducing himself.
"I heard that you had a bad fall." he prompted her. Chloe nodded slowly, swallowing the dry lump that was rising in her throat as she was reminded once again of Freyja. She remained silent, gently placing her hand on her lap and carefully massaging her sore wrist.
"Your wrist looks very swollen." he told her, following her eyeline.
"I put my hand down to break my fall." she explained.
"Okay, I'll need to check you over." he said, watching her closely when she nodded slowly. He carefully reached out to take her wrist, gently palpating it.
"Sorry." he said quietly when she winced in pain.
"I think we're going to need to order an X-ray for your wrist." he told her, removing the stethescope from his neck and listening to her heart.
"Your vitals seem fine." he said thoughtfully.
"What caused you to fall, have you been feeling lightheaded at all?" he continued.
"Yes, I wasn't feeling well all day. I have been lightheaded and confused. Almost like an out of body experience." she explained.
"I ended up at a park earlier and I still have no idea how I got there." she mumbled, frowning thoughtfully to herself as she racked her brain to try and remember what had happened.
"And has that happened before?" he asked, nodding slowly when Chloe shook her head.
"I have been really struggling with fatigue though." she told him.
"And how long has that been going on for?" he prompted.
"A few weeks, I just assumed it was because of the pregnancy." she said thoughtfully.
"I think we'll do a blood test as well, just to check on everything. I'll get a nurse to organise that and we can get an x-ray sorted as well." he said, smiling warmly at her.
"My baby will be okay, won't she?!" she called after him as he started to leave the room.
"We'll do an ultrasound scan to check, but I'm sure everything will be fine." he said, trying to reassure her.
"It shouldn't be too long." he smiled.
