Illicit Affairs (Andy Barber x OC)

14 - Warmth and Grief

Andy's feet quickened their pace as he scanned the room numbers along the hospital corridor, trying to find Rose's one. Finally, he came to it and walked in, seeing her lying with her head turned away from the door, looking out of the window. It was a light and airy room, but the situation was anything but that. 

She slowly turned her head to the side to see who had come in and then her face crumpled as she realised it was him.

"Oh my god..." He murmured and walked over to her, kissing her head. "What the hell happened?"

Her voice was a whisper, almost robotic. She was still in shock. "I lost the baby..." and then looked away from him, tears sliding down her cheeks.

Andy's heart shattered. "What..."

"They told me when I came around...it's gone, just...gone..." He took her hand and kissed it, the pain surging through him at the news. "I have nothing left..." Rose finished.

"That's not true, you still have me."

"No I don't. She has you. The baby was the only thing that really made you stay wasn't it? It was the last piece of you I had and now it's been taken from me!" She wailed, an anguished scream escaping from her, and he held her close. Rocking her as she sobbed violently into his chest.

He felt numb. She thought he didn't love her, no matter how many times he'd told her. She didn't believe him? Had she believed him at all throughout the duration of their affair? "Rose, look at me..." She didn't, "Look at me!" He told her firmly and was met with her pale and fractured look. "I stayed for both of you. You hear me? I stayed because I love you. Nothing can change that. ok?"

Rose nodded silently and lay back against the pillows as Andy now surveyed her injuries. Broken wrist, bruised ribs, twisted ankle and head trauma that thankfully wasn't severe. "What happened?" He asked gently as he took her uninjured hand and squeezed it, thumb caressing her skin.

"I fell..."

"How."

Why did he not believe her?

"Lost my footing bringing something down from the bedroom..."

It was a lie. He could tell, he wasn't an ADA for nothing. Years of court cases had shown that. "Stop lying and tell me the truth." His eyes met with hers. "What are you hiding?" Andy was desperate to know why, but whether she told him was a different matter altogether.

Rose looked away for a moment or so until he heard the words that made his blood run cold.

"She pushed me..."

What...

He leant across and gently turned her face so he could make her look at him again. "Who?" He demanded, knowing who it was. He needed confirmation. "Who pushed you?"

"Laurie." And then she turned away once more as Andy began to come to terms with what his wife had done.

"Rose...did she know?" he asked, trying to piece everything together, just as he would with a case.

Rose didn't look back. "She knows everything. She saw my message on your phone when you were in Mexico. She messaged me yesterday because she said she needed to talk about something that happened there." She explained to him. "She said she had a headache so I showed her to the bathroom upstairs where she could freshen up, then she came out with it...so I told her exactly what I've been dying to tell her. I confirmed everything, and then told her about the baby. She pushed me and I went back and down the stairs..." She paused and then looked at him darkly, "This is my punishment. For everything I've done, I never deserved you or our baby, and so it was taken from me. I deserve everything I get."

"You deserve the world and more!" He told her frantically.

"So why is this happening to me?" She asked quietly. "Why is everything stopping us from being together Andy? Because it's killing me the more time we spend apart!"

The feeling was a mixture of anguish, confusion, and anger for both of them. Rose had spent the last few hours since regaining consciousness trying to piece together just why she was reprimanded, and why the baby had to pay for her actions.

Andy said nothing but stared into space.

Laurie had pushed her. She knew what she was doing, she knew exactly how much harm could be caused. It was a deliberate act. 

He needed to get home and speak to her.

Checking the time on his phone he saw a message. Just taking Jacob for his hair appointment, can you not pack up the coffee machine just yet? L x

She wouldn't be back until later that afternoon, but Andy would be ready to confront her and tell her that he was done. With her and their marriage. They could figure out Jacob's custody along with the divorce, but tonight he was going to pack up the rest of his bags and go.

"I'll come back later; I promise." He leant down and kissed her. "I love you so damn much. We'll get through this."

Rose nodded. "They're gonna keep me in for a few more days. More for the head injury than anything else." There was some bitterness to her tone.

"And I'll be back tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after depending on how long they keep you for. I'm here, it's just us now ok? Just us." 

Getting home, the house was silent. Boxes in every room where they'd begun to pack up.  Well, Laurie had started but he'd been doing most of the leg work. Andy shrugged off his coat and looked around. Jake and Laurie weren't back yet and so to take his mind off everything, he packed the bags he needed and then moved onto finishing up where he'd started on the living room the day before. 

Looking across to the trash can he saw something in there and plucked it from the bag. 

Jacob's baby book? What was that doing in there? 

Deep down he knew why. Laurie's attitude had shifted towards their son since the whole Hope Connors thing on holiday. Now she'd gone and dumped his baby album like it was just trash to her? Like she could just throw Jake away? 

Andy took out his phone and called her number.  

No answer. 

He called again. 

Nothing. 

"For fuck sake Laurie pick up." He growled to himself as once again he was met with voicemail over and over again. 

He gave up. She was probably ignoring him because she knew that he'd tell her he was leaving her for Rose. He'd not told her where he was going this morning after the hospital had called so she may not have known that he knew of Rose's 'accident'. Or perhaps she did? And that was why she wasn't taking any calls. 

She'd have to come home sometime though and face him. 

Sometime later there was a knock at the front door, and Andy made his way to answer, seeing two officers at the door. "Andrew Barber?" 

"Yeah? That's me."  Something was wrong. He knew that instantly. 

"I'm Officer Johnson and this is Officer Wilde - would it be ok if we came in?" 

Andy looked at them, knowing what was going to come next. "Just tell me..."  As much as he knew deep down, nothing could prepare him for the next words that he heard. 

"Mr Barber i'm afraid there's been an accident involving your wife and son..."