The Reunion- A Waterloo Road Fanfiction

Chapter Nine

One hour later...

When they arrived at the hospital, Bolton was immediately rushed away to the Operating Theatre. Eddie and Rachel had been escorted to a seating area to wait for news and updates on his condition.

It had only been an hour, but every minute had felt like a lifetime for both Rachel and Eddie. Kim had called to say that she was going to her Mum's to check on Dexter, and then she was going to stop by her house and Rachel's to get them both a change of clothes.

Rachel hadn't sat down since they'd arrived. She physically couldn't. Instead, she paced up and down the waiting room, her mind and heart going at a million miles an hour. One of the Nurses had offered to check her and the baby over, but she had refused. She didn't need treatment, Bolton did. Bolton probably had a dozen life-threatening injuries; all she had was the inability to stop shaking, an aching back and Braxton hicks coming and going every twenty minutes.

Eddie was getting dizzy from watching her pace up and down. He hadn't minded so much at first. He knew that she paced up and down when she was stressed or anxious. But it was getting ridiculous now, especially as she had picked up her pace in the last fifteen minutes.

"Rach, will you please sit down?" he requested

Rachel shook her head frantically.

"Rachel, please?" he begged

"I'm fine, Eddie" she insisted

"No, you're not. Sit down" he instructed, a little more forcefully

"No!" she snapped

"Rachel, SIT DOWN!" he ordered

Rachel huffed, slamming herself down onto the chair next to him. She scowled at him.

"Happy?" she grumbled sarcastically, rolling her eyes

Eddie knew she was hurting and that she was worried. He was feeling both of those things too. What had happened tonight should never have happened. She was blaming herself, even though it wasn't her fault. What had happened was probably bringing up memories of Adam's death too.

He took her hand into his own, sighing in relief when she didn't pull away from him.

His heart threatened to break in two as she completely broke down, placing her head in her hands as she sobbed. Eddie pulled her into a hug, holding onto her tightly as her body shook with sobs.

"How did things get so bad for him, Eddie?" she blurted, pulling away from him

"I... don't know, Rach"

"Even if he pulls through, he'll have life changing injuries" she whispered

Eddie squeezed her hand gently.

"How am I going to tell his Mum?" she panicked, her eyes welling up with more tears

"The hospital will do that, Rach. That isn't your job" Eddie told her

"No, no. I need to tell her myself" she insisted

She took her phone out of her bag, scrolling down her contacts list until she found Candice's number. She took a deep breath before pressing the call button. To her surprise, she was met with a beeping noise on the other end of the line.

"The number isn't connected" she sighed, putting her phone back into her bag

"She's probably changed her number. Don't worry, Rach. The hospital will have an up to date number. If not, Bolton can give it to them when he wakes up" he reassured

"If. If he wakes up, Eddie" Rachel pointed out

"He will, Rach"

Usually, Rachel liked Eddie's optimism. But right now, he was being naive.

She was about to tell him that he couldn't possibly know that, when another pain tore through her stomach. One thing was for certain, she wouldn't miss these Braxton hicks' contractions!

Noticing she was in pain again, Eddie rubbed his hand up and down her arm in an attempt to comfort her as she took deep, shaky breaths. This was the fourth pain she had, had in the space of an hour. He had been secretly timing them, just in case. Rachel seemed to be adamant they were just Braxton hicks, but he wasn't so sure.

The pain died away again. Rachel leaned her head against the wall. Her eyes met with Eddie's. She brushed off the look of concern he was giving her.

"Are you sure you're ok?" he asked

She nodded.

"I'm fine"