The Reunion- A Waterloo Road Fanfiction

Chapter Eighteen

Three hours later...

Kim woke up with a stiff neck as she took in her surroundings. She sat up, stretching as she looked at the clock. It was 10AM. Had she really only been asleep for three hours?

A whimper pulled her from her thoughts. Her eyes moved over to Rachel, who was still fast asleep. She could see from the monitor next to her bed that she was having a contraction. She figured the pethidine must be doing its job and was a powerful painkiller if Rachel wasn't waking up for contractions. Either that or her labour was slowing down. She hoped for her friend's sake it was the pethidine.

She reached for her phone, which was on the table beside her, sending a text to Eddie to let him know it was ok for him to bring Rachel's hospital bag up. She wasn't entirely sure if he was still in the hospital, or if he had gone home. Knowing Eddie, he would have stayed by Bolton's side, waiting to hear news on both him and Rachel. He was loyal like that.

...

Eddie rubbed his tired eyes as he read the text message from Kim. He was feeling a little dazed. The second he had sat down in the chair beside Bolton's bed, he had fallen asleep. The sound of his phone going off had made him stir from his sleep.

His eyes skimmed over the text message again, having not really registered or processed it the first time. Once he had, he shot up, slinging Rachel's bag onto his shoulder.

His gaze moved briefly to Bolton, who was still unconscious. There had been no change since Eddie had left him to go and get Rachel's hospital bag and come back. Doctor Ryan was still hopeful that he would pull through though. Eddie was beginning to wonder if just him hoping was enough. Bolton was the one who had to want to wake up and choose to live again.

"I'll be right back, mate, ok?" Eddie told him, unsure if Bolton could even hear him

Naturally, there was no response from the teenager lying in the bed, so Eddie made his way out of the room and over to the lift.

The walk to the labour ward was never-ending. Why did it have to be right at the back of the hospital? He just wanted to get to Rachel, to make sure she was ok. He was sure she was, she had Kim by her side.

When he finally arrived at the entrance to the labour ward, a midwife let him through, pointing him in the direction of Rachel's room. He contemplated whether to ask about the midwife who had made the insensitive comment to Rachel about Adam. He was far from impressed, and, even though he hadn't been in the room, was absolutely furious. As if it wasn't difficult enough to be giving birth, she'd had to explain the fact that her husband was dead to a judgmental woman who thought she was deliberately leaving him out. It made him feel sick. He was tempted to go in guns blazing, but he thought better of it. Rachel didn't need that right now.

The silence coming from the other side of Rachel's door made Eddie feel a little nervous. He wasn't really sure what he'd been expecting to hear, but there was no movement coming from the other side of the door at all. Was something wrong? Had things slowed down?

He knocked gently on the door, sighing in relief when Kim stepped out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her. She smiled at him weakly, taking the hospital bag from him.

"How's she doing?" he asked

"She's asleep. The pethidine they gave her seems to have knocked her out" Kim explained with a gentle laugh

Eddie nodded.

"What about the baby?"

"She's fine. I don't think it'll be much longer now. Maybe a few more hours"

"Please tell me she has a different midwife now?"

"Yeah, she does. The other one was finishing her shift anyway" Kim nodded

"Well, there goes my hope of having a stern word with her" Eddie huffed

"I don't think Rachel would have thanked you for that" Kim chuckled

"How's Bolton?" she added

"There's been no change. The Doctor looking after him is hopeful he'll wake up, but I don't know. He has to want to, doesn't he?"

Kim nodded.

"It's a waiting game I suppose"

Eddie nodded.

"I'm going to get a coffee from the cafe and some water for Rachel, do you want anything?" he asked

"I'll have a tea, please. Milk, no sugar"

...

Rachel squinted as the bright white lights of the hospital corridor blinded her. She coughed and gagged a little as the pungent smell of disinfectant wafted up her nose. Her body was stiff, legs cold from resting on marble flooring.

Slowly, she sat up, her eyes adjusting to her surroundings. She was sitting in the middle of an empty, dazzling white, hospital corridor. There were doors leading to rooms, and the reception desk was on her right, but there was no sound. There were no machines beeping, or Doctors, Nurses and patients talking. There were no people. Rachel had expected a Nurse to come running to help her to her feet any second. But no one came. The silence was overwhelmingly peaceful.

Suddenly, she felt two hands lifting her to her feet from behind. Their touch was soft, gentle and oddly familiar.

She turned around, her heart skipping a beat when she saw who was standing in front of her.

Adam.

He was beaming at her in the same way he had on their wedding day. His eyes were sparkling with love. He opened his arms and Rachel didn't hold back. She flung herself at him, leaping into his arms, giggling as he spun her around before putting her back down on the ground, arms resting loosely around her waist.

Rachel found herself speechless as she stood there, staring at him, taking in his features. Her hand brushed across his cheek, feeling his smooth skin.

"You're here" she whispered to him

"I never left, darling" he whispered back

His voice was music to her ears. She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck as she pulled him into a hug. The scent of his aftershave, her favourite scent in the world, made her heart flutter in her chest as she pulled him closer to her.

Suddenly she was aware of the fact that he was as close to her as he could be. She was happy about it of course, but it made her heart fill with dread. She pulled apart from him, running a hand across her now flat stomach. She could feel the emptiness in her womb from where her little girl had once been.

Adam got her attention by brushing a hand over her cheek, the same way he always did when she was worrying or over-thinking. She looked up at him, to see a tiny newborn cradled in his arms.

"She's ours, love" Adam told her, rocking the little girl

Rachel felt her breath hitch in her throat as she watched the two of them. That was their baby. She couldn't stop the smile from forming on her lips, or the tears that welled up in her eyes.

She frowned as he passed the little girl to her, a bright, proud smile on his face.

"She's yours now, darling. Look after her" he whispered

He placed a soft kiss on her forehead before leaning over to do the same to the little girl. Rachel knew what was happening. She reached for his arm.

"Don't go, please?" she begged, a tear rolling down her cheek

Adam smiled softly, pulling away from her.

"I love you" he breathed

"I love you too"

She watched as he walked away down the corridor, disappearing from view.