Tomorrow Never Dies

Chapter 42 - "Hi, baby"

*Michael's POV*
I sighed as I squeezed Flora's hand only to receive no response - yet again. She'd been out for four hours and I'd been at the hospital for two, as Luke had driven me after I broke down.

I sighed and bent over, my head rested on her stomach. I sighed again and kissed her skin, the coolness against my lips shocking me slightly. I felt a tear roll down my cheek and let it fall onto her stomach, as if praying that her feeling the physical signs of my sadness would wake her up. But she didn't stir.

I closed my eyes, still resting against her, and I was almost awake when I felt the slightest bit of movement. She breathed in, more deeply than the shallow breaths she had been taking, and she groaned quietly.

"Flora?" I tried to keep my voice calm but it was difficult. I never thought I'd see my girlfriend lying still having tried to end her own life. But the movement I'd sensed didn't turn into her open her eyes, and I shut my eyes tight. There was a knock at the door and a doctor stuck his head in.

"Sir, I have a few questions to ask if that's alright," he said, and I nodded. "Is there any chance Miss Lighthawk could be pregnant?"

"No, we use a condom," I told him, not meeting his eye.

"There's elevated levels of progesterone - that's a pregnancy hormone - coming up in her blood tests, there's absolutely no way she could be pregnant?"

"I doubt it but a condom might have broken," I shrugged. "And she's not slept with anyone else, she gets too panicky to cheat."

"Okay, we're going to take bloods again and urine samples," the doctor said, and I nodded. I looked away, needles still slightly freaking me out, but I squeezed her hand, hoping she would feel it. Again, she didn't stir. The doctor went off to run the tests and returned about half an hour later, clinging a clipboard as if his life depended on it.

"What's the news?"

"Mr Clifford-"

"Michael," I interrupted.

"Michael, Flora's body is definitely producing enough progesterone for us to think she could be pregnant. We're going to run an ultrasound to check if there is a foetus, and if there is, if it survived Miss Lighthawk's actions." I nodded.

"What if there's no baby? Or if it's not survived?"

"If there's no foetus, we'll have to find out what's causing the excess progesterone. If the baby didn't survive, we'll treat it as a miscarriage and allow you to deal with it how you see fit." I nodded again as a nurse appeared with what I assumed was the ultrasound machine. The nurse squeezed some gel onto Flora's tiny stomach - how could there be a baby in there? - and then moved a weird looking device over her stomach. I looked at the picture on the screen, frowning, trying to make out what I was seeing. All I could see really was a lot of grey, but the nurse clearly knew what she was looking at.

"Congratulations, sir, your girlfriend is having a baby," she smiled, then wiped the look of happiness off her face. "Of course, we understand this is a lot to take in given what Flora's done this evening, so if you need anything don't hesitate to let us know." I nodded yet again as she wiped the gel off Flora's stomach and left the room. I sighed and spoke softly to the baby growing in my girlfriend's body.

"Hi, baby, it's your daddy," I said, feeling slightly stupid but wanting to do it anyway. "Your mummy's quite sad at the moment, so I need you to help me wake her up, and then help me make her happy." I put my hand on her stomach, barely applying any pressure. "Help your mummy to open her eyes, now." And moments later, she did.