Public Property (25 page)

‘
Sure
,’ he agreed. He gave Freya’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

‘
It’s OK
,
D
r
.
Stone
.
A
nything you have to tell me
,
you can say in front of Nick
.’

They’d promised no more secrets and, if she was honest, she didn’t want to know something she might feel she had to keep from him. She was good at doing that just lately.

‘
Humour
an old doctor
will
you
,
Freya? At my age I do tend to like my routines
.’ The doctor smiled at her.

‘
It’s OK
,
babe
.
I’ll just be outside and you can fill
me in on what the d
oc says later
.’

‘
I have to admit I really just want to be alone wit
h a pretty young lady. I have to take my chances when they present themselves
.’ Dr. Stone let out a laugh as Nicholas left the room.

Freya propped herself up in the bed and looked straight at the doctor.

‘
Look
,
Dr
.
Stone, can I go home
now? I know what happened to me.
M
y
blood pressure went through the roof
and I passed out. You gave me some vile sedative which is why I feel like crap and my throat feels like I
’
ve swallowed a whole bag of rock hard pork
scratching
s
.’ She threw the sheet off her legs.

‘
Pork what?
’
Dr
.
Stone queried.

‘
Never mind.
Just go and get me whatever form I need to sign to get myself out of here
.’

‘
Freya
,
have you h
ad an episode like this before?’

‘
Yes,
and
the very last time a doctor tried to keep me in hospital against my will he ended up getting admitted himself
.’ She tried to shuffle herself off the bed.

‘
Freya, please hear me out
. I know Nick’
s very wo
rried about you
.’ He put a hand on her arm.

She
sat still on the bed and let out a sigh, avoiding the doctor’s gaze.

‘
Have you had any episodes like this
before?
’ he asked again.

‘
A few
,’ she admitted.

‘
How long ago was the last one?
’ He started making notes on his clipboard.

‘
It was about eight or nine months ago
.
B
ut before that I hadn’t had an attack for
over ten years
.’

‘
And before that
-
ten or so years ago
-
did you have random attacks or was there a
frequency or pattern to things?’

‘
Are you sure you’re an MD and not a shrink?
’

She was finding the questioning uncomfortable. She didn’t like thinking about ten years ago or any time before that.

‘
Is there anything you
’
d like to tell me
,
Freya? Perhaps there
’s
a trigger to the attacks?
’

‘
I had an unsatisfactory parental role model
.
T
hat seemed to affect the frequency
.’

‘
I see and was that a contributing factor to tonight’s attack do you think?
’

‘
Our driver, our friend, was attacked and our car was wrecked
.
I think it had more to do with that
.’

‘
OK, I’m just trying to get a little background on your condition that’s all. Well, we did give you a sedative
,
Freya
.
B
ut I have to tell you your attack tonight was extremely serious. Your body actually went into shock and shock at its most acute form can cause death
.’

‘
Like too much alco
hol, cigarettes and fried food?’

‘
Much more deadly and faster acting that any of those
.
I think your condition is something we should start to monitor carefully
.’

‘
My
condition
?!
Oh
,
D
r
.
Stone
,
I don’t have a
condition
.
It’s a blood pressure and a mild anxiety thing. And like I said
I haven’t had an attack for years
.
I even
went through the deep
-
breathing
-
blowing
-
into
-
a
-
paper
-
bag course
.
I’m fine
,
honestly
.’

‘
Freya
,
it was lucky Nick got you here so quickly or we might not be having this conversation now
.’

‘
I don’t want
tranquilisers
or valium or any other pills that are going to turn me into a head
case
,’ Freya stated.

‘
That’s
fine,
I wasn’t planning on prescribing anything at present
. And that
leads me on to the next issue
.’

‘
The next issue?!
Just how many issues do I have? I had nothing wrong with me an hour or so ago
.’

‘
Well
,
when you we
re admitted we took some blood to run some
precautionary tests
.
I
just got the results back and…’

‘
I’m not my father’s daughter
?
I have some rare type of DNA never been seen before
?
’

‘
All indicators flagged up you
’
re pregnant
.’

Freya
felt her whole body
stiffen
.
H
er chest tightened
and she
clutched at the side of the bed
. The head rush and dizziness were back.

‘Here, come on.
Lie down and
take a breath
.’ The doctor steadied her and urged her backwards onto the pillow.

‘
There must be some mistake
.
’

She couldn’t be pregnant. They weren’t trying. They weren’t married.

‘
Well, I can have
the
lab run the tests again if you
’
d like me to
.
B
ut I have to say they were pretty conclusive.
U
ntil you told me about your history of attacks
,
I was thinking perhaps your changing hormone levels might have caused your collapse
tonight.’

‘
I can’t be pregnant
,
Dr
.
Sto
ne. I’m thirty years old.
I know all about contraception and how to use it
. And I’ve
been using it
.
I swear
.’

‘
I don’t doubt
you have.
A
s with anything in life
,
th
ere
’
s always an element of chance
.’

‘
Look, there must be an error with the tests
. P
erhaps they
’
ve mixed up someone
else's
results with mine.
I
t happens all the time, I’ve read about it. I mean one minute someone
’
s told they
’
re dying
.
T
he next
minute
some poor sod
who
was told they were fine
’
s being buried
.
A
nd the person who
’
s been blowing everything
,
thinking he has only months to live is actually fitter than the
proverbial
butcher’s dog. For God’s sake can you take this drip out of my
arm
!
’ She tugged at the plastic tube.

‘
I
’
d prefer it if you left it in a little while longer until we have your fluids up
. Not just for
your sake
, but for
the baby
.’

‘
I really can’t be pregnant
,
D
r
.
Stone
.
S
o
,
please, get me a release form so I can go home
.’

‘
I
’
d really like you to have a scan and then we can be
a hundred per cent
certain one way or the other
.’

‘
No. No scans, no more tests and no more prodding and poking
.
P
lease, I just want to go home
.’

Tears were in her eyes now and her breath was catching again. She wanted ‘normal’ back.

‘
OK, come on, take a deep breath
.
Here, dry your eyes.
I’ll go and get Nick
.’ He offered her a tissue from a box on the cabinet. She took one and wiped her eyes as the doctor left the room.

She couldn’t be pregnant. She was careful. She’d always been careful. And Nicholas, he didn’t have the same chances of conception most men did. It was so unlikely.

Nic
holas entered
the room and smiled at her.

‘Hey, you OK?’
He put his arms around her.

‘
I’m fine
.
I just want to get out of here
,
Nick
. P
lease take me home
.’ She buried her head in his chest inhaling the familiar fragrance of his body.

‘
I’ll
organise
a car
.
T
he police want to speak to us
,
but I’ll tell them to come to the house tomorrow
.
I think you’ve had enough excitement for one
night.’ He kissed the top of her head.

‘
I’m sorry I collapsed on you
.’ She wiped at her eyes and sat up to look at him.

‘
That’s OK
.
I
t was a shock
.
I mean I am kind of used to you passing out if you
’
ve been on the tequila
.
B
ut
after a couple of beers,
I knew something was wrong
.
Y
ou’re made of sterner stuff than that
.’

‘
D
’
you
think
it was my father
?
Y
ou know, who attacked Mike
?
’
Freya asked him
.

‘
Is that what
you
think?
’

‘
I don’t know
.’

‘
Is that what made you have the anxiety attack?
The thought of him being involved?
’

‘
There’s something I haven’t told you
.’