“Shit. You must have had a seizure,” he says. His voice sounds as if it’s coming from a great distance, but he’s right here beside me. I can feel his warm hands on my arms, my face. “I’m going to go and get a blanket. You’re really cold.”

A jolt of panic courses through me as I remember. “The baby!”

Ross kisses my forehead. “The baby will be fine.”

But when he returns with the blanket, I can see he’s as scared as I am, though he’s trying his best to hide it.

He tucks the blanket around me, then puts one hand on my forehead and takes my pulse with the other. “It’s okay, darling. You know this sleepiness is normal after seizures. And you don’t appear to have injured yourself. Even so, I’m going to take you straight to A & E. Just to be on the safe side.”

I struggle to sit up, but the effort involved is too much and I flop back down again. Ross perches on the edge of the sofa and strokes my forehead.

“Did you throw up this morning?” he asks.

“Yes.”

He sighs, heavily. “I could kick myself for not anticipating this. I think what’s been happening is that your body hasn’t been fully absorbing your medication.”

He kisses the tip of my nose. “I’m going to carry you out to the car, okay?”

“Can’t I just go to my doctor’s in the morning? We’ll be hanging around for ages and you’ve got to be at work tomorrow.”

He scoops me up in his arms. “This is important, Lizzie,” he says. “Right now, you’re the only patient in the world I care about.”

I balk at the word “patient,” but I’m too tired and groggy to object and, besides, he’s worried. He’s putting on a good show of being relaxed and matter-of-fact about all this, but when I steal a glance at him from the passenger seat, his face is taut and pale.

—

By the time we get back from the hospital, it’s half past three in the morning. I can barely keep my eyes open and my limbs feel weighted. Ross lowers me onto the bed and helps me take my clothes and shoes off, covers me tenderly with the duvet. Then he strips off and falls into bed next to me. Poor Ross. All that traveling in one day, and then hanging around in A & E for hours on end while I had blood tests and scans. But at least I’ve been thoroughly checked over.

I turn my head to speak to Ross, but he’s already sound asleep at my side. I rest my hand on the small of his back. I didn’t even ask him about his father.