What would all these people think, Heather wondered, if I told them what you’d done to me?

‘How is the pain?’ the doctor asked.

‘It’s a little sore,’ Heather admitted.

‘I can give you something for that.’

‘Oh no,’ Heather said quickly. ‘It’s nothing I can’t manage.’

‘Are you sure?’ the doctor said. ‘You don’t need to be a hero.’

‘I’m fine,’ Heather assured him. ‘But thank you.’

‘All right then, I’ll leave you to get dressed.’ Heather had changed into a hospital gown for her scans. ‘If you are worried about anything at all, of course you can come back. But I’d say you’re in good hands with Dr Aston.’

Stephen thanked the young doctor and he left the room. When he was gone, Stephen turned to her. ‘He’s right about the pain, Heather. You don’t need to be a hero.’

‘In case you’d forgotten,’ Heather said, ‘I’m pregnant.’

‘I hadn’t forgotten,’ he said patiently. ‘But there are medications which are safe to take while pregnant.’

Heather hesitated. Her arm was throbbing. ‘Really?’

He smiled. ‘Trust me. I’m a doctor.’

Stephen left her in the room and disappeared to find painkillers. While he was gone, Heather tried to make sense of everything. Stephen had strangled her . . . hadn’t he? She had felt his hands around her neck, saw him staring into her eyes. But even now, when she looked at her reflection, there were still no marks on her. How was that possible? Was she going mad?

Stephen was gone a long time. Long enough that the scenario had gone around in her head several thousand times, and it still wasn’t any clearer. When he returned he had two pills in his hand, one long and the other round. He also held a plastic cup of water.

‘Are you sure these are safe?’ Heather asked.

‘One hundred per cent certain,’ he said. ‘That’s what took me so long – I had to find my obstetrician colleague to make sure.’

‘Thank you,’ she said, softening a little.

He put a hand on her leg. ‘You might not believe this right now, but I do want the best for you, Heather. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I think that now there’s a baby in the picture, we need to trust each other and know that we are in this thing together. Do you think that you can do that?’

Heather didn’t know what she thought. All she knew was the pain was getting worse, so she took the pills from him and swallowed them both in one large gulp.

49

RACHEL

As Rachel stood on her father’s doorstep, she felt quite nervous. She was empty-handed this time. It felt unusual, and yet she didn’t think it was the kind of visit that warranted cupcakes.

‘Rachel,’ Dad said, when he opened the door. ‘This is a surprise.’

‘Well, you always drop in on me unannounced, so I thought it was time I returned the favour.’

Dad looked tired, and not ecstatic to see her, but he opened the door wider and Rachel stepped inside. After trying and failing to reach him by phone the night before, she had woken up determined. She was going to confront him. She had to. And she would do it face to face.