‘Oh, it’s just me being silly really, I suppose.’ Sunday plonked herself down beside her old friend. ‘I was just the same when Kathy was having the twins but now that she’s getting close to her time I’m fretting again. I keep thinking about what happened to her poor mother when she gave birth to our Kathy.’

‘That was a long time ago,’ Cissie pointed out. ‘And Kathy is the picture o’ health so get this cup o’ tea inside yer an’ stop bein’ so daft.’

Sunday smiled but the bad feeling remained.

On a whim, Kathy decided to get off the bus at the end of Manor Court Road and walk to the hospital to see if David was about. She wanted to talk to him about her mother because she was sure there was something Sunday wasn’t telling her, and she was worried. She knew it would be no good asking the doctor why he had been visiting her more frequently of late, patient confidentiality would mean he wasn’t allowed to say anything, even though he had known Kathy all her life, but there was something wrong, she just knew it!

It was a beautiful day with the sun riding high in a cloudless blue sky, but Kathy was so lost in thought she hardly noticed it until suddenly she heard a woman scream and, glancing up, she saw a car careering along the road towards her. The driver appeared to be slumped across the steering wheel, but she had no time to register anything else because as it drew closer it mounted the pavement and suddenly she had the sensation of flying as it hit her full on. Seconds later she hit the ground with a resounding thud and a pain tore through her stomach as her hand dropped to protectively cover her unborn child. And then thankfully a welcoming darkness claimed her, and she knew no more.

‘Get the theatre ready immediately. We have a heavily pregnant woman coming in who has been hit by a car. It seems the driver of the car had a heart attack and lost control.’

David had been coming out of his office when he heard the ambulance screech to a halt outside and heard the nurse’s voice.

Two ambulance men were lifting a prone figure on a stretcher from the back of the ambulance and as they dashed inside with it, David felt his heart turn over. It was Kathy … his Kathy!

Matron had run from her office and taking stock of the situation immediately, she ordered David, ‘Go back into your office, Dr Deacon. Dr Greaves will handle this.’

Dr Greaves, the other surgeon who worked at the hospital, was there that day, thankfully. Matron knew it would be far too hard for David to have to operate on his own wife.

‘I think the baby is on the way,’ a grim-faced ambulance man informed her as they hurried past.