Free-Falling (8 page)

She picked up the flowers and held them under one arm as she unlocked her door and walked inside. As soon as she had kicked off her shoes and dumped her gym bag, she phoned first Jules and then Stacey to see if one of them had left the roses.

‘Ooh la la,' said Jules. ‘Someone's got a secret admirer!'

‘When would I have time to bring you flowers?' snapped Stacey.

Belinda had paused, knowing that Stacey was going to hate what she said next. ‘What if it was Andy?'

‘Belinda, are you feeling okay? You might recall that Andy is in fact dead, right?'

Belinda had pressed on. ‘You know, I did remember that, but what if he's haunting me? It's just that the flowers were waiting for me here after I just had the worst experience at the gym. I was all upset and then here are these flowers saying, “To brighten your day”. No one knew about what just happened to me at the gym. And Andy was always buying me flowers when I needed cheering up.'

‘Actually, Andy was always buying you flowers when you two had had a fight. And you're telling me even as a ghost he couldn't finally get it right and deliver lilies – your favourite?' She had sounded triumphant, adding, ‘What exactly did happen at the gym anyway?'

‘That's not really important.' A quick subject change. ‘All right, detective, then who did leave them?'

‘You said they didn't even say your name, right?'

‘Uh huh.'

‘Wrong apartment.' Stacey stated it as though it were fact.

‘What? So they're not even for me? Great, I feel much better.'

‘You asked, I answered.'

Belinda made herself a late dinner and spent the night glancing doubtfully every once in a while at the gorgeous bunch of roses. She didn't know why she had been so quick to jump to the conclusion that Andy was somehow responsible.
I suppose you thought he'd ordered them from some ghost-florist on the spiritual plane
, she chided herself sarcastically. She got carried away then, picturing a wispy-looking Andy strolling along a misty, winding pathway. He was heading for a bright light up ahead when a plump, transparent woman bounded out from the fog. ‘Flowers for the bereaved! Don't go into the afterlife without first acknowledging the loved ones you've left behind! Bunch of daisies for your widow, dear?' (For some reason, she would have a strong cockney accent.)

Belinda snorted contemptuously at herself. She'd heard about ‘pregnancy brain' but this was ridiculous. ‘I know, I know, I'm losing it,' she said to the puppy as she grabbed the rubbish from the kitchen bin ready to take it to the garbage chute. She opened her apartment door and was just about to step into the hall when something bright caught her eye. A new bunch of flowers was sitting just outside her door.
Lilies.
She let the garbage bag fall from her hand, then slammed the door shut without picking up the flowers. She backed away and snatched up her phone, hitting the redial button.

‘Stacey, can you come over – like
now
?'

Twenty minutes later, Stacey was walking into her apartment, carrying the lilies that she'd picked up in the hallway.

‘They're still perfectly good flowers,' she said sensibly.

‘They're
ghost
flowers!'

Stacey put the back of her hand to Belinda's forehead as though
checking her temperature. ‘Delirious,' she diagnosed. ‘Belinda, you don't even watch
Supernatural
,
and the guys in that are
hot
. You can't tell me you suddenly believe in all this nonsense.'

‘You're the one who had to say he couldn't even get it right in the afterlife.' Another image of the ghostly florist popped into her head and she saw Andy ducking back inside the shop: ‘Sorry, do you think I could get some lilies as well? Apparently I got it wrong – as usual!'

Stacey arranged the lilies neatly in a vase and placed them next to the roses. ‘There's a note with these as well,' she said, pulling the card off the wrapping.

‘What does it say?'

Stacey held it up so Belinda could see just one word scrawled across the card: a cheerful looking ‘Sorry!'

‘See! They're from Andy. He eavesdropped on our phone call and he's apologising for getting it wrong the first time!' Belinda looked up at the ceiling as though expecting Andy to materialise above them. ‘Hey, if you're listening, I wouldn't mind some help with these bloody twins you've put inside me,' she called out, sounding a little crazed.

Stacey took her by the hands and sat her down gently on the couch. ‘Have you been drinking red cordial?' she asked in a very serious voice. ‘Look, how about you tell me exactly what did happen tonight at the gym?'

Belinda reluctantly explained how she'd fallen from the treadmill and woken up in the staffroom, embarrassed and upset. She waited for Stacey to laugh at her, but she couldn't have looked more serious.

‘You're pregnant. You can't just ignore a fall like that. You have to see a doctor.'

Belinda instantly felt irritated. ‘I think I know my own body.
I'm fine and so are any life forms depending on me.'

‘
Life forms?
Interesting choice of words. Belinda, I think you're feeling a little too disconnected from your unborn babies. I think that's why you didn't even care enough to go and get checked out after the fall.'

Typical Stace, not one to hold back.

‘I cannot believe you just said that.
Of course
I care about them. I just happen to know that everything is fine.'

‘Did your ghost-fiancé tell you that? What, is he psychic, too?'

‘Look, I'm not in the mood for this. Maybe you should go home. I think I just want to go to bed.'

‘Yeah right. You think you can call me over here to deal with your issues and then just kick me out? I'm not Andrew, Belinda. You can't pick a fight with me and expect me to bite, just because you're feeling guilty and need to take it out on someone. I'm not that easy to provoke, sweetie. Put your shoes on, I'm taking you to the medical centre.'

‘Stacey, I'm already in my pyjamas.'

This was how Belinda ended up in the waiting room of the twenty-four-hour medical centre, yet again. She wasn't looking
quite
as bad as last time, but still interesting enough in her pyjamas to raise a few eyebrows.

‘Heartford. Belinda Heartford,' murmured the receptionist, tapping on her keyboard. She paused and looked up. ‘Oh, yes, Belinda Heartford. You're the funny young girl that was in here with a puppy, of all things!' She beamed up at her and Belinda saw the name badge pinned to her blouse: ‘Rita'
.

Wonderful, it was the woman who had lectured her over the phone a month or so back.

Rita looked her up and down, then leant forward to hiss
confidentially, ‘I take it you haven't been to see a therapist yet, then?'

Belinda was saved from having to answer by Stacey elbowing her aside. ‘Could you get her in to see a doctor as soon as possible, please? She's pregnant with twins and was stupid enough to try running on a treadmill today and ended up falling.'

Rita gasped. ‘Goodness, twins! And a fall to boot? That's not good at all. Although I'm not sure that we'll be able to do much for her here. She really needs to go and see her obstetrician.'

‘Yes, well, how about we let a doctor decide that, shall we?' Stacey had a habit of being just as abrupt with strangers as she was with her best friends.

Rita didn't seem to mind, though, nodding in agreement. ‘Of course, we have a wonderfully talented staff of doctors here.' She turned to look at Belinda. ‘How about I see if I can get you in to Doctor Brookes? I'm sure you've been wanting to thank him for looking after that dog of yours, haven't you?'

Belinda opened her mouth, ready to say that she'd just as soon see whichever doctor was available next as she wasn't too keen to hang around here in her PJs, but Stacey had already agreed on her behalf and was prodding her and motioning for her to sit down.

Rita's warnings were proved right. Doctor Brookes was lovely, but there wasn't a lot he could do for her there at the medical centre. He checked her blood pressure, examined her stomach and attempted to listen to the babies' heartbeats using a fetoscope, which he proudly told them was his own from home. (It turned out Doctor Brookes had a special interest in obstetrics despite it not being his speciality). But it was difficult for him to tell whether he was hearing two separate heartbeats or the same one twice as he moved around Belinda's stomach. He suggested
she schedule an extra check-up with her obstetrician to be sure that everything was fine.

‘Now, about the puppy you brought in . . .' he said, turning to look at Belinda again.

Stacey cut him off. ‘Yes, yes, we all know – the girl's delusional for bringing a dog here. I've already lectured her about it, so save it.'

Belinda avoided the doctor's eyes as Stacey pushed her out the door, for once appreciative of her friend's abrupt nature.

Back at the apartment, when Belinda finally had Stacey out of her hair, she started thinking that it could be time to get away from her friends for a little while and visit her family, especially seeing as she had some news that she supposed she needed to tell them. For the first few weeks after Andy had died, she'd been on the phone to her mum almost every second day. Sometimes it was just a quick phone call where she could predict their conversation almost down to the last word.

‘And how are you coping today?'

‘Bit better thanks, Mum.'

‘And uni?'

‘Good, going well.'

‘Work?'

‘Great, I'm loving it. How's the farm?'

‘Oh, it's still here.'

And they would dance around the deeper issues, carefully avoiding Andy's name. But at other times, Barbara would break through (whether she had intended to or not) and Belinda would open up, finding herself crying down the phone, while
her mum just whispered, ‘Ssshh, it's all going to be okay, baby, sshhhh.'

However, once Stacey had made Belinda face up to reality and accept that she was pregnant, she'd started to avoid talking to her mum, afraid to tell her the news. She lay in bed imagining what her mother would say. It wasn't as though her parents were hardcore traditionalists, but they were still going to be a bit shocked that Belinda and Andy had let this happen
before
the wedding . . . a wedding that would never take place now. It was probably best if she put off telling them. In a few more weeks, her exams would be finished and she'd be driving up to the farm to spend Christmas with the family, so why bother trying to explain it all over the phone?

She felt movement at the end of the bed and lifted her head to see the puppy curling up by her feet. ‘Where did you come from?' she asked, smiling as it tried its best to look inconspicuous. ‘Yep, definitely time to take you to your new home on the farm; you're starting to get way too comfortable here. Hey buddy,' she continued as though she half expected the puppy to join in the conversation, ‘you might finally be given a name!'

Every member in Belinda's family had a name starting with the letter ‘B' and she supposed the theme would continue on with the puppy as well. The tradition had begun with her parents, Barbara and Brett, who had earned the nickname B 'n' B (sometimes extended to Bed 'n' Breakfast) from their friends when they'd first gotten together. It had seemed only natural to continue the custom with their kids. They even went so far as to christen Belinda's sister ‘Becky', rather than Rebecca, to make it more official than just a nickname. Belinda had always been fond of their similar names; it seemed to somehow enhance the family's close-knit relationships. She was sure that there had been
just a tiny bit of disappointment in her mum's voice when she had first been introduced to Andy – the letter ‘A', so close! Belinda's ex-boyfriend's name was Ben and he had just about had instant approval from her parents based solely on his name.