Public Property (34 page)

‘
I had a horrible, horrible dream
.’ She tried to sit up.

‘
Dr
.
Stone says you
’
re to lie still
.
He’ll be here soon
. Tell me about the dream
.’

‘
Well
,
it was kind of the
Wizard of Oz
but
without the singing and dancing.
And my father was the w
izard
,
so
I think I was doomed from the outset
.’ She gave half a smile.

‘
Freya, abo
ut what Jonny told you tonight…’

‘
Can you go and hurry up Dick Van Dyke
?
I
’d
really like to go home and finish the Ben & Jerry’s I started
,’ she interrupted.

‘
He isn’t lying about being your half
-
brother
.
I
t’s the truth
.’

‘
I can’t believe he
’
s fooled you. Who
d
’
you
thin
k
is behind all this?
My father.
A
nd
my father
will pay anyone to say anything just to piss me off. This is all part of some elaborate master plan to make my life shit.
Although he really di
dn’t need to employ Jonny again.
T
he dead birds were kind of freaking me out anyway
.’

‘
Eric told me himself
.’

Freya inhaled a breath and held it there.

‘
Going to see him was
the right thing to do. It was the
only
thing to do.’

‘
You were going to keep it a secret from me. You lied to me about going to an interview!
All those things we said about trust. All the guilt you made me feel about keeping my meeting with Jonny from you and days later you
were
lying to me about my father!’

‘Freya, please, calm down.’

‘No, I won’t calm down. You know how I feel about that man. You know how dangerous he is and you didn’t listen. And now he’s playing you. Now he’s created this ridiculous story about Jonny to hurt me and push us apart and you’re falling for it.’

She began to pull at the drip, trying to disconnect herself.

‘
Freya, what are you doing? Don’t be stupid. Come on, lie back down
.’

‘
You
’
ve played right into his hands
.’ She started to untie her hospital gown.

‘
Freya, stop
.
Just stop and sit down.
J
ust for a minute
.’
He grabbed her arm.

‘
I don’t want to stop
.
I want to get out of this place
.’

‘
I don’t think your father
’
s behind the break
in
s
.’

‘
My God
,
he
really
took you
right on
in
,
didn’t he? What did you expect him to say to you?
Yes
,
Nick it’s me who
’
s been
terrorising
you both
.
It was me who half-
killed your driver and broke into your home.
Offer you brandy and cigars did
he
?
’

‘
He as good as held his hands up about Mike
.
B
ut I really don’t think he
’
s behind the other stuff
.’

‘
And did you come to that conclusion before or after he told you this bullshit about Jonny being my half-brother?
’ She started to dress.

‘
Freya
,
I know you’re upset but it
doesn’t really change anything
for us
. It doesn’t change anything
for you and me
.’

‘
No of course it doesn’t
.
B
ecause it isn’t true
.’

‘
I don’t see what your father had to gain by telling me if it wasn’t the truth
.’

‘
He
’s trying to mess with my head.
T
hat’s what he does. I keep telling you that
,
Nick
.
W
hy don’t you believe me?
’ She pulled her top over her head.

‘
It
isn’t
that
I don’
t believe you. I just think
…’

‘You just think what?’ She stopped getting dressed and stared at him.

‘
I think you
’
ve got a lot on your mind at the moment
.’

‘
And?
’

‘
And I think you need a break
. You need some time away.
Time away
from everything
.’

‘
What I
need
is for everybody to get off my back and leave me alone
.’ She rushed to dress and then let out a breath and locked eyes with Nicholas.

‘
Look, I just want to get home
.
C
an we go home?
Can we talk about this later?
Please
,’ she begged.

‘
I
’
d rather you saw the doctor first
.’

‘
He probably isn’t going to tell me a
nything you haven’t told me
already
.’

‘
Why don’t I go and speak to him
? I’ll
see if he
’
s happy for you to go
.
Then maybe we can call in
tomorrow and he can check you over then
.’

Freya nodded.

‘
OK, I won’t be a minute
.’ He left the room.

She put
her hands to her temples.
Her head was bursting and she was still feeling panicked
,
but she wasn
’
t going to admit that. She couldn
’
t stand spending one more moment in the hospital.

A couple of minutes passed by and then Dr
.
Stone entered the room, closing the door behind him.

‘
Do I need to sign forms? Here, I have a pen
.’ She reached into her bag and produced a ballpoint.

‘
Freya, I think you know what I want to talk to you about
.’ His voice couldn’t have been more serious.

‘
I feel fine
.
I’m
a little tired, but fine, honestly
.’ She forced a smile.

‘
I
’
d really like you to have a scan. I
’
m becoming convinced your pregnancy might be contributing to the severity of your
blood pressure and the fainting
.
W
e really need to check on the baby
.’

‘
Can I go home please?
’

‘
Freya, I
’
m afraid ignoring the issue isn
’
t going to make it go away
.’

‘
There
’
s no issue to ignore
.’ She raised her eyes to meet Dr.
Stone’s.

‘
Then have the scan
.
S
et my mind at rest
.’

‘
No
.’

‘
What are you afraid of?
’

‘Excuse me?’

‘
What are you afraid of?
’
the doctor repeated.

‘I’m afraid that at any moment, Julie Andrews is going to appear and you
're both
going to re-enact
a rooftop scene
,’ Freya answered.

‘
Freya
,
I don’t think you
realise
the seriousness of the situation
.
Y
our baby could be in danger
.’

‘
This is ridiculous
.
Y
ou can’t keep me here, I’m leaving
.’ She got up and headed for the door.

‘
Then you leave me with no choice
.
I’m going to have to tell Nick
.’

‘Hello? Hippocratic Oath! Mean anything to you?’

‘
I will not allow you to put your child in
danger, Hippocratic Oath or not.
T
hat would go against everything I believe in. And I really don’t think you
’d
deliberately put your baby at risk
.’

Freya didn
’
t respond
. She
stood, frozen to the spot, her hand on the handle of the door.

‘
I
realise
this is all
a bit of a shock to you but…’
Dr
.
Stone began.

‘
Enough. I can’t take any more of this emotional blackmail, it’s out of order. I’ll have the scan
.
J
ust get it done and get it done quickly so I can get out of here
.’

‘
I’ll arrange it now
.’

He left the room and Freya stepped out behind him
,
join
ing
Nicholas in the corridor.

‘
OK?
’ Nicholas asked
, taking hold of her hand.

‘
Yes
.
C
an we go now?
’
She
watch
ed
Dr
.
Stone disap
pear
up the corridor.

‘
Sure
.’

Once outside, Freya filled her lungs with the
cold, winter
night air in attempt to clear her head of everything inside it. She really didn
’
t know how much more she could take of life at the moment
.
E
verything seemed to be falling apart.

‘
Roger dr
ove us here but I sent him home.
T
here was no point to him waiting around
.’
H
e pointed the electronic key fob at Jonathan’s car.

‘
What’s going on? Where’s our car? This isn’t our car
.’ She let
go of Nicholas’ hand and st
opped
.

‘
No, well, it was all a rush to get you to the hospita
l.
T
he Ferrari wasn’t practical, neither was the bike
and your car isn’t too streamlined
.
Jonny insisted we use his
.’

‘
It was a rush to get me to the hospital so you debated which car you should drive? I can’t go in this car
.’

‘
I didn’t want to use it
,
but it was the most practical thing to do
.’

‘
I can’t get into this car
,’ she repeated.

‘
Freya, I
…’

‘
Aren’t you listening
to me?! I can’t get in this car.
I
t’s his
! I
t smells of him, and my father, and the money
.
I
t will make me feel sick and
…
I feel dirty
. I feel
so dirty
.’ It was then everything hit her. What if what Jonathan said was true? How did she deal with that? She started to struggle for breath.
Tears fell from her eyes.