The Lost Ticket, page 27
They carried on dancing for several songs before Libby felt a twinge in her pelvis. She grimaced and Dylan was at her side in seconds.
“You okay?” he shouted above the music.
“I’m fine. I just need to sit down for a minute.”
Dylan took her hand and steered her toward a table.
“There’s really no need to fuss,” she said as Frank came to join them. “You two carry on dancing.”
“I’m done,” Frank said, panting. “I can’t remember the last time I had a good dance, but I’m exhausted.”
“Shall we head off?” Dylan said. “We should probably be getting you back to Willow Court, Frank.”
“Good point. I forget I’m under curfew now.”
“What about you?” Dylan said to Libby. “Are you catching the train back to Surrey tonight?”
“Actually, I’ve booked a room in a hotel in Camden.”
Libby looked at Dylan as she said this, and he smiled at her, a long, slow smile that made her chest tighten. For a moment neither of them spoke, their eyes locked.
“Well, in that case, I think we should all be getting out of here,” Frank said, and when Libby turned to him, he winked at her.
They said their farewells to Esme and Johnny and then went to fetch their coats and Libby’s bag.
“Shall I order us an Uber?” Libby said as they stepped outside. “That way we can drop Frank home on our way.”
“Actually, would you mind if we caught the bus?” Frank said. “For old times’ sake?”
“Of course.”
They left the hotel and set off down the road, Libby in the middle. As they walked, she linked her arms with Frank’s and Dylan’s, and they strolled side by side in companionable silence, listening to the night sounds of the city.
“Are you feeling better now?” Dylan said as they reached the bus stop.
“Much better. I think I just overdid it a bit on the dance floor.”
They waited five minutes before an 88 approached, half empty at this time of night. As the door opened, a familiar face was smiling out at them.
“Evening, Mr. Weiss.”
“Patience, how lovely to see you again,” Frank said, climbing on board.
“Have you been out partying?”
“We have indeed, a wedding. You remember Libby? And this is my friend Dylan.”
“Of course I remember Libby. How’s your search going? I spread the word round to all the drivers I know; everyone was talking about you.”
“Ah, well, the search is over now,” Frank said, and Patience’s head snapped to look at him.
“Does that mean . . . ?”
“I found her, yes,” Frank said. “I found my girl on the 88.”
Patience let out a whoop, causing a dozing passenger in the front seat to jolt awake.
“I’m so happy for you, Mr. Weiss,” she said. “And my parents will be too.”
They moved toward some empty seats at the back of the lower deck. Libby and Dylan sat in one pair and Frank sat across the aisle from them.
“Wasn’t that a wonderful evening?” he said as the bus set off.
“It was indeed.” Dylan glanced at Libby as he said this.
“I’m sorry I’m such a party pooper,” she said. “This little one has been pummeling the hell out of me this evening.”
“You need to start taking it easy, Libby,” Frank said.
“I will, I promise. There won’t be any more dancing for me until the baby’s here.”
The bus pulled up at a stop, and an older woman in a woolen hat stepped on board, greeting Patience. Libby watched Frank instinctively scan her face, and then he turned back to her.
“I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to stop checking. It’s hard to break a habit of sixty years.”
“Does it feel strange, finally knowing what happened to your woman?” Dylan said.
“A relief more than strange. I’m getting too old to be riding this bus every day anyway. Like Libby, I need to put my feet up more.”
“Have you played bingo yet?” Dylan said.
“No, I have not, you cheeky bugger,” Frank said, hitting his arm in mock outrage.
Dylan laughed, and Libby leaned back in her seat, enjoying the sound of the two of them chatting as the bus wound through Parliament Square. It felt wonderful to have Frank back in her life again. And Dylan . . . Libby thought of that smile earlier, the hotel bedroom waiting for the two of them, and felt a nervous flutter of excitement. It was followed by another sensation, a sharp stabbing in her lower stomach. She bent forward, inhaling.
“What’s wrong?” Dylan said. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. I think it might be Braxton-Hicks.”
“What are they?” Frank said.
“Like practice contractions. I’ve had them before, so it’s nothing alarming.” But as she said it, Libby felt her pulse starting to race. She was pretty sure Braxton-Hicks didn’t feel like this.
“Let’s get you straight to the hotel,” Frank said. “You probably just need some rest after a long day.”
“Okay,” Libby said.
She sat back and found Dylan’s arm round her shoulders. She leaned into him, inhaling his wonderful, familiar smell. But as they approached the Cenotaph, she felt another pang and gasped.
“We should go to the hospital, get you checked out,” Dylan said, reaching across Libby to ring the bell. “Let’s get off at the next stop and jump in a taxi; it’ll be quicker.”
“But my notes and hospital bag are in Surrey. I don’t have anything here.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Frank said. “I’m sure you won’t be needing all that tonight.”
“I should never have come to the wedding,” Libby said, shaking her head. “I should have listened to my mum; she told me it was too risky.”
“Hey, calm down,” Dylan said gently, and Libby felt his hand squeeze her shoulder. “I’m sure this will be a false alarm, but let’s get you checked out anyway.”
Libby nodded, but as she did, she remembered Peggy’s words. When your time comes, you’ll know it’s for real. When the bus approached the next stop, she stood up to get off, and as she did, she felt another sharp stab and let out a yelp.
“Is everything all right back there?” Patience called out.
“Yes, everything’s fine,” Frank called back. “It’s just possible that Libby’s in labor.”
A murmur went along the bus.
“We’ll get off at the next stop and get a taxi, nothing to be alarmed about,” Frank said.
A woman who was sitting in the front row had stood up and was moving back toward them. “I’m a nurse. How many weeks are you?”
“Thirty-six,” Libby said.
“And when did your contractions start?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve been uncomfortable on and off all evening, and then I had what felt like a contraction when I was dancing. Do you think it’s Braxton-Hicks?”
“How often are they coming, darling?”
“I’m not sure. Every three minutes or so,” Libby said, and as she spoke, she felt another wave of pain.
“Trafalgar Square,” the electronic bus announcement said, but Libby could barely hear it over her own groan.
“That wasn’t three minutes.” The nurse was shaking her head.
“Do you want to get off here?” Patience called back.
“There’s no time for a taxi; we need to get her straight to hospital,” the nurse said. “These contractions are coming too close together.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake!” a man sitting a few rows in front of them shouted. “Hurry up and get off; some of us want to get home.”
The nurse turned and glared at him. “Sir, either we drive this young lady to the hospital now or she’s going to give birth right here on this bus. It’s your choice.”
He started to grumble again, but Patience had stood up from her driver’s seat and turned to face the passengers. “All right, everybody off here. This bus is on diversion!”
CHAPTER
49
Libby felt another jolt of searing pain and clenched her fist to stop a scream coming out. Why was this so painful already? She’d watched enough episodes of One Born Every Minute to know it wasn’t supposed to happen this quickly, especially the first time. This had to mean something was wrong.
The nurse, who’d introduced herself as Nikki, had moved to the other end of the bus and was having a muttered conversation on the phone. All the other passengers had been ushered off at Trafalgar Square, so the only people left were Dylan and Frank, the latter watching her now with a concerned expression on his face. When he saw Libby looking at him, he gave her a reassuring smile.
“No need to worry; everything is in hand,” Frank said. “The 88 has never let me down before, and it won’t today.”
Libby glanced out of the window and saw they were crossing Shaftesbury Avenue. Why were they going so slowly? They needed to move faster.
“It’s okay, breathe.”
She heard Dylan’s voice in her ear, calm and low. He had one arm behind her and was gently massaging her shoulder.
“This can’t happen now, Dylan. It’s too early.”
“It’s all right. Try and relax; we’ll be at the hospital soon.”
Another wave of pain came crashing over her, and Libby gripped tightly to something. When she looked down, she saw it was Dylan’s hand, the skin white from where she was digging in so hard.
“I’m sorry,” she said, releasing him, but he grabbed her hand back.
“Squeeze as hard as you like.”
Libby looked round at him, tears stinging her eyes. “I’m scared, Dylan.”
“You don’t need to be. Everything’s going to be fine.”
“Will you stay with me when we get to the hospital? I don’t want to be on my own.”
Dylan lifted his spare hand and brushed a hair from her face. “I’m not going anywhere, Libby. You never have to be on your own.”
“Right, I’ve called ahead to UCH and warned them to be ready for us,” Nikki said, reappearing next to Libby. “Driver, how much longer do you reckon we’ll be?”
“The traffic’s quite clear, so hopefully ten minutes max,” Patience said.
“As fast as you can, please,” Nikki said. “Libby, how are you feeling? Any pressure to push yet?”
“Not yet, no.”
“Great. Has anybody got water?”
“I’ve got a bottle up here,” Patience said.
Libby saw the nurse move to the front of the bus. She returned carrying a two-liter bottle of water.
“And I’ve got this,” Frank said, tugging off his suit jacket.
“What’s going on?” Libby said, looking between them. “Oh my god, you think I’m going to have the baby on the bus!”
“Hey, calm down. It’s okay,” Dylan said, but Libby knew it was anything but okay. They were getting ready to deliver her baby and something was going to go wrong.
“No, I’m not doing it,” she exclaimed, pushing Dylan’s arm from around her and trying to pull herself up. “I’m not having my baby on the 88. I—”
But she didn’t get any further as she felt another rip of heat through her torso. This time, with it, she felt a new sensation in her pelvis, as though she suddenly really needed the loo. She looked up at Nikki, who was watching her intently.
“You need to push, don’t you?”
“I can’t,” Libby said, feeling the panic rising in her throat. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.” Nikki leaned forward, bringing her face close to Libby’s. “Listen to me. Women have been doing this for millions of years. We’ve given birth in fields and up mountains, in far harder conditions than this. So believe me, you can do this on a London bus.”
“Damn, there’s a holdup on Tottenham Court Road,” Patience shouted. “I’m going to have to take us the long way round to avoid it.”
“Whatever you have to do. Just get us there as quick as you can,” Nikki said. She turned to Dylan. “Okay, Dad, I’m going to need you to support Libby so she can move into a more comfortable position.”
Libby opened her mouth to say Dylan wasn’t the father, but she could already feel him adjusting his position behind her.
“Libby, do you think you can take your underwear off?” Nikki said.
Libby looked at her in dismay. “Here? Really?”
“Well, it’s a while since I did my training, but I seem to remember it’s easier to do this without your knickers on,” she said, smiling. “Your dress is long enough, so you’ll still be modest.”
Frank looked away and Libby wriggled out of her knickers. Thank god Dylan was behind her, so she couldn’t see his face.
“Now, when your next contraction comes, if you feel the need to push, don’t fight it,” Nikki said. “And remember to breathe, okay?”
“Okay,” Libby said.
“You can lean back on me. I’ve got you,” Dylan said.
Libby leaned back, cautiously at first, but then she felt Dylan’s body behind her, solid and safe, and she relaxed into him. He reached out his hand and she took it.
“You’re doing amazingly, Libby,” Frank said.
“We’re going to be at the hospital in about four minutes,” Patience said as they swerved round a corner at breakneck speed.
At that moment Libby felt another contraction hit her, harder than any so far. She closed her eyes and let out a long moan as she pushed down with all her might.
“That’s good, well done,” Nikki said, raising her voice to be heard. “Now stop and breathe.”
Libby fell back on Dylan, panting.
“You’ve got this,” he whispered into her ear, but she barely heard him for the sound of her heart hammering in her ears.
“I can see the hospital up ahead,” Patience shouted a minute later as the bus made a sudden swerve to the right. “We’re nearly there.”
“There’ll be a team waiting for us when we arrive,” Nikki said.
Frank was leaning toward Libby, his eyes fixed on her face. “You can do this, Libby. I know you can.”
Libby started to reply, then gasped as she felt another contraction rolling up. Out of the bus window, she could see a flashing light and people in blue uniforms running toward the bus, and then she threw her head back and let out a roar of pain.
CHAPTER
50
When Libby woke up, it took her a moment to work out where she was. Light was coming in through a thin curtain above her head, so it must be morning. It was quiet, unnaturally so, and when she looked to her right, she saw she was alone in the sparsely furnished room. Libby closed her eyes and leaned back into her pillow, listening to the distant sounds of traffic below.
There was a noise from outside the door, a clatter and the low sound of voices. Libby breathed deeply.
“Shhh, don’t wake her up,” said a voice coming into the room.
There was the sound of footsteps padding across the floor, and the edge of the bed creaked next to her. A second later, Libby felt something soft and warm against her skin.
“Mama!” came a high-pitched voice, and when Libby opened her eyes, a small, chubby face was pressed against her own.
“Frankie!” she said, wrapping her arms round her daughter and kissing her. “You woke me up!”
Frankie let out a gurgle of delight and squirmed out of Libby’s arms, crawling across the bed away from her.
“Morning, beautiful.” Dylan had climbed into the bed next to Libby and leaned over to kiss her. “Did you sleep all right?”
“Like a log, thanks.” She lifted up her head and Dylan stretched his arm under it so that she was nestled against his chest. Frankie had settled between the two of them and was playing with her toy bunny.
“What time did she wake up?”
“Five,” Dylan said, and Libby groaned.
“We need to get thicker curtains for her bedroom ASAP.”
“That’s top of my list of jobs, I promise.”
They’d moved into their new flat yesterday. Before that, they’d been living in a studio flat near Euston Station, but now that Frankie had turned one they needed somewhere with a second bedroom. The flat wasn’t much bigger than the studio, and the ceilings were so low that Dylan had to duck when he walked through the doors. But it had a small box room for Frankie, and with a lick of paint and some furniture, Libby was confident they could make it a proper home.
“Are you still seeing Frank this afternoon?” Dylan said, stroking her hair.
“Yes, today’s the day for our bus outing.”
After weeks of negotiations with the team at the care home, Libby had managed to convince them to let her take Frank out on the 88 this afternoon. She was planning to take him down into town to see the Christmas lights on Regent Street, and maybe stop for a coffee somewhere.
“Are you taking Frankie?” Dylan asked.
“It’s probably easiest if I leave her with you. Last time I took her on the bus, she spent the whole time trying to crawl up and down the aisle.”
“That sounds like my little girl on the 88.” Dylan laughed.
Frankie had abandoned her bunny and wriggled back up the bed toward them. Dylan scooped her up and blew a raspberry on her cheek, making her explode with giggles.
“Shall we go to the park for a swing, little monkey?” he said.
“Ding!” Frankie said, bouncing up and down to imitate the swing, and Libby and Dylan both laughed.
“I think that’s a yes,” Libby said, kissing Dylan.
