I Wish That You Were Mine

Chapter Thirty One

“Steph,” Lindsey called out from the bed, watching as she paced around the room. “Steph, hold on a minute. What are you doing?”

“What do you mean ‘what am I doing’?!” she threw back, pulling on a pair of trousers. “Lily is in the hospital!”

“I know that baby, but…”

“But what, Lindsey?!”

“She’s not our responsibility anymore, Steph. We can’t get involved!”

The words choked him but he was trying to make her see sense; to be blunt was the only way he knew how. Stevie stopped what she was doing and glared ferociously at him from the end of the bed, her eyes burning deep into his soul.

“I can’t believe you right now…” she spat, gripping onto the bedframe as she had to spell it out for him. “Why do you think they called us, Lindsey? Hmm?”

He sat there dumbfounded and petrified to say another word, for fear of her exploding right in front of him.

“Whose parental contact details are listed in Lily’s hospital records? Ours! And why would they have had to contact us? If she was brought in – alone!”

It finally clicked and Lindsey almost shot out of bed at the realisation.

“Oh my God…” he breathed. “You don’t think…”

Stevie could only shrug her shoulders uncertainly in response, trying to not let her mind run too far with the limited information they had.

Grabbing his shirt and jeans from the armchair and running out of the bedroom, Lindsey called out over his shoulder.

“I’ll grab the baby bag! Meet me in the car in five!”

They held hands for the entire drive to the hospital, silently contemplating what they would find when they arrived there. Why was she at the hospital? Why was she alone? Why everything?

Lindsey drove quickly through the empty four a.m. streets and in only fifteen minutes, they were pulling into the hospital parking lot. He threw the baby bag over his shoulder and followed closely behind Stevie who was running into the building.

“We’re here for Lillian Rebecca Nicks!” Stevie informed, slightly out-of-breath.

“Are you the parents?”

Lindsey hesitated somewhat as he considered the legal aspect of the situation, whereas Stevie did not miss a beat.

“Yes, yes we are!”

“Ms Nicks! Mr Buckingham!” a voice called out and they turned to see a familiar face approaching them.

“Dr Perlman!” Stevie shrieked, walking towards him desperate for answers. “Where is she? What’s going on?”

A look of bewilderment flashed across the doctor’s face.

“Well, I was actually hoping that you’d be able to tell me that…”

Stevie recoiled in fear and she looked to Lindsey, confused as to what he meant. The doctor noticed the perplexed expressions on their faces and so he led them to a family waiting room.

“We’ll have more privacy in here,” he reassured, closing the door and taking a seat opposite them. “Ms Nicks, Mr Buckingham, forgive me but I’m having a difficult time understanding what exactly has happened here. The last time I saw you all…”

“The last time you saw us, Lily was still our daughter, Dr Perlman.”

Lindsey interjected abruptly, not wanting to beat the bush for a moment longer and anxious to know what had happened to Lily.