The Child

Chapter 3

The next day Lucas was up early, the clock on his bedside cabinet confirmed the time as only 5am. He could no longer stand being cooped up in his bedroom as he hadn’t slept well, in fact he hadn’t slept at all, he had spent the entire night worrying about his sister wondering how he could help her.

　

So a little after 6am he rang the counsellor that he and his sister had been seeing since they had arrived back in the UK.  He called her on her private number to ask her to make a personal visit; usually they would both see her at her office in the city but Lucas was worried after the doctors visit the day before so Dr Lorna Knights had readily agreed to visit them privately once Lucas had briefly mentioned that Amelia needed help desperately.

　

Arriving just after 1pm, the counsellor was shocked at Amelia’s appearance. Lucas had roused his sister shortly after 10am with some breakfast and a mug of tea but Amelia neither acknowledged her brother or the offerings he had brought her to the point where the tea and toast still sat on her bedside table, stone cold…just like she felt inside.

　

Amelia had wearily got up around noon making it to the bathroom just in time before the sickness started once more and it promptly reminded her like a twisting knife plunged into her side what she now found herself faced with.

　

She felt like she was being punished for a crime that wasn’t hers, and as she looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror she could see that she had already lost the battle to stay strong and with it the will to even survive was rapidly draining away from her.  Had she not suffered enough already in the past few weeks, she thought.  The only good thing had been Lucas…her brother….her shining light in all those dark dark days in Russia….but even Lucas felt lost to her now…she had placed herself in her own invisible prison where his light just bounced off the outer walls without ever lighting the dark place where she was now incarcerated.

　

Sitting down, the counsellor looked over to where Amelia was now seated. Amelia was still in her pajamas, despite Lucas’ pleading for her to get dressed but he hadn’t told his sister of the impending visit for fear she would take herself back off to her bedroom, so for now he was just grateful that she was sat in the lounge.

　

“Amelia….how are you….how have you been since we last met?” Dr Knights knew the question wasn’t of any use as she could clearly see that everything was far from alright but she needed to start the conversation somewhere. Amelia just stared blankly ahead without a hint that she had even heard the question.

“Amelia….Lucas asked me to come and visit you today because he is very worried about you…..can you tell me what has happened?” but again the doctor was met without a reply.

　

“Lucas….what’s happened?” The doctor’s question was now directed at the only person capable of revealing the truth.

　

“Amelia hasn’t been feeling well for a while so I took her to see the GP yesterday, the doctor did some tests and found….” Lucas’voice trailed off as he rubbed his forehead trying to ease the tension that was now steadily building.

　

“Lucas…what did the doctor find out?” the counsellor persisted.

　

Sighing deeply Lucas continued,

　

“The doctor found out Amelia is pregnant.” the words left Lucas’ lips in almost a whisper but despite the quietness of them being spoken Amelia physically shuddered at their saying and it didn’t go unnoticed by Dr Knights either.