Harry and I arrive at the hospital and he puts his hoodie over his head to avoid any attention. We head straight inside and to the elevators. After a forty second wait, the elevator stops at our ground level and we wait for the people to get out before getting in. We were both silent the entire trip here and it has remained that way inside the elevator.
"I'm sorry okay."
I don't know what he wants me to say and to be honest, I have no idea what to say. It is best if I just stay silent.
I lead the way to Dr Avery's room which is the same room I have had every single check up in. Harry and Dr Avery formally meet and we take a seat on the two chairs beside her desk. She asks me a few questions on how I've been feeling and I answer them honestly.
"And the stomach pains you've been experiencing. How are they?"
Harry looks at me with concern. "What stomach pains?"
Dr Avery opens her mouth to say something but I speak instead.
"I was getting pains because of my high stress levels. I was doing well, controlling the stress as best as I could given my sisters circumstances but the past two days the pain has returned."
Dr Avery places her hand on my shoulder. "Hailey, I know it is hard to control things like this but I cannot tell you enough about how important it is for the health of your baby to try your very best to stay away from anything that causes you stress. Given everything that has been happening with your sister I understand it isn't easy, but other things..." her eyes wander over to Harry. "You have to control them or avoid them for the sake of your baby. Have you done those breathing exercises I told you about?"
I nod. "Yeah, they have helped."
"Okay, good. Mr Styles, if you want to see the baby we can do an ultrasound for you if you would like." She closes her eyes and shakes her head. "Sorry, we should do the paternity test first."
"Thank you and please, call me Harry" he smiles at her.
She returns the smile and points to the bed. "No worries, Harry. Hailey, if you'll sit on the bed over there for me." I get up and walk over to the bed and sit on the edge as I watch Dr Avery type away at her keyboard.
Harry walks over to me and stands beside me as I sit on the bed. Dr Avery turns to us on her swivel chair. "Harry, I will draw some blood from your arm and I will also draw some blood from you Hailey."
"Why do you need to draw Hailey's blood? Will that harm the baby?" Harry asks with concern.
"I will be drawing the blood from Hailey's arm and because she is carrying the baby, the baby's DNA is in with Hailey's. This will not harm the baby at all."
Harry looks at me and places his hand on my arm. "Are you alright with this?"
I roll up the sleeve of my jumper. "Yes."
Dr Avery draws blood from Harry and a few minutes later, from me.
"I will send your bloodwork through and results usually take up to 5 weeks but I can push for them to be in within 4-5 days."
"Thank you for that. Will you give us a call or?" Harry asks.
"I will call both you and Hailey to let you know."
I put my jumper back on to prepare to leave as that is all we needed to do for the paternity test.
"Would it be possible for me to see the baby?" Harry asks her.
She smiles at him. "Of course. Hailey, if you will lay down for me and you know the drill from there."
I stop putting my jumper back on and place it beside me as I lay down. I wriggle up to the top of the bed and lift my shirt.
"You really want to?" I ask Harry.
He nods and sends me a small smile. "Yeah, I want to."
Dr Avery tucks a sheet of paper-like material into my shorts and places the gel on my stomach. She picks up the scanning device. She moves the device around on my stomach and the sound of my baby's heartbeat is like music to my ears. Those are always the most stressful moments at the beginning of every scan.
I see the baby on the screen and smile to myself. I then look at Harry who has his hand on the end of the bed I am laying on and he is putting all his weight into his arm as he stares at the screen.
"That's our baby's heartbeat?" Harry looks at me with a smile on his face. Seeing him smile like he is, makes my smile grow even wider. I look back at the screen as Avery zooms into different parts of my uterus.
Our babies heartbeat.
Maybe he does believe me. I guess he is just being cautious. I'm offended because I thought he trusted me more than that. I'm not just a one night stand who would say the baby is his for his status and money. But then again, I've lied to him so much recently. I wouldn't believe anything that comes out of my mouth either.
"This is your baby's face. As you can see there's the little button nose, lips, eyes and forehead. This is the back of the baby's head. I'll zoom out and here you will see your baby's body. A nice long torso and baby's legs aren't outstretched obviously, but from what I can see your baby has very long legs."
We all share a laugh.
"Hailey and I both have very long legs, so it's inevitable .. if I am the father I mean." He looks from Dr Avery, back to the computer screen. "This technology is incredible. To be able to see inside Hailey's stomach so clearly. Wow."
"We are blessed with access to some of the worlds best technology here at Manly Waters. Okay, so you are twenty two weeks and I was going to do this at your 24 week scan but with your baby's growth I'm able to show you now. I'll show you the position of the placenta, umbilical cord and show you again your uterus and cervix. During this scan I will also look for any spinal cord abnormalities, brain defects, heart defects, and diaphragmatic abnormalities."
The look on my face must be a dead giveaway on how I am feeling.
"Oh Hailey, please don't freak out. I know it's only normal for a parent to freak out but I hope to assure you that everything will be fine. So far your baby has looked very normal and healthy. Now let's take a look."
She moves the device around my stomach and uses the mouse attached to the monitor screen to zoom in and out and take snapshots of different body parts of the baby.
When I mentioned earlier how nervous the few moments before hearing my baby's heartbeat makes me feel, this has made me feel even more anxious. I breathe in for three seconds and out for three seconds, the breathing exercises that Avery taught to me to keep myself calm.
Harry reaches over and grabs hold of my hand. He gives it a gentle squeeze whilst his eyes never leave the screen. It's comforting having him here. Even if he is mad at me, I'm glad he's here.
"Okay" Dr Avery stops pressing the button on the keypad and removes the device from my stomach.
That felt like the longest two and a half minutes of my life.
"Everything is looking good. No spinal cord abnormalities, brain defects, heart defects or diaphragmatic abnormalities. Your baby is still healthy and measuring a little small but he or she still has a lot of growing to do."
"Wait a minute."
I look at Harry, waiting for him to continue speaking.
"It just hit me. You don't know the gender of the baby?"
I shake my head.
"Might I ask, why?"
"I wanted to find out the gender at the same time as you."
Harry takes a deep breath in before slowly exhaling. He nods his head. "Right." He presses his lips into a thin line and fiddles with his fingers. "Is that all for today, Dr Avery?"
"Yes, I'll print your scans now."
She hands me a paper towel and I wipe the mint scented gel from my stomach. I always jump into the shower when I get home after my scans because the gel is super sticky. Even though I wipe my stomach down with a paper towel, the sticky residue still stays on my skin.
I pull my shirt down and throw the paper towel and the paper-like thing that was tucked into my pants, in the bin beside the bed. I slowly sit up, it's getting harder the bigger my stomach gets. If I struggle now then I can't imagine how I'll be full term. Even 10 weeks from now I imagine I'll be looking like a whale.
Harry holds his hand out to me and he helps me off the bed. "Thanks" I say to him as I pull my shorts down that snuck upwards when I was on the bed.
Dr Avery holds out three images of the scans. Harry takes it from her and stares down at the photo. His finger slides over the baby's face and he smiles to himself. He tears off one of the images and hands the remaining two to me.
We say our goodbyes to Dr Avery and I give her a hug before I leave.
"I'm proud of you." She whispers in my ear and I mouth thank you to her before leaving with Harry.
"What level is Rachel on?" Harry asks me.
"Level three."
Harry presses the elevator button. I stare at the button and remember all the times Harry and I would race to the wall to press the elevator buttons over the years. We were so young and innocent back then. Everything was so carefree compared to our lives now.
I am about to turn 21, I'm still so young but I feel like I've done a lot of things in my life that very little people do at such a young age. My career has forced me to grow up quicker than I should have but I'm okay with that. Maybe if I weren't this way, my immaturity would have made me confess the truth to Harry a lot earlier.
The elevator comes and Harry waits for me to step inside first. I press the level 3 button and before I can say something, he speaks first.
"Have you been alone during all these appointments?" He asks me with general concern.
"My first few appointments Rachel came with me. Then when she went into the coma I my mum came to one with me but it was hard for her. She was trying to be happy for me but she was so distraught from what happened to Rachel. So I went on my own but-" I place my hands on my stomach. "I wasn't really alone."
We reach level three and the doors open. We step outside and walk down the halls.
"Excuse me" one of the nurses is smiling at Harry. "I can't believe you're standing in front of me right now. Can I get a picture with you?"
"Of course" Harry puts his arm around her as she pulls out her phone. He leans into her and smiles at the camera. "Nice to meet you" he says to her.
"Thank you so much Harry" she hugs him before we go in opposite directions. Hardy and I continue walking through the hallway and turn right at the end.
"Didn't we turn left last time?"
"Yeah, she moved rooms because she's awake now. The rooms to the left are for comatose patients only."
I stop walking when I see Aaron standing outside her room, speaking to a doctor.
Harry notices my uneasiness. "You alright?"
"Aaron should be in there by her side. Why is he waiting outside? Oh god, I hope she's okay."
Harry places his hand on the small of my back as we walk towards Aaron. He turns around when he sees us.
"Hailey" he pulls me into a hug. "And Harry, nice time see you again mate" he shakes Harry's hand.
"I'll leave you to it" the doctor says to Aaron and he thanks him.
"Is Rachel okay?" I look through the window of her door and she has her eyes closed.
Aaron nods his head assuringly. "Yeah, she's just sleeping. Sorry, did me standing out here speaking to the doctor scare you?"
"Yes you scared me."
"Sorry Hay. You guys can wait around if you want but she only just fell asleep and I'm going to let her have a bit of time to herself whilst I go see the kids. But you can come back later."
"Okay, I'll come back later."
Aaron looks at Harry. "You going to come as well? Rachel would love to see you." He laughs. "You'd definitely make her day and let me tell you, it's been a pretty average day."
"Has she eaten?"
"Yeah but she still won't touch her cutlery."
After speaking with Aaron for a little while, Harry and I head back to the elevators to leave the hospital.
"Are you hungry? Do you want to get something to eat?" He asks me as we wait for the elevator to land on our level.
"It's fine, I can whip something up at home. You should get back to your hotel and check out before you head to the airport. What time is your flight?"
The elevator opens and when we step inside, I hear Harry laughing. He presses the ground level button.
"What's so funny?"
"You're a terrible cook. I thought you told me no more lies."
"Fine, I don't want you to feel like you have to spend time with me. I know you're angry and I understand that. I don't want you to miss your flight so I'm saying please drop me home and then you can do as you wish."
"Now was that so hard?"
"For someone who was barely picking his feet up off the ground and moving around an hour ago, you seem to be in quite high spirits right now."
"Seeing my baby up on that screen. Man, that was so ... I can't even put it into words. That was incredible."
"Your baby?" I smirk at him.
He grins. "That was a sharp chin on the kid." He runs his finger along his jawline. "Nobody you know has a jaw as sharp as mine."
I laugh at him. "How can you tell how sharp the jaw is?"
"And those plump little lips. Those are definitely my lips."
"Does the baby have any features of mine?"
Harry pauses and analyses my face for a moment. "Yeah, your massive head."
I raise my finger and flip him off. He laughs at me. "Sorry, that was harsh on the baby. Your head is much bigger."