THE DREAM CHILD (15 page)

How could she make this right? How could she tell him the child she carried was his, but that they’d never even made love to create it?

It was all so hopeless. Sophie knew he was hurting underneath the surly veneer he now wore like armour every day, making the rest of section suffer because of it. He was gruff with everyone, merely telling his staff what needed to be done. He refused to even speak to Sophie. All his instructions went through Geoff.

The weeks that followed were grim and stressful. Hardly anyone joked any more in case they received the pointy end of one of Victor’s glares. They just got on with their jobs, some managing to escape the bad atmosphere by turning on their ipods, others by getting together for lunch to bemoan their unpleasant workplace.

The day of her twelve week scan arrived, and nothing had gone wrong. In fact Sophie was feeling better than she had in a long time. It was only her emotional state that suffered, as she worried about how she was going to cope on her own as a single mother.

Having to look at Victor’s angry face every day didn’t help matters either. She was surely tempted to tell him to stop taking his hurt out on everyone, that it wasn’t their fault, but she was pretty certain he wouldn’t listen to anything she had to say. If he’d wanted to talk to her he could have done it weeks ago, but ever since stalking out of her unit, he’d refused to even look at her.

“I’m off to my medical appointment now, Geoff,” she told him, as she turned off her computer. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“All right. See you then,” he replied without even looking up from his work.

Sophie had decided to keep her pregnancy a secret as long as possible from everyone, family included, but when she headed past Victor’s desk, she felt an uncomfortable tightening in her throat. She knew he must have heard what she’d said to Geoff, but he kept his head down, refusing to look at her.

“Probably wise not to with the man of thorns now in charge. I did try to warn you all. He’s fully lived up to my expectations the way he’s been treating you all. Why don’t you all get together and report him to Kevin.”

“Oh, he just seemed to be a bit nicer to you for a while there. And Paul said he saw you two having lunch together at the coffee shop one day.”

Sophie should have known Louise was fishing for gossip. Too bad that it had all come too late. “What of it? We had lunch together. It’s not a crime, you know.”

“It is when it involves someone who’s into fraud up to his eyeballs. His father was the biggest crook this department’s ever seen, so why would the son be any different?”

She wasn’t as edgy as she’d been the last time she went to the ultrasound clinic, but she was still apprehensive. A different woman ushered her into one of the imaging room this time. She was a short, petite Asian woman around Sophie’s age.

This diagnosis took longer than the previous one, as they were also testing for chromosomal abnormalities, such as downe’s syndrome. This was done by measuring the width of the nuchal fold at the back of the foetus’s neck.

“Well, it looks like everything is going just fine, Sophie,” the technician said handing her another picture of her developing foetus. This one looked just like a real baby, with all its limbs intact. “The chances of down syndrome are two-thousand to one, so there’s no need for any further invasive tests. We’ll see you back for your nineteen week scan.”

Sophie left, feeling relieved but also a tad sad, wishing Vic could have shared this with her. She knew he would have found it as fascinating as she did.

How did she convince him he was the father of this tiny miracle? How could she tell
anyone
the truth?

Victor knew he’d been an idiot to go bushwalking on his own in the pouring rain, but he’d wanted to get away from everything and everyone. Had he managed to get away from his troubled thoughts though?

No. They had followed him like hungry dogs, nipping at his heels, constantly yapping at him, reminding him yet again what a fool he’d been for love.

Would he ever learn?

Now he was paying for his folly, with bruised ribs, two sprained ankles, and enough cuts, grazes and bruises to use up an entire roll of bandages from slipping down a steep embankment that he hadn’t seen until it was too late. He’d also started suffering from hypothermia, and now had a bronchial infection which would keep him in hospital for days if not weeks.

He’d finally poured out the sorry tale to his parents last night as they sat fretting by his bedside.

“Yes, I was wondering if you were interested in that girl,” Vera admitted, when Victor told her how he felt about Sophie.

“If she’s loose enough and desperate enough to get herself pregnant to someone whose name she can’t even remember, then you’re better off without her,” James added vehemently.

“But I still love her,” Victor admitted, closing his eyes, so neither parent could see the pain in them.

“Then you have to get over it. You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking?” his father growled from the other side of his bed. “That kid is her responsibility and no one elses. Don’t you dare get involved!”

“She doesn’t want me involved anyway,” Victor retorted angrily, opening his eyes to glare at his father. “I just told you both so you know why she’s not coming around again.”

“Maybe you did Dad. Maybe that’s why I can’t get my act together in my personal life or my professional life. I’ve tried being tough like you, and it just doesn’t work. All it does is drive people away. Do I have any close friends? No. Do I have a wife, kids? No. Being tough isn’t me.”

“And neither is being a wimp. Look at where that got you the last time you had a relationship. She walked all over you and then left you standing at the altar,” James hissed.

“Don’t you
dare
bring that up again,” Victor yelled back, and promptly burst into a coughing fit.

A patrolling nurse stuck her head through the curtains. “I think you should let him get some rest now,” she suggested.

Victor asked for the glass of water on the trolley table just out of his reach, which his mother handed to him.

“All right, we’ll go home now, but we’ll be back tomorrow afternoon. Try to get some rest,” Vera said, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

James merely got up and walked out of the ward.

Right now Victor wished neither of them would bother with their visit. But he knew they’d come. If nothing else they were true to their word, even if it was often misguided or wrong.

No matter how much his father wanted it, Victor would never be like him. He simply didn’t have the ruthlessness or the determination to get to the top of the heap. Neither did he want to.

James wanted nothing more than the see Victor do one better than him, but Victor hated politics, he hated the corporate world, and most of all he hated to dominate people. He just wanted to return to teaching, But most of all he wanted Sophie.

“Well, it looks like this ship is going to have to steer itself for the next few weeks,” Kevin told the assessments team the next day. He’d called everyone into the conference room to tell them that the section manager was in hospital after slipping down an embankment while bushwalking.

“Is he badly hurt? Is he going to die?”

Sophie thought she detected a tinge of hopefulness in Geoff’s voice.

“No, he’s not going to die, much as some of you might wish it,” Kevin replied rather tersely. “Yes, I know there’s been a bit of animosity in this section towards him, some of which he’s caused himself… I’ll sort that out when he gets back. Anyway I’m not going to fill the position. I’m going to take responsibility for it myself, as I don’t think anyone here is suitably qualified at present.”

That elicited a rumble of discontent around the room, but Sophie was more concerned about Victor. She knew he’d been unhappy in the weeks since she’d dropped her bombshell, and wished there was some way she could make it up to him.

“I think the weeks are to be spent at home convalescing. I believe he was exposed to the elements more than anything, waiting for help to come. His father didn’t really give me much more information that that.”

Sophie returned to her desk, concern for Victor gnawing at her insides. As she sat down she placed a hand on her abdomen, believing she might finally be feeling a slight bulge there.

At last a sigh of my pregnancy, she thought, even though she wanted to try and hide it as long as possible. This meant that she’d soon have to buy bigger tops and looser pants. Luckily the current season was for smock and baby-doll tops, ideal for hiding pregnant tummies.

She found it increasingly more difficult to concentrate on her work as the day wore on, so she decided to leave early. As she got onto the train and found a seat, she contemplated staying on until it reached Hornsby.

Sophie felt nervous at the prospect, certain Victor wouldn’t want to see her. But the way people at work seemed to feel about him spurred her on. The thought that someone actually welcomed the prospect of him dying from his injuries infuriated her. Didn’t anyone have a nice word to say about him? He had been so sweet to her.

Or had it all been a front, his sole purpose being to get her into bed? Well, if that was all he’d wanted from her, he could have tried a little harder, and she probably wouldn’t have said no.

No, Victor had wanted more from her than that, and now that he thought she was pregnant to someone else, he’d turned his back on her. That alone should make her angry enough to give up on the idea of visiting him.

She almost got off at her stop, but then decided against it, certain no one else from work was going to bother visiting him. What’s the worst thing that could happen? she asked herself. He could tell her to get lost. At least then she’d know where she stood. Although the way he’d stomped out of her unit all those weeks ago had sent a pretty clear message.

If that was the case she’d side with every one else in the office and give him the cold shoulder treatment he obviously was after. Did he honestly want everyone to hate him? After having seen his gentle, almost quirky side, somehow she doubted it. She suspected it was more to do with wounded pride than anything else, so if she made the first move, he might stop being so stubborn and at least turn down the temperature in the office, even if he never warmed to her again.

Come on, Sophie, do you honestly think you’ll recapture what you’ve lost? she asked herself. You, who have had nothing but bad luck these past few years! Just concentrate on your baby and leave Victor alone. He obviously doesn’t want you.

But her heart refused to listen to her reasoning, and she got off the train at Hornsby and made her way to the hospital. The weather had warmed up over the past few weeks and she felt hot and bothered by the time she entered the large air-conditioned building.

After finding out what ward he was on at the reception desk, Sophie thanked her lucky stars she’d arrived right on visiting hours. She hadn’t even thought to check that on leaving work. Making her way through the building, and up the lifts, she finally found the ward she was looking for.