Downton Abbey
What if….
It started after luncheon, the terrible, searing, gripping pain, somehow without ever having experienced it before, I knew I was in labour. I was put to bed and suddenly all-around me was a hive of activity. Dr Clarkson was sent for and my beloved Tom was banished from the room. The next few hours were a blur of confusion, pain and concerned faces. A face I didn't recognise suddenly appeared in front of me. It seemed to be saying that there was no cause for concern and everything was going the way it should. Suddenly, Mama appeared and addressed the face as Sir Philip who I knew to be the family's physician. She made her way over to the bed and spoke calmly to me, as if to reassure me that there was no cause for alarm. But I could see the fear in her eyes, something was wrong. I was dimly aware of Dr Clarkson's presence in the room and that the two doctors and my father seemed to be having a heated discussion about me. My last, dreadful thought, as the world went black, was "I'm going to die, I'm going to die!".
….
I awoke in a room that was not my own, yet it was familiar to me. A woman saw that I was awake and told me in a kind and gentle voice that I was in the cottage hospital, recovering after a Caesarean section. It was then I realised there had to be a baby somewhere. Then I noticed a man sitting in a chair beside my bed, so in a slightly panicky voice I asked where my baby was. The man, who for some reason was crying, picked up a bundle from a box, held it out to me saying "This is your baby" in a soft Irish brogue that made me realise with a joyful feeling, that here was my beloved Tom and here was my baby. I was alive and looking forward to a fantastic future with my husband and baby daughter.
THE END