Chapter 10 – Too good to be true
It had been almost two weeks since Zoe found out she was pregnant and she had been avoiding Max. She knew she couldn't do this forever but it was working for now. He still didn't know and she couldn't bring herself to admit she was pregnant. One thing Zoe knew was that before she told anyone, she wanted to be sure everything was okay with the baby so she had booked an appointment with the maternity ward. Zoe started work at 10 and her meeting was at 1, so she was going to take her lunch break during this time.
Zoe drove herself and Dylan into work "No Max today?" "Dylan, please don't start this again." Zoe continued driving, not looking at Dylan at all. "Well I don't understand, a few weeks ago I couldn't get him out of the house now he's never around." They sat there in silence until Zoe parked at the hospital and went to get out as Dylan caught her arm and stopped her. "Zoe, I do care about you. What is going on?" Zoe couldn't lie to Dylan anymore as much as she wanted to. "Something has happened, and I haven't told Max yet. Can we just leave it at that please?" Dylan accepted this and let her go, "Try sort it Zoe, it's putting a bit of a downer on everyone at the moment." She walked off rolling her eyes at Dylan's typical way of viewing things.
It was almost 12:30 and Zoe was getting nervous. "Hey Zoe, how's- Are you okay?" Charlie had walked into her office after her when he saw the look on her face. "Yeah, sorry Charlie just really tired at the moment. Not sleeping too well" she said smiling at him. He didn't believe her but didn't want to press her for anything she wasn't willing to share. "Okay, well I'll leave you to it then. Oh Max was asking if you were in yet, I told him I wasn't sure so I think you've got a bit longer before he turns up. He sounded stressed, might be looking for some time off." Zoe just nodded and thanked him. She watched the clock tick minute by minute hoping Max wouldn't come and see her before her appointment.
Zoe heard Tess talking outside of her office and got up to go and see her. "Oh sorry Zoe, I didn't mean to interrupt you." "No you didn't Tess, don't worry. I was just wandering if I could ask you a favour." Tess nodded and followed Zoe back into her office "What is it?" Zoe sat down checking the time "I have an appointment in maternity at 1 and I can't bring myself to going on my own. Would you be able to come up with me, please?" Tess looked shocked she had asked but answered straight away "Of course I can, let me tell Charlie that I need a break and I'll be straight back." She left to find Charlie while Zoe locked her office door. They both went upstairs and sat down in the reception area after Tess told them Zoe was here.
After a few minutes Zoe was called into the room. "Hi there I'm Jess and I'll be your midwife for your pregnancy. Do you want to sit on the bed and lift your shirt up so I can complete a scan to see how that baby is doing." Zoe did as she was told, with Tess next to her the whole time. "This might be a bit cold" Jess said as she squirted the gel onto Zoe's stomach and moved the probe around until she stopped. "When did you find out you were pregnant Zoe?" "About 2 weeks ago, why is everything okay?" She tightened the grip she had on Tess's hand as she was worried. "Yes, but you're actually already 4 months. It's strange you've found out so late." Zoe sat in shock at how far along she was without even knowing about it. "So you were told that you couldn't have children, is that right?" Zoe nodded and Jess continued "Well, I want to keep a close eye over the next month because there could be a number of complications that could occur." Zoe knew there would be problems, after all she had witnessed enough of this in her time as a doctor.
When everything was done Zoe had a picture handed to her from Jess "I thought you would want one from your first scan. I'll see you same time next week." She said smiling before departing from Tess and Zoe. "I'm so happy for you Zoe!" Tess gave Zoe a huge hug being more careful than normal. "I know that this could be a difficult few months but I'll be alongside you every step of the way. If you need to go home no-" Zoe was not going anywhere "No, I've got a few things that have to be sorted out here first." She couldn't ignore it now, she had to tell Max. They walked downstairs to Max, Lofty and Robyn talking at reception. "I'll check on you later, okay?" Tess hugged Zoe again and left to get back to work. Max just looked at Zoe as she avoided eye contact with him. "Guys, I'll see you later. Better get back to work" Max said to the others before walking towards Zoe. She noticed him coming and put her head down walking to her office.
Zoe walked in and shut the door, but Max walked in seconds after. "This is getting ridiculous now. Only a few weeks ago you said you were happy and now you can't even look at me. What have I done to you to get this?" Max was stood opposite Zoe's desk. She was facing away from him staring at the wall "I… Max I've had a lot going on recently and it's not something that's going to disappear or get better with a simple chat." Max walked around to her side of the table "Look whatever it is I want to help." She finally looked at him but couldn't say anything. She turned around to get something out of her bag "What, can't we try and sort this ou-" Zoe handed him the picture from the scan before saying "I'm 4 months, now try and sort that out" She walked to the door and left him standing there shocked and confused.
Tess was watching from the nurse's station; Max walking in, Zoe leaving upset. It didn't take her long to piece things together and so she went to Zoe's office as she knew Max was still in there. Tess walked in and shut the door, before Max turned around and hid the picture. "Max I already know, what I didn't realise was that it was you she was struggling to tell." He turned around to Tess not saying anything. "She was scared about everything. Zoe wanted to have a scan before telling you as all she is thinking about is the complications." "I would help her, support her. I wouldn't run if that's what she thinks." They sat down on the couch "She knows you wouldn't, she thinks you'd be brilliant but she's worried she'll be the one to let you down." Max got up off the couch "I've got to go find her." "Just remember where you are, I think the last thing she needs right now is the whole department knowing." Max turned for the door "Thank you Tess. For being with her when I wasn't." Max left the room with the scan in his pocket to find Zoe.
Zoe was sat outside, not thinking about anything. Dylan had seen her leave the hospital and so had come outside. "Hey. Bad day?" He wandered over to where Zoe was sat and perched next to her. She carried on staring at the floor before Dylan caught her attention "You're pregnant aren't you" She looked at him not understanding how he knew "You're not talking to Max, you've changed the past few weeks and you're not smoking." Zoe laughed a little at the last part "Four months, I didn't know what to do when I found out. I can't have children Dylan, so why now?" They sat there quietly for a bit longer before Max emerged from the ED. "Just remember how you feel about him, then say what you want to say." Dylan got up and walked back inside past Max.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for ignoring you. I'm sorry for not telling you. I'm just sorry for everything." Zoe was starting to cry a little before Max stopped her. "You've nothing to be sorry for, I should have known something was wrong. I wasn't there for you, I'm just glad Tess was." She looked at him before standing up "I better get back to work. Meet me out here at the end of your shift and we'll talk about it at home." Max agreed and let her go back to work before taking out the scan picture again and just looking at it, he was going to be a dad.