It was an hour later that Bo started to really worry about Skye's absence. He had started to wonder what could be taking her so long about fifty-nine minutes ago, though he reluctantly had to console himself that Skye was her own person and didn't need to tell him every move she made. Now, as the minutes ticked by and she still hadn't arrived back at the house, he allowed himself to worry. It wasn't like Skye to be this late and not have called him. As he paced the room, his mind tormented him with all the things that could have gone wrong. He imagined her lying somewhere, hurt and asking for him. He imagined her lying in a ditch, not being able to get to help. He imagined her waiting at the side of the road for help due to her car breaking down.
As he paced and worried, he decided that suffering Skye's wrath at him tracking her down was much better than the torture his mind was putting him through by not knowing what had happened.
Decision made, he grabbed his coat and keys and was heading to the front door when the phone rang. Hand on the doorknob, he decided to ignore it. Whoever it was would call back. His instincts were starting to scream his need to get to Skye. As he walked out the door though, a stronger feeling overtook him. Almost like a voice loud and clear in his head was urging him. He walked back inside the house sure he could hear Skye telling him that she needed him. Dazed at the unexpected surge of emotion, he picked up the phone.
"Mr Duke?" came the official sounding voice at the other end.
Bo's heart started to stutter.
"Mr Bo Duke?"
"Yes" he all but whispered.
"Are you the husband of Miss Skye Hardy?"
"Yes" he affirmed a little louder.
"Mr Duke, my name is Donald Patterson. I'm one of the on call surgeons at Tri County Hospital. Mr Duke, your wife was bought here a little earlier after suffering a bad fall. She is okay, but I need you to come to the hospital so I can talk to you about her condition"
"Oh my gosh, she really was asking for me"
"Mr Duke?"
Bo shook his head and stood a little straighter.
"I'll be right there"
"I'm so sorry, sir. We did all we could. By the time she got here it was already too late"
Bo couldn't believe what he was hearing. Just a few minutes ago the surgeon had been reassuring him that Skye was fine. Now the story had changed.
He felt the reassuring presence of his family but couldn't quite rid himself of the chill in his heart.
It was over. It was all over.
Luke placed a hand on his shoulder and murmured his sorrow, but Bo barely heard him. All he heard was Skye's voice in his head, calling him, telling him she needed him. He didn't get there in time.
"What happens now?" Jesse asked the doctor.
"Well, that depends on Mr. Duke. We can take care of the body, unless you have other plans?"
Bo shook his head. "I have no idea what Skye would want to do"
The doctor nodded his head in sympathy.
"Maybe you should talk to someone?"
"No," Bo noted, "The only person I need to speak with is my wife"
"I can't tell you how sorry I am Mr. Duke," the surgeon said.
"Just take me to her please"
The doctor nodded his understanding and swept his arm out in the direction of the main corridor.
"This way"
As Bo followed the doctor, he heard the quiet sobbing from Daisy, but once again felt nothing but the chill in his heart.
The room the doctor led Bo into was dark and quiet.
When he looked over at the bed, he could almost make out a form lying under the covering.
It wasn't until he got closer though that he recognised his wife. She was pale and still. Too still.
He took her hand in his and kissed her forehead, trying to ignore that there seemed to be no warmth in her usually glowing face.
As if in slow motion, her eyelids fluttered, then stilled again.
Bo frowned. "Come on baby," he whispered. "Open your eyes. Let me see those pretty blues"
Another slow flutter had hope skipping in his heart.
"Come on, Skye. Come back to me"
Bo rubbed her hand, trying to infuse warmth into her. Just when he thought he had been imagining the whole thing, her eyelids fluttered again, and finally opened.
As her eyes searched the room, she heard a sob at her side. Looking over she saw the face of her husband and knew that no matter what happened now, she would be okay. Bo was at her side, nothing else mattered.
As she squeezed his hand in relief, she ran he other hand over her stomach to calm her child. Then she froze.
Her stomach was flat. She looked at Bo, the fear clear in her eyes.
"It's okay, honey," he whispered, kissing her hand.
She shook her head.
"Our baby" she rasped.
While Bo felt a thrill at the fact that she'd called the child theirs rather than hers, he concentrated on comfort. Scooping her into his arms, he sat on the bed and hugged her.
"I'm so sorry, darling," he whispered between kisses. "They tried everything they could, but the fall was just too much"
Skye gripped his shirtfront and buried her face in his strong chest.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed.
Bo frowned. "What do you have to be sorry about? It wasn't your fault. Apparently these things happen"
Skye shook her head.
"I had been having these niggling pains in my back and stomach for a while, but thought nothing of them. Maybe if I had of seen the doctor it could have stopped me losing our baby"
Bo sighed. "No I don't think it would have helped at all Skye. The doctor I talked to said that most times it's over before there are any outward signs. So even if you had seen the doctor, it probably would have still been too late."
Skye looked into Bo's eyes. "I saw Randy and Trish"
That took Bo back a bit. "You what?"
"I stopped by a café to have something to drink and they were there. I was leaving when I fell down the stairs"
Bo frowned. "Did they talk to you?"
Skye nodded. "But it wasn't their fault I fell Bo" she added, knowing instinctively where Bo's line of thought would be heading.
At his disbelieving look, she continued. "I'm not defending them. I was already on my way down the stairs when I felt the pain in my back again. It took me by surprise, I lost my footing and fell"
She sighed. "Maybe I shouldn't have gone to the café. I should have just come home and then you would have been there when it happened."
Bo shushed her with a kiss and held her close. In the silence each kept to their own thoughts.
"I called for you" Skye noted simply, shaking Bo out of his own thoughts.
"What?"
"Just before I lost consciousness, I called your name"
Bo smiled to himself. He hadn't been crazy; he really had known Skye was in trouble.
"You know what this means" he teased.
Skye shook her head.
"It means that we are connected."
Skye smiled sadly before putting her head back on his shoulder. Hearing her even breathing, Bo realised she had fallen asleep. He moved so that he was lying beside her on the bed, holding her in his arms.
And he too slept.