X-Sammii-X, I'm sorry you had a bad day but glad my story helped a bit. I hope today is much better for you. Lily and Ethan's relationship is so fraught already, I'm not sure it could have survived if Lily had slept with Ash - though she did still choose to go home with him. You're not ridiculous! Taylor might easily want to hurt Cal. Thank you for your review.
westlife4ever80, thank you for your review. Poor Lily - she can't even feel all that relieved she didn't sleep with Ash after the shock of discovering she's pregnant!
Tanith Panic, maybe Louis really has changed! But if so, he's going the wrong way about making friends. It's a horrible decision for Lily and the situation with Ethan makes it worse. I can imagine Cal hugged the toy the first time he lost Matilda too. Thank you for your review.
Bonnie Sveen Fan, thank you for your review. It will be difficult for Cal to find Matilda, but I'm sure he'll try his hardest... unless nothing else happens to distract him.
Applealice10, I'm glad you found some humour! And I'll always use your ideas if I can. Dylan does deserve help - her friends do have problems of their own, but Dylan needs help too. Don't worry - you haven't missed anything. Cal and Matilda haven't been told who rang the police, though it will be revealed eventually. Thank you for your review.
Matilda knew she needed to stop crying. She had a feeling Jess and Olivia would be sympathetic, rather than annoyed with her ingratitude, but she didn't want to worry them.
But she missed Cal. She missed him so much and not even the fact Dixie wasn't a stranger could make up for that.
Matilda knew she'd be able to see Cal if she really needed to. At the request of the police, she'd deleted his number from her contacts and call register, but she still had Ethan's number. She also knew where Cal lived and worked – if she really needed him, she would be able to find him.
But she didn't want to get Cal into trouble.
She jumped as someone knocked on her door. "Tilly?"
Matilda ran over to the big mirror and scrubbed at her eyes, but they were already swollen. "Come in," she. The words sounded odd on her lips. She'd never had to say them before. Her parents had always burst into her room uninvited.
Olivia came into the room. "Hey, Tilly. I was just wondering… aw, Tilly!" Olivia ran into the room and gave her a hug. "It's okay. I know it's a big shock. New house, new people… I was a mess at boot camp. I was just going to say I've found some clothes that don't fit me anymore, but you don't have to look at them now. Is there anything I can do? Shall I get Mum, I mean Jess?"
"I just want Cal!" sobbed Matilda.
Olivia went quiet. "Oh. Um… I'll go and talk to Jess."
Matilda began to tremble. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be ungrateful. I do think your mum's amazing. But I know Cal a lot better and I miss him."
Dylan didn't think she'd moved since Ariana had virtually hung up on her. She stared down at her phone as she might have stared at a spider if she'd been frightened of them.
Dylan had never been afraid of spiders. She'd never been afraid of anything much. But she realised now she was afraid of being alone.
She would have said her friends were always there for her, just as she was always there for them. But perhaps they never had been there for her. She just hadn't realised because she'd never asked them for help.
Dylan felt tears welling up. Twice in one day, she thought sadly as she tried to blink them away, but they spilled over when she remembered when she couldn't rely on Luke either.
All she had was Dylan K. He was working – overworked, if anything – but Dylan needed him.
She phoned him.
It rang and rang and went to voicemail. Dylan listened to his abrupt message and prepared to leave a reply, but the words didn't come.
He was probably busy treating a patient, but all she could think was that Dylan K hadn't answered her call either.
Lofty lifted his head very gingerly from the pillow. The paracetamol had helped, but not to the extent where he felt like leaving his bed.
Dylan K had drawn the curtains so Lofty wouldn't be bothered by the light, but he'd left the door open just a crack. Lofty cautiously moved into a sitting position, but immediately, his head protested, sending blinding pain across his forehead.
He wished Robyn was here. Dylan K couldn't have been kinder, but Robyn had ways of dealing with headaches that Dylan K couldn't offer.
Where was she?
Lofty lay back down on the bed.
He didn't mind that Robyn had taken the kids out. If he'd got home from his shift to find Robyn and the children absent, he would have been a little put out if Robyn hadn't let him know – just as she'd have been slightly put out if their positions were reversed. But as far as Robyn knew, Lofty would be working till six. There was no need to let him know she was taking the kids out for lunch.
But it was odd she wasn't answering her phone. That was very odd.
Alicia regretted her outburst now. It had hurt her to think Lily and Ethan had planned a baby without telling her. Supporting Lily through her second and third successful pregnancies and acting as her birth partner had been the closest Alicia had come to having her own children. But Lily was under no obligation to tell her anything.
Perhaps it was now time to admit the truth: Alicia wanted to be a mother and she was gutted it hadn't happened with Sam. She knew it couldn't be his fault as he'd already fathered Charlie, so that meant it was her fault.
She was a failure. As a mother; as a wife; as a woman…
She knew Lily would understand. She and Ethan had lost their first child, Emilie, and almost hadn't wanted to try again. But Lily needed Alicia's support now. Her own problems would have to wait.
"Alicia, are you okay?" said Lily.
Alicia gave Lily a quick smile but kept her attention on the road ahead. "Sorry. Just berating myself for jumping to conclusions."
"There is no need," said Lily.
"I suppose IVF is so common now, we almost forget what sex is for," said Alicia. She was trying to speak lightly, but she didn't think she'd succeeded.
"I never expected it to happen naturally at my age," said Lily. "We were so careful at first. But perhaps we have become too complacent."
Alicia reached across and patted her hand. "You know I'm here for you, don't you."
"I know," said Lily. "Thank you."
They were home now. Alicia parked the car and they went inside.
The silence hit her immediately. She realised the problem even before Lily turned to her, anxiety on her face. "Where are the children?"
"Maybe Charlie took them out somewhere?" suggested Alicia, but it was unlikely.
Then, from upstairs, they heard a sound.
Creaking bedsprings.
Alicia froze. "Sam…"
"More likely Charlie," said Lily.
"But Charlie's only fifteen!"
"That matters very little to some people," said Lily wisely.
Alicia listened to a few more creaks, then she launched herself up the stairs. The creaking stopped. She heard muffled voices.
She opened Charlie's door.
Dylan K's phone was ringing, but he was busy. He was writing down the name of the hospital where Hazel was staying.
He'd almost finished writing when a hand came down, blocking the screen.
He looked up in irritation, which quickly became confusion. "Zoe? What are you doing here?" he asked, dimly aware his phone had stopped ringing.
"I'm Dr Walker, your new locum," said Zoe.
There was a light in her eyes that Dylan K hadn't seen for some time. "That's excellent. But I am rather busy."
Zoe took her hand away and peered at the screen. "Oh, Dylan. You're not."
"You have no idea what I'm doing," said Dylan K.
"Dylan, I might not know who Hazel Leyton is, but I know your half-brother is Luke Leyton," said Zoe.
Dylan K thought of lying. Then he wondered why. Apart from the fact that he didn't really see the point, this was Zoe. His friend. "Hazel is Luke's mother. Luke wants to know where she is."
"And you're breaking the rules to find out?" said Zoe.
Ethan leapt to his feet. He was upset and stressed and he didn't want to be bothered with Cal's latest crazy scheme, but Cal was his brother. If he got into another mess, he was going to need Ethan.
He arrived at the door just as Cal shut it in his face. Ethan immediately opened it again, struggling a little as his hand shook (I'm tired and I'm stressed and I haven't eaten, he told himself), but finally, he managed it. As he ran outside, he became aware he didn't have his shoes on and hesitated for a moment.
But there was no time to get his shoes. Cal was already in the car, backing out of the drive. Ethan ran towards him, waving his arms. A moment later, his face hit the ground.
He also had abrasions on his hands and knees, though the latter were partly-protected by his trousers.
But that wasn't what hurt the most.
He'd fallen over.
"Ethan?" Cal had stopped the car and was now bending over his brother. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?"
All Ethan could hear was his death knoll.
Rita felt stronger with Iain by her side. She thought it was the same for him, though she knew he'd never admit it.
Alfie was staring at the floor, his hands in his lap.
Iain sat beside him and gave him a friendly punch in the arm. "You all right, mate?"
Alfie just shrugged and didn't tell Iain he was too old for friendly arm-punching.
"So, what's all this about the facebook page?" said Iain. "Why don't you want to phone the police, eh?"
"It's just some kids messing around," said Alfie. "Not worth wasting police time over that."
Iain kept his voice friendly. "That's a good attitude to have, mate. A lot of people do waste police time. But the person who's been posting on the page is breaking the law – or at least, they're working with someone who's breaking the law."
Alfie made only the smallest pause, but Rita noticed it. "What do you mean?" he asked, his voice guarded.
"I mean, this person knows stuff about what's been happening in the hospital," said Iain. "I don't know how, but they shouldn't have access to this information.
"Then it must be someone from the hospital," mumbled Alfie.
"I really can't see anyone who works at the hospital creating a kids' gossip page," said Rita. She paused significantly. "I don't think you can either, Alfie."
She saw Alfie shrink into himself, his elbows tight to his body. "Why shouldn't they do that if they want to?"
"Because it's illegal," said Rita. She was going round in circles, but sometimes you had to. It could take time to break down someone's defences.
"Alfie," said Iain, and the friendly note was gone from his voice. "Who do you think is responsible for the gossip page?"
Alfie turned belligerently to look at Iain. "How the hell should I know?" he shouted.
