There was something beautiful about watching her sleep, the way she looked so innocent bundled up in the blanket he gave her for Christmas. It was peace from her problems and he knew she was exhausted due to the extensive physio she had been going under, they had to be careful how much they pushed it though. Carla was still unable to speak or sit up and it broke Peter's heart to see her in this position but he had to be strong for her.

There were many worries that Peter faced. He worried that she wouldn't be able to be herself and for someone like Carla that was going to be so hard for her to come to terms with and as arrogant as it sounded he was scared for him and the way his life would change as she was in such a bad place at the moment. Peter just held her hand and he would continue to do so until the day he died, he was convinced. At this moment he couldn't love her anymore.

"Morning sleepy head" he murmurs kissing her on the forehead, she smiles slightly raising her head slightly and yawning

"H...H...i" she bites her lip, he smiles at her and brings her in for a hug

"You know what today is don't you?" he questions, she frowns in confusion "We're going to have a little look at the baby if that's ok with you?"

She just looked blankly at him warranting worry from him, he just hoped that she wouldn't panic. They needed to check everything was ok though to make sure that the baby was developing ok with the conditions it has been and with Carla's recovery and that worried him immensely as that baby had been under so much stress and Carla's exhaustion so he hoped that it was ok for her.

"Carla?" he prompts trying to grab her attention as she looks blankly at the counters at the back of her hospital room

"Fl...fl..." she says with a frown, Peter follows her gaze to the cup where the black rose was sitting in the cup, he walks over to it and she nods weakly

"You want it?" he confirms, she nods and Peter then brings it over to her so she could look at it "I'll tell you something you don't see black roses every day do you?"

"N...n…" she opens her mouth, Peter hushes her gently knowing she would exhaust herself if she continued to try and speak

"Are you ok with seeing the baby?" he questions picking up the notepad, Carla points to the letters

I guess

"You don't have to look if you don't want to, it's just a routine check-up to make sure that everything is going smoothly"

Sorry

"Love, you don't need to keep apologising" he assures her, she just looks up at him before looking at the rose in the cup "Is this bothering you?"

"Mmm" she mumbles "So-so...r"

"You don't need to apologise" he whispers into her head, she bites her lip wishing she could just speak "I was thinking do you want to play a game before the midwife comes back? I brought scrabble?"

"N...n...o," she says, Peter sighs slightly looking at how sad she seemed, she looks up at one of the nurses entering the room with the ultrasound machine

"How are we feeling today then Carla?"

"She's getting quite frustrated I think as she's limited on her speech" Peter runs his hand through her hair, she looks up with a small smile

"It's bound to be difficult" the nurse responds sympathetically "Every little step though is huge progress"

"You see? Everyones so proud of you love, you just need to keep fighting" Peter responds with a smile and kisses her on the forehead

"You're going really well Carla even if you might not feel it" the nurse assures her, Carla nods slowly "Anyway the midwife's on her way down now which is why I brought this in just to warn you"

"Thank you" Peter nods to the nurse who smiles and leaves the room, he glances at Carla who looked all downcast all of a sudden "Carla?"

"So-so…"

"It's ok" he brushes the back of his finger over the cheekbone of her right cheek, she smiles up at him "Are you worried?"

She nods biting her lip, he kisses her on the forehead

"You don't need to be worried, we can get through this together and whatever happens i will be there" he assures her as the midwife enters the room with a smile

"You must be Carla?" the midwife prompts, Peter smiles down at her but Carla had clammed up, her sleeves pulled over her hands

"Uh yeah she is, you know about her speech don't you?" Peter questions, the midwife smiles

"I do, yes. I have had a read through your notes prior to the accident and you have one complex pregnancy don't you?" the midwife responds sympathetically, Carla just stares downwards not engaging in the conversation

"She's a bit unsure I think" Peter informs the midwife who nods

"That's totally understandable with everything you've been through Carla" the midwife smiles but Carla just doesn't make any effort at all "I'm here to help you with anything you need ok and I won't do anything without your permission. We want to find a positive way forward which is safe for you and baby"

"That's good isn't it Carla?" he questions attempting to brush the back of his finger over her cheek again but she shrugs him away "It's ok to be nervous, love"

"It really is Carla" the midwife assures her, Carla eventually looks up at Peter who smiles back at her "How have you been managing to communicate then?"

"The very unique way of the notepad and alphabet" Peter chuckles, the midwife nods

"F...F…" Carla points, Peter frowns at his phone, he picks it up and she nods taking it and holding it, she unlocks it and heads over to a translate app

"Is it ok if we start Carla?" the midwife suggests as Carla types out on the translate app which had an immersive reader

"Ok"

She bites her lip looking up at Peter who chuckled slightly at the immersive reader

"Thank god for all this accessibility these days" Peter smiles as the midwife chuckles watching Carla roll her jumper up

"This is going to be cold ok?" the midwife says, Carla nods weakly allowing the gel on her stomach, she sighs as the tears fill her eyes and they spill down her cheeks

"What sweetheart?" Peter questions as Carla panics picking up his phone and typing out what she wanted to say

"I can't feel it"

"Ok, alright" he tries to hush her gently kissing her repetitively on the head "I'm here, it'll soon be over alright?"

"Are you ok to continue Carla?"

"Ok"

She sniffles slightly as Peter holds her hand for her, the midwife gliding the probe around her stomach

"Here we are" the midwife smiles as Carla frowns "Do you want to see?"

Carla nods slowly even if she was very unsure, the midwife turns the screen around allowing her to see

"Wow" Peter breathes out, Carla just stares at the screen "So...how far along is she?"

"Eight weeks" the midwife informs them both, Carla looks up at Peter who smiles down at her "We're going to monitor you both really closely throughout this pregnancy so I don't want you to worry"

"You see love you're in really good hands here" Peter smiles, Carla just stares at the screen examining it "Thank you for this"

"No problem" the midwife smiles "How about I print you off some pictures then you have something to hold onto?"

"That sounds good" Peter confirms as the midwife prints off the pictures and passes them to Carla, she immediately examines the pictures and scans them over

"I'll leave you to it so you can talk. It was nice meeting you Carla" the midwife smiles as Carla smiles back watching her leave, she glances at Peter and points to her lips, he kisses her softly on them

"That's pretty amazing isn't it?" he muses, Carla nods glancing down at the pictures, she tears one-off and passes it to Peter "Are you sure?"

She goes to pick up his phone and opens the immersive reader

"I'm sure, even if it isn't yours then you deserve to have one"

"Oh love" he sighs biting his lip, she looks up at him and smiles "Thank you"

"No problem"

"You're doing so well you know that right?"

"If you say so"

"Why don't you try and sleep yeah you look tired" he smiles kissing her on the top of the head, her fingers gingerly press the screen on his phone

"Stay"

"Always"


"It's only me!" Peter calls entering the house, Ken smiles at him and gestures for him to sit down

"How's Carla doing?"

"She's getting there slowly, instead of using the notepad we're using this reader thing on the phone, like a translation app so she just types in what she says and then the app reads it out of her"

"That's a good idea" Ken muses "It's amazing what technology can do nowadays isn't it?"

"Yeah it's making her life easier" Peter confirms, Ken smiles slightly

"You seem overly happy"

"Yeah" he nods biting his lip not really knowing whether to tell his father that he had seen the baby but the excitement was too much "A midwife gave her a scan today and we saw the baby"

"Oh?" Ken responds surprised "How far along is she?"

"Eight weeks" Peter confirms looking at the ultrasound "And before you start-"

"I just don't want you getting too attached," Ken says carefully, Peter sighs and closes his eyes

"Dad-"

"No Peter, I'm worried about you" Ken states, Peter rolls his eyes leaning back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest "That baby might not be yours"

"Don't you think I know that?" he snaps back before letting out a frustrated sigh "I almost lost her dad! I almost lost Carla, I almost lost both of them and then she gave me this photo and I think she wants me to be the baby's father-"

"And you have come to that conclusion because of a photo she gave you?"

"Well yes…"

"I think you're deluded son, I'm sorry. I don't see how getting attached is going to help you, both of you when you have to face up to the fact you may not be that baby's father"

"You know what I'm not listening to this" Peter says putting the photo back in his pocket and leaving the house slamming the door as well as if he was some stroppy teenager, he breathes out leaning against the wall of number one

"Hey" Nick approaches Peter who frowns "How's Carla?"

"And you care because you want to know when she'll be back ordering you staff around? Or is this genuine compassion?"

"Look for what it's worth me and you will never properly get on but she is a member of my company-"

"Yeah...well" Peter shrugs "She can't feel her legs, she can't even speak so yeah it's not going the best it could"

"It's hard, I've been there and I know what it's like to feel useless because trust me anyone in that position would"

"I just don't know how to support her" Peter responds sadly, Nick smiles sympathetically

"Just you being there is doing her the world of good as she probably feels quite isolated," Nick says "I could always pop in and speak to her if you want? As friends obviously, it might help her understand considering I've been in that position, maybe not as bad as her but...it might give her some closure?"

"You'd do that?" Peter questions, Nick nods "Are you sure you're ok going there considering everything that happened with…"

"It's fine" he assures Peter "I'll pop by tomorrow that way you can have a break"

"I don't suppose you heard from Simon have you?"

"No, I haven't sorry…" Nick trails off "Have you heard from Leanne?"

"Nothing" Peter sighs quietly "I'm sure they're fine"

"I hope so," Nick says "Anyway I'll do that, it'll give you a break"

"I'll warn Johnny and Jenny so they don't go into full overprotective mode around her" Peter chuckles, Nick does as well "Thanks for that anyway"

"No problem," Nick says before walking off, Peter sighs closing his eyes and pulling out the ultrasound photo, he runs his finger over it, maybe his father was right? Maybe he was becoming too attached...