CHAPTER SEVEN

Martha walked around Noah's bar cleaning tables and collecting glasses. She had a fake smile plastered on her face; but on the inside she wasn't happy. She really wanted to go home and just be alone. She didn't feel well and she had a headache coming on.

She made her way to the bar where her Grandad was cleaning glasses and Beth was pouring drinks. Tasha and Robbie were sitting there chatting happily to Tony.

Martha all of a sudden felt a hot flush wash over her body. Her head started spinning and she felt like she was going to pass out. She quickly grabbed onto the bar and sat down on a stool.

"Are you alright sweet?" Beth asked; sounding concerned. Her Grandad, Tony, Tasha and Robbie all looked at her with concern aswell.

"I just felt a bit dizzy for a second. It's nothing to worry about; I'm okay," she tried to reassure. The last thing she needed was her friends and family asking questions and getting suspicious.

Tasha reached a hand out and placed her palm over Martha's fore-head. "You feel really warm," she said.

Martha pushed her hand away. "I'm okay, really," she told them again.

"Have you eaten anything today? You promised me this morning that you would," Alf asked.

Martha didn't answer him; instead she quickly looked away from his probing eyes.

"I'll take the silence as a No," Alf answered his own question.

"I had an apple at lunch," she told him.

She hadn't eaten anything all day; except for an apple. Every time she thought about food she wanted to puke. And all the worrying about Megan had seemed to take away her appetite. She looked back at Alf, who didn't seem very happy.

"The only thing you've eaten today is an apple?" he demanded.

Martha let out an aggravated sigh. "Look, I'm just not feeling hungry. So can everyone just get off my back," she snapped at them and walked off.

"Poor thing. This whole thing with Megan must be really getting to her," Tony said to the others once Martha was out of ear shot.

Alf nodded. "She wants us all to think that she's okay. But she's not," he said.

"Hi Martha," a voice said.

Martha looked up and came face to face with a smiling Megan. "Hey," Martha said, trying to sound polite.

"How are you?" Megan asked.

"I'm okay," Martha told her. She then looked away and continued wiping down the table.

"Look Martha, I want to apologise again about last night. I shouldn't have been the one to tell you about Grace," Megan started. "I should have known that it would have upset you. I really am sorry," she continued.

I bet you are, Martha thought to herself sarcastically.

"I'm not upset," Martha lied.

"Are you sure? Because you seem a little tense," Megan asked.

Martha put on her fake smile again and nodded. "Yes, I'm totally fine".

Megan smiled back at her. "Well if you say so," she said. "Well I let you get back to work. I'm going to get myself a drink," she said cheerfully.

"Bye," Martha said as Megan walked off to the bar.

The next hour flew by quite quickly; although Martha wished it would go by quicker. She was still feeling a bit ill and really wanted to go home. Her grandad and Tasha kept asking if she was okay, and it was starting to grate on her nerves.

Martha was now standing at the bar, drying glasses. She looked up and saw Megan sitting with a group of guys; flirting outrageously with a couple of them. Martha couldn't stand the girl; she couldn't help but dislike her.

Martha took a look around the rest of the room and noticed that it wasn't very busy; especially for a Saturday night. It was usually a lot busier than this. Not that she was complaining. She was glad that it was quiet.

Martha picked up a tray of glasses and walked off to the storeroom to pack them away. She placed them on a shelf and turned around to walk out when she crashed into a hard body that smelt really good. She gasped out loud in fright at first, but calmed down when she realised it was Jack.

"Don't sneak up on me. You gave me a fright," she said.

"Sorry," he said softly.

Martha attempted to push past him to walk back out into the bar area, but he grabbed her, pulling her back into the small room and closing the door so they could have some privacy.

"What are you doing?" Martha asked him, trying to sound annoyed.

"I want to talk to you," he replied.

"Well, I'm kinda busy," she told him.

"Busy?" Jack scoffed. "Martha, there's like half a dozen people out there. I'm sure Alf and Beth won't mind if you take a little break," he finished.

Martha sighed and nodded her agreement. They looked at each other for a short while; neither of them speaking.

"I'm so sorry," Jack finally broke the silence. Martha didn't have to ask what he was talking about; she already knew.

"It's not your fault," she told him.

"Then why wouldn't you answer your phone when I tried calling?" he asked her.

Martha shrugged. "I didn't know what I was supposed to say to you. And I guess I was scared," she replied.

Jack looked at her confused. "Scared? Scared of what?" he questioned.

Martha looked away from him. "That you would leave me," she told him honestly.

Jack laughed a little. "Are you crazy? I'm not going to leave you," he started. "Look, I know things are going to be a little different. But we can get through this," he told her, taking her hand and pulling her into his embrace.

Martha wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into the curve of his neck; inhaling his beautiful scent. It had only been 24 hours; but she missed his scent terribly.

"I love you so much, and I'm not letting you go. Okay," he whispered softly.

Martha looked up into his eyes. "I love you too," she smiled. He lowered his face closer to hers and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"What time do you finish?" Jack asked.

Martha pulled away from him and walked towards the door. "About an hour," she replied.

"I'll wait around until you finish. Do you want to stay at my place tonight?" he asked her.

Martha looked at him. He had a hopeful smile plastered across his face and his eyes were practically begging her. "Okay." She smiled.

Once they walked out of the room and into the lit up bar area; Jack noticed how pale Martha looked.

"Are you feeling okay? You look a bit off colour," he asked her; worry filling his voice.

Martha smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm fine. I promise," she reassured him.

Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched carefully by Megan; who clearly didn't look to happy.

Another half an hour passed and Martha was starting to feel even worse. She tried her hardest to hide it; she didn't want anybody worrying. Her stomach was churning and her head was starting to spin. She looked over to Jack who was laughing with his dad, Robbie and Lucas; who had arrived a few minutes earlier. And she had noticed that Megan had now made her way over towards them and was trying to strike up a conversation with Tasha.

Martha looked at Jack again and gave him a smile when he snapped his gaze onto her. He smiled back at her and it made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. His smile always made her feel nice.

She picked up another tray of glasses and carefully carried them into the store room. When she walked back out she was horrified to see Megan gently placing her hand on top of Jack's. She tried to calm herself down but her anger at seeing Megan touching Jack was so strong she couldn't keep her mouth shut. She quickly made her way over to where everyone was standing.

"What the hell do yo…," she started yelling on her way towards them. But then the nausea hit again. The room and her head started spinning; and she could feel herself falling. Everything started fading to black and the last thing she heard was Tasha crying out her name.

"Mac".

Jack looked up at the sound of Martha yelling. But then he watched as she stopped on the spot and started swaying; and finally fell to the ground.

"Mac," Tasha cried, jumping up from her seat and rushing over to Martha's crumpled up form on the ground.

"Martha," Jack called out. He quickly rushed over to her in a panic. "Somebody call an ambulance," he cried out.

"What's wrong with her?" Alf asked, clearly worried. He kneeled down beside Martha and picked up her hand.

Tony quickly fell down beside Martha and checked for a pulse. "She's still breathing. She may have just fainted or something," Tony started. "Come on Jack, help me move her onto the couch," he urged his son.

Jack was shaking. He'd never felt more scared in his life. Martha was lying on the cold floor, completely lifeless and he didn't know what was wrong with her.

"Is she okay?" Lucas asked. Jack looked up at his brother and could see the look of panic across his face.

"There's an ambulance on its way," Beth called and rushed over to see if Martha was okay.

Jack and Tony gently lay Martha down on the couch and Jack leaned over her; brushing her hair away from her face. "Come on Martha, Wake up," he begged, holding her hand.

Jack then noticed her eyelids fluttering. "I think she's waking up," Tasha said.

Martha slowly opened her eyes; noticing a group of people watching her. Jack was leaning over her and he looked worried.

"Martha, are you okay?" he asked. This was when Martha noticed that his eyes were brimming with tears.

"What happened?" she said softly. "I think you might have fainted," Jack replied.

"Hmmm. I didn't feel very well and I felt dizzy," Martha told him.

"Thank god you're okay. You really scared me for a second there," Jack smiled down at her.

"Sorry," Martha whispered. Jack leant down and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Just don't do it again," he warned. "I promise," she said back.

"The ambulance should be here soon. They can take you to the hospital to get you checked out," Alf entered the conversation.

Martha perked up at the sound of 'ambulance' and 'hospital'. "What? I don't need to go to the hospital. I'm fine," she argued with her grandad.

Alf shook his head angrily at her. "No, you're going and that's final," he said.

Martha lay back defeated. When her grandad made a decision it was final.

Martha sat in the hospital bed, waiting for Flynn to come back with some blood and test results. Alf, Jack, Tasha and Robbie were sitting in the room with her.

"This is a waste of time. I already told you that I didn't eat much today. So that's probably why I fainted," she told them.

"It's better to be safe than sorry," Tasha said to her from across the room.

She was about to speak again when Flynn came walking into the room. "Well, I have your results here. I'll have to ask the rest of you to leave the room while I talk to Martha," Flynn told them.

Jack gave Martha's hand a reassuring squeeze before getting up and walking out with Alf, Robbie and Tasha. Once they had all left the room Flynn quietly closed the door behind them. He smiled at Martha and sat down in the chair next to her bed.

"Okay, so I ran some tests. It's quite possible that you fainted because of lack of food," Flynn began. "But it's not because you needed it," he continued.

Here it comes, Martha thought to herself.

"It's because your baby needed it," Flynn paused for a second and took a breath. "Martha, you're pregnant," he stated.

Martha let out the breath that she had been holding in. May as well be honest, she thought.

"Yeah. I already know," she sighed.