2.

Running on empty Peter continued to pace nervously back and forth across the waiting room, his hands shaking from too much coffee and not enough alcohol.

"Looks like someone needs a drink," Rob hissed into Michelle's ear.

Michelle watched as Peter ran his hands tiredly across his face. "Not now," she warned Rob.

"He shouldn't be here," Rob continued. "He's the reason Carla is here in the first place."

Leaning her head against the wall Michelle closed her eyes. "As much as I hate him for what he's done to her not even Peter has the power to cause appendicitis."

"If she hadn't have been so caught off guard by his lying, cheating ways she would have known something was wrong sooner and things would never have got this bad," Rob argued.

"We were there too," Michelle pointed out, feeling the need to play devil's advocate. "I was with her right before it happened, I knew something was wrong but I just thought it was stress and exhaustion, I should have picked up on the fact she was in pain, I should have-"

Rob shook his head. "Exactly my point, if we hadn't have been so blinkered into thinking everything that was going on with her was caused by the drama with Peter and Tina we would have connected the dots sooner."

"They're going to be ok," Michelle said, silently praying that what she said was true.

"You don't know that," Rob countered.

"Yes I do," Michelle insisted.

Throwing his empty cup in the bin Rob sighed. "We might need to believe that but the truth is until Carla's out of surgery no one knows that for sure."

"Carla's strong," Michelle said taking a long sip of her now cold coffee. "And so is that baby, if anyone can survive this she can."

"Even the strongest people break eventually Michelle," Rob breathed, hating himself for his part in the situation. "And Carla … well she's already been through so much; Paul, Liam, Tony, Frank and now this, where does it all end? I know she's no angel but she doesn't deserve this, she should be looking forward to being a mother not spending everything she has fighting just to get through each day."

Reaching out Michelle took hold of his hand. "She's not alone."

"I'm never going to let her down again," Rob vowed, glaring menacingly at Peter. "Ever."

"This isn't your fault," Michelle tried to reassure him, completely oblivious to Rob's real involvement in recent events.

Shaking his head Rob stood up, pulling his hand free from hers. "I hate how much power he has over her," he raged, turning his anger towards Peter who stood leaning against the wall as if it was the only thing keeping him upright.

"She loves him," Michelle smiled sadly.

"He's not worthy of her love," Rob silently seethed, watching as Peter sunk down into one of the chairs.

Michelle looked from Peter to Rob before finally settling her gaze back on Rob. "That's not our call. All we can do is be there for her no matter what."

"And I will be," Rob insisted. "But I will also do everything in my power to make sure he never gets close enough to hurt my sister or her baby ever again."

"You-"

Michelle's reply was cut short as the door's opened and the surgeon entered, heading straight for Peter.

"Mr Barlow?" he asked, stopping a few feet from the chairs.

Peter stood up, suddenly feeling more sober than he had in days. "Yes. Mr Barlow. That's me."

"How is she?" Michelle asked, practically jumping from her chair.

"And you are?" the surgeon wondered, as much as he hated having to ask he was also bound by confidentiality rules that didn't allow him to share private information with just anyone.

Peter motioned to Rob and Michelle. "They're family, you can say whatever it is with them here."

"How is she?" Rob asked, repeating Michelle's question of just seconds earlier.

"Carla came through the surgery just fine, we were able to remove her appendix and all of the infected areas," the doctor told them, knowing from experience that people didn't want to be weighed down with medical jargon they just wanted to know how their loved ones were.

Peter took a deep breath before asking the next question. "And the baby?"

"The heartbeat remained strong and steady throughout without any signs of distress to the baby, the obstetrician will do a scan to confirm but so far everything looks good," he replied, watching as a wave of relief seemed to wash over everyone around him.

Nodding Michelle let out a breath she hadn't even realised she was holding. "Can we see her?"

"Of course, I'll have someone come and get you as soon as she's settled into a room," he promised before leaving them alone to digest the good news.

"See," Michelle smiled. "I told you they would both be fine."

Rob lowered his gaze towards Peter. "They may have both survived the operation but I would hardly say things are fine."

"Rob," Michelle warned.

Peter looked up from the ground. "It's alright Michelle, he's clearly got something he needs to get off his chest."

"You bet I have," Rob said, taking a step towards Peter. "Do you have any idea what you've done? What you're little affair with Tina has done to her?"

Balling his hands up Peter nodded. "I don't need you to remind me, I have to live with the consequences of my actions for the rest of my life."

"At least you get to live," Rob pointed out.

"I didn't kill Tina," Peter insisted, knowing with every fibre of his being that even in his darkest moments he was not capable of murder.

Rob took another step forward, his eyes full of so much hate that the devil himself would have cowered. "Let's just say for a second that I believe you and you didn't kill Tina. That still doesn't change the fact that you cheated on my sister, that from the word go your whole marriage has been built on lies. She gave you everything she had, she loved … loves you and she wanted to have a family with you which is something I never thought I'd see but she did, for the first time in her life she wanted the 2.4 children lifestyle and she wanted it with you. Why wasn't that enough for you?"

"Carla is my world-"

"You have a funny way of showing it," Rob scoffed, cutting off the other man's lousy attempt at an excuse.

"I-"

Holding up his hand Rob finally took a step back. "You know what, I don't want to hear it. Any excuses that you may have up your sleeve are just a waste of time because there is no excusing what you've done. And believe me when I say I will make you pay, you will regret breaking my sister until the day you die."

"I don't need you're help doing that," Peter whispered. "I've destroyed the greatest thing to ever happen to me and I have no one but myself to blame, but you also need to know this, I love Carla. I love her. And I will not give up on her and our child as long as I still have breath in my body," he vowed as he walked away, leaving Rob to silently stew as they waited for further news.

"Family of Carla Barlow?" a nurse asked as she entered the waiting room.

All 3 occupants started to speak at once.

"Yes."

"Here."

"That's us."

The nurse smiled, more than used to anxious families. "She's asking for Michelle," she continued, turning to face the only woman in the group.

"Did she ask for anyone else?" Peter said, hoping that the fact she'd let him be there for the scan earlier was a sign that she was willing to at least be in the same room as him now.

The nurse shook her head. "Sorry. She only mentioned Michelle."

"I'll keep you updated," Michelle promised as she followed the nurse out of the waiting room.

"She's still quite groggy from the anaesthetic but she is waking up," the nurse informed her as she opened the door to Carla's room.

Michelle smiled as she stepped in. "Thank-you."

"I'll be outside if you need anything, someone from maternity should be down shortly to do a scan," and with that she left, heading back over towards the nurses station.

Entering the room Michelle stopped her eyes travelling over the sleeping form of her closest friend, an oxygen mask sat over her nose and mouth as IV lines and monitors snaked out from under the covers, sitting down she held her hand, quietly reassuring her that everything was going to be alright. Because despite Rob's earlier protests to the contrary she needed to believe that things would work themselves out in the end. For the sake of Carla and her unborn son or daughter she knew that someone needed to have hope no matter how hopeless the situation might seem.

"The baby," Carla panicked, her eyes suddenly shooting up as she attempted to sit up. "Oh my God the baby?"

"The baby is fine," Michelle reassured her, tightening her grip on Carla's hand as she helped her lie back down. "The heartbeat was strong and steady throughout, but someone form maternity will be down soon to do a follow up scan to completely put your mind at ease."

Watching as Carla, pulled off the oxygen mask Michelle pushed her hair back from her face. "It's you I'm worried about."

"If the baby's fine then so am I," Carla insisted, resting her hand on her still flat stomach.

"I'd love to believe that but-"

Moving Michelle's hand so that it was also resting on her stomach Carla smiled. "No buts. Whatever is happening with me and Peter ends here, I nearly lost my little baby and I can't let that happen again. I can do this Michelle … yes I wish we were doing it together but that's not going to happen now. I'm all he or she has and I need to be strong, I can't worry about Peter … or the police, let them do what they have to do. I didn't kill Tina. I didn't and right now that and the fact that my baby has a strong, steady heartbeat is all I need."

"Ok," Carla smiled. Knowing that Carla needed her on side.

"I'm going to be a mum," Carla whispered.

"I know," Michelle nodded, her eyes bright with unshed tears.

Looking down at their hands Carla couldn't help but smile. "I never, ever thought that I would want this but I do. Oh God 'Chelle I really want this and I didn't even realise how much until I thought I was losing it."

"Hello," a short, grey-haired woman greeted as she pushed an ultrasound machine into the room.

Letting go of Michelle's hand Carla looked up at the doctor. "Hi."

"Is now a good time?" she asked, plugging in the machine.

Carla nodded. "Now's the perfect time."

"I'm Doctor Marr one of the obstetricians on staff here and I'll be overseeing your pregnancy along with the midwife from now on," she explained as she started typing some information into the ultrasound.

Despite what she said earlier about doing it alone Carla couldn't help but wish that Peter was here with her instead of Michelle. She loved her best friend but Peter was the father of her child, the life growing inside her was just as much his as it was hers.

"My hus … Peter … the father … he's outside," Carla stammered, her heart and head battling amongst themselves.

"Would you like to wait for him?" Dr Marr asked.

Carla nodded, her heart winning out. "Yes. Michelle can you-"

"I'll get him," Michelle agreed knowing that no matter what she thought about him if Carla wanted Peter there for the scan then she needed to respect her friends decision.

Carla grabbed her hand gently as she got up to leave. "Thank-you."

Just minutes after Michelle left the room Peter entered, shuffling his weight nervously from one foot to the other as he stood cautiously at the end of the bed.

"Is everything ok?" he asked.

"I'm just about to have a scan, I thought you might like to see the baby," Carla explained as she lifted up her gown, wincing at the pain in her stomach from the surgery.

The doctor helped Carla find a more comfortable position before starting the scan. "You won't be able to see anything from there Dad."

"I-"

"She's right," Carla pointed out.

Taking that as his cue Peter moved to the seat, sitting down just inches away from Carla as he turned towards the screen, gripped by the fuzzy black and white images that began to take form until there it was, the unmistakable sight of his and Carla's child resting safely inside, oblivious to all of the drama that existed around it.

"Is everything alright?" Carla breathed, her eyes never leaving the screen.

"Everything is perfect, the measurements, heart rate and fluid levels show that your pregnancy is progressing right on track," Dr Marr explained as she took them through what they were looking at.

Peter felt like he couldn't breath, suddenly the reality of what he was faced with losing was staring right at him and he knew he had no one to blame but himself.

"Can you tell if it's a boy or girl?" Carla asked, watching her child's heartbeat on the screen, the steady rhythm making her feel more relaxed than she had in weeks.

Dr Marr moved the wand slowly across her stomach. "Well the little one here certainly isn't shy."

"Does that mean you know?" Carla wondered.

Nodding Dr Marr smiled. "Would you like to know?"

"Yes. No. Yes," Carla answered.

"Well which one is it?" Dr Marr chuckled. "Yes or no?"

"Yes," Carla answered, realising that after all of the terrible surprises of recent weeks it would be nice to have a pleasant revelation. "That's if you want to know too?" she added, clearly addressing Peter even though her gaze never left the screen.

Peter nodded. "Yes. Please."

"Congratulations Mum and Dad, you're having a little girl," she informed the stunned parents, pausing the screen on a full view of the tiny little girl that despite all the odds she had already faced was growing strong in her mother's stomach.

"A little girl," Carla breathed, tears falling silently down her cheeks. "Can you believe that the two of us made something so perfect?"

Standing up the doctor wiped the gel from Carla's stomach. "I'll give the three of you a little while alone," she smiled as she headed out of the room.

Lost for words Peter did the only thing he could as he nodded, reaching out for Carla he stroked his hand across her exposed stomach.

"Don't," Carla warned, breaking the moment.

"But I thought-"

"What that I'd forgiven you?" Carla asked bitterly.

Peter nodded, knowing how stupid it sounded but wanting to believe that there was a chance. "Yes."

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you for what you've done to me Peter," Carla began, trying to keep her tone as even as possible, terrified that the little-girl inside her might be able to pick up on the tension of her mother, because more than anything else in the world she wanted her daughter to stay innocent and unharmed by the actions of her parents for as long as physically possible.

"But this little-girl was created out of love," she continued, running lazy circles across her stomach. "And nothing will ever change that and I don't want her to ever have any reason to believe any different so I want you in her life … but only if you stay sober … and only in her life, the only connection we have left is as the mother and father to this little baby, anything else is gone. You saw to that when you started your dirty little affair with Tina," she finished, pulling her hand away from his and pulling the blanket around her, almost as if she was attempting to create a barrier between them.

Peter shook his head, unwilling to believe that it really was the end for his marriage. "Carla, you and me-"

"There is no you and me," Carla argued.

"Carla-"

Turning her head away from him Carla closed her eyes. "I need you to leave."

"Not until we've talked," Peter insisted.

"I've got nothing to say to you," Carla replied.

Peter knew that he was banging his head against a brick wall, and he also knew that Carla had every right to be saying what she saying but he wasn't prepared to give up, not when he had more than ever before to fight for. "Carla please just-"

"If you're not out of this room in 10 seconds I will call security," Carla warned.

"Please. Carla. Just give me a chance to explain," Peter cried, desperate for the chance to be heard.

"1. 2. 3 …"

Standing up Peter held his hands in a surrender pose. "Ok," he relented. "But I'm not giving up Carla, that little-girl inside you is a living symbol of everything that was right between us and everything that we can make right again, and as long as I live I will not stop fighting for you. For us. For our family; you, me and our beautiful, perfect little-girl."