After ten minutes Lucas started getting impatient. He put in a call to Malcolm, "Malcolm, can you get a location on Jo's whereabouts? I have some urgent business to discuss with her"
"I'll see if I can get a signal," he replied.
A couple of minutes later he rang back with the coordinates. Lucas headed for his car and drove towards the location Malcolm had provided.
As Lucas neared his final destination he looked up to ascertain the location, The Queen Elizabeth Women's and Children's Hospital.
He considered for a moment what Jo might be doing there. His first thought was simply that she would be there for a checkup so he waited in the car for her to emerge. After a couple of minutes a new and alarming thought occurred to him, one that made him hastily exit the vehicle and head towards the hospital entrance.
As he walked his mind ticked over what the last eight years had cost him - his wife, his house, connections to his friends and family. Only his job remained – until now he had thought. But in the last few days he had begun to hope that there might be something more to his meaningless existence, that he might have another chance at the kind of happiness he had once known. And now Jo was taking that away from him too.
He saw her leave the main entrance and head in the opposite direction and ran to catch her by the arm.
As she turned he saw her expression was one of shock, mingled with something else – guilt perhaps?
"What did you do?" he asked angrily, grabbing her shoulders. "Did you get rid of the baby without even speaking to me first?"
She wrenched herself away from him.
"It's not for you to tell me what to do. And no – I didn't do that, but you can stop pretending to care because in a few days time there won't be any baby and this will all be over. I have an appointment and I'll thank you to stop interfering in things that don't concern you."
"Don't concern me," exclaimed Lucas, his face becoming increasingly dark with rage.
"How can this not concern me? I'm that baby's father and you haven't even bothered to ask me what I think."
Jo looked at him briefly then turned her face away, her voice uncompromising, "What does it matter what you think Lucas? – the truth is that neither of us knows if we're still going to be here from one day to the next. You know as well as I do there's every chance you'll go the way of Zaf, and Adam and Ben in this job and I'll go the way of Fiona and Connie."
"And where would that leave a child – like Wes that's where, well that's just fucking ideal," she said bitterly.
"You have no right to make decisions that affect both of us on your own," Lucas continued angrily, pulling her to him, his tall figure looming over her.
"It doesn't affect you, you don't need to be involved – I don't want anything from you," Jo said coldly, pushing him away again.
"But I want to be involved. I have rights too. And you have no right to do that to my baby," he said, becoming increasingly incensed at her attitude.
"It's not your baby – it's inside me and you don't own me," she said shortly.
Lucas' expression was becoming increasingly dangerous.
"It is my baby too – its inside you because I put it there," he said angrily, "unless you're trying to tell me you've been opening your legs to anyone who comes along like some little slut," he continued viciously, watching her flinch.
"And before you rush off to get it seen to have you thought about the effect this will have on you. Having that operation will completely push you over the edge – you're barely holding it together as it is. "
"If you think I'm so clearly unhinged why on earth did you ever sleep with me in the first place?" she replied bitterly.
"After eight years in a male prison I think you'll find most men are not too particular, anyone would have done," Lucas said harshly, not wanting to delve inside himself to consider the real motivation for his actions.
This comment left Jo speechless for a second. When she opened her mouth the words emerged in a rush, "I wish it had never happened, I wish it would all just go away."
He moved nearer her and looked at her closely, "I don't regret what happened between us. I'd do it again if I had the chance, in fact I'd like to do it right now," he added in a dangerously low voice as he took in her slightly shocked expression.
"And I don't regret this," he said, putting his hand on her stomach possessively. "I want this baby and I can't bear the thought of what you want to do to it."
"Lucas, don't," Jo said passionately, hastily removing his hand, "please just leave it. You know we can't go through with this – it wouldn't be fair on the baby."
"I know that you're angry and I know that you wanted it to be different but this is the right thing to do – the only thing to do. Don't you think I don't know that it hurts? Don't you know that it kills me to do this, that I've had enough of so much death and destruction," she said, her voice shaking.
"Then don't do it," he said shortly.
"It's the right thing to do though," she said, anguished.
"The right thing would be to let me help you and for us to do this together. And the right thing isn't for you to go to the hospital it's for you to cancel your appointment," then he lowered his voice and added, "and for me to kiss you right now – like this."
His kiss was both hard and passionate and gentle with the promise of escape to a softer, more beautiful world. She emerged from it feeling dazed and shattered.
"Please - just let me go home" she said, exhausted, "you're making this too hard."
**