"We're ready for you now." A nurse smiled and I stood up and walked after her. Noticing Billy wasn't following I turned around and found him sitting there.

"Aren't you going to come in?" I asked.

"No, I'll stay here. You go, I'll wait and bring you home." He said, sounding as though he'd rather be anywhere else in the world as he read a leaflet looking bored.

"Suit yourself." I replied, rolling my eyes. I lay up on the bed as she read over my chart.

"Oh dear, it says here you were admitted to hospital because of your morning sickness. You poor thing!" she said sympathetically looking at me.

"Yeah it was pretty rough! I'm feeling fine now though." I smiled and she looked down through the chart again.

"So what did they say about the baby when you went in?" she asked.

"Nothing, they just put me on a drip for fluids and I started feeling better. They sent me home." I answered and she frowned.

"They didn't do a scan or hook you up to a heart monitor?", I shook my head and she read back down through the file frowning before smacking a grin on her face and looking back at me.

"Okay, well that's unusual. That they didn't do a scan or something but I'm sure everything is fine, I'll just carry on as normal with this one." She said and I felt my throat a bit dry. She didn't look happy at all that they hadn't done one and I felt stupid, why hadn't I insisted on getting one done?

"What could be wrong?" I asked and she smiled again as she put the gel on my stomach.

"I'm sure everything is perfectly fine, just sometimes with severe morning sickness like that the baby can get stressed. But if you're feeling alright then there's nothing to suggest anything but a healthy baby." She said and I looked at the screen as she began searching for the heartbeat. She felt around a bit and I got anxious, the last time it popped up straight away. Then, like music to my ears, there it was. I let out a sigh of relief and she smiled at me again.

"Now see? I'm just going to get a doctor in here to double check something but everything seems fine, no need to panic." She said and left as I gazed at the little blob on the screen.

"Hey kiddo." I whispered, smiling at it. The doctor arrived in and looked at the screen, listening to the heartbeat.

"Alright, I see. Ms Connolly is it just you here today?" he asked and I nodded.

"Yes. Well, the baby's father is in the lobby waiting but it doesn't matter. You can tell me." I shrugged.

"I'd prefer if you were both here, if that's okay with you. Nothing to panic about but I would just like to speak with both of you." He said kindly.

"Alright, he's the bald guy in the leather jacket. Tattoos." I said to the nurse as the doctor switched off the machine and took out some speakers. The nurse arrived in followed by Billy, who looked like he wanted to run and never come back. I grimaced at him and he stood by my head with his arms folded.

"What is it?" he asked and I rolled my eyes again. He sounded so aggressive.

"I just want you to take a close listen. This is your baby's heartbeat." The doctor said, switching the machine on again and the muffled sound filled the room again. I saw Billy sink to a chair at the corner of my eye.

"That's my baby's heartbeat?" he asked and I looked at him, amazed that he sounded genuinely in awe.

"Yes, it is. First time hearing it?" the doctor asked and he nodded. He let it run for a few minutes and then turned it off.

"This is a recording of another baby's heartbeat. Notice any difference?" he asked.

"Yeah, why? What's wrong?" I asked, panicking again.

"This is why I asked Mr Darley into the room, the mum's always panic. It's nothing major, but the heartbeat is a little weak. It's probably the strain from the morning sickness and nothing to worry about, it usually gets stronger once the pregnancy progresses but I understand you were quite sick and the hospital did no checkups on the baby?", I nodded.

"So what does that mean?" Billy asked sounding angry.

"Well it was very irresponsible of them and I'll be phoning with a complaint. After they got you stabilised they should have done a scan because things might not have been this good inside there. That's a strong baby, and luckily so because that much strain can be too much for some babies."

"You're saying I could have miscarried?" I asked, horrified.

"Indeed, and if a scan had been done you would have been advised to take extra care and they would have kept you in longer."

"That's complete bullshit! I'm gonna go down there myself and raise hell." Billy spat, he looked mutinous.

"Billy that's not helping." I shot back.

"Those fucking idiots shouldn't be working if they can't do their jobs!" he replied through gritted teeth.

"You're right Mr Darley but rest assured that both Ms Connolly and the baby are doing very well, we'll keep a closer eye on this heartbeat but in the meantime try not to worry. Stress is never good, in any situation! And you can also rest assured that I will personally be calling the hospital and speaking to the superiors on the matter." He added and I thanked him before he left.

"Now, there we are. Let's have another quick listen before we go." The nurse smiled and let us listen to the heartbeat again for a few minutes before we drove home, silent the whole way.