"Ok, Kate, Chris. I want you to go and knock on the door," Jo said as she informed her team of their roles in the impending raid. They were gathered outside a block of flats about to hopefully arrest a suspect in a murder investigation if their intelligence proved correct. It was a new case that had landed on Jo's desk two days ago. "I'll have the AFO's and the rest of MIT covering the two stair cases and the lifts in case he manages to evade you. There will be no escape route uncovered. We all good?".
"Yes Ma'am," MIT responded before they went to their places.
Stab vests on, Kate and Chris started to ascend the stairs. "Why is it always the top floor that these bastards live on?" Chris asked rhetorically, slightly out of breath as they neared the end of their climb.
"Probably just to annoy us," Kate responded, also puffing slightly. She was also starting to struggle with the climb but she was blaming it on her pregnancy. If she wasn't, she'd like to think she would have climbed the numerous flights easily. Kate still hadn't told her colleagues about her news. Her scan was booked for two days time and she wanted to be sure everything was ok before her and Steve revealed their exciting news.
Her and Steve continued to work on their relationship. They were both putting a lot of effort in and in the last couple of days she was pleased that things were starting to feel like they had in the past. They had got past the initial stiff, over polite phase and now felt much more comfortable in each other's presence again. Their easy bantering had returned and even better, there hadn't been another falling out.
They reached the top floor and headed to the flat where the anonymous tip off had alleged the suspect was hiding. As they approached they could see the front door was slightly open.
"Front door is ajar, Ma'am," Kate informed Jo through her radio. "Do we have permission to enter?".
"Granted," came Jo's staticky voice back.
"Hello?" Shouted Chris as he pushed the door open wider. "Police!" he cautioned any possible person hiding in the apartment . The flat was quiet although lights were on in various rooms. Taking the lead, Chris ventured into the hallway and together he and Kate made a search of the lower floor without encountering anyone. They slowly climbed the stairs and each took rooms to search upstairs.
Kate entered a small bedroom which looked like it belonged to a child from the furniture. The curtains were closed although they were thin and didn't block out much of the sun's light. As she turned to check behind the door she was suddenly met with a large adult male who gave her a massive strong kick to the abdomen, pushing her to the floor. She cried out in alarm as the suspect barged past her, trying to escape. Chris heard Kate shout and saw the man trying to escape and gave chase, leaving Kate alone in the flat. She lay on the floor clutching her abdomen. The pain had started almost instantaneously after the kick. She knew something was wrong with the baby, confirmed when she felt something warm begin to trickle between her legs. She put her hand between her legs and felt her trousers were wet. Pulling her hand back she saw blood on her fingers and before she knew it she began to cry. After everything that she and Steve had gone through in the last couple of weeks, this could not be happening.
"Kate are you ok?" Jo asked as she appeared at the doorway and found Kate still on the floor, clearly in severe pain and upset.
"I need a hospital," Kate informed her through her tears. "I'm pregnant….well I was," she informed her boss. "I'm bleeding,".
Jo escorted Kate to the hospital in the back of the ambulance. It was a shock for Jo to find out that Kate was pregnant and she felt awful. She would never have sent Kate into the flat if she had known. For her part, Kate was still crying silent tears as she wept for her lost child. The pain and the bleeding were starting to subside a little which she had taken to mean only one thing.
As they pulled up at the hospital, Kate gave Jo her phone as the paramedics started to unload her from the ambulance. "Can you phone Steve Arnott for me? Tell him what's happened. I don't think I can find the words,".
"Of course," Jo replied, not relishing the task ahead of her.
"The code is 062012," Kate said as she was wheeled away. The year and month that her and Steve had become partners.
Jo descended from the emergency vehicle and found a quiet spot away from the sirens and people shouting. She typed in the code Kate had told her and found Steve Arnott's phone number.
"Hey you," came a south London voice down the line as Steve answered. "Was hoping you'd ring. AC-12 is very dull today,".
Jo froze. Steve Arnott was an anti-corruption officer. "Is this Steve Arnott?" She asked.
Steve froze. He wasn't speaking to Kate judging by the Scottish accent coming down the line. Kate was crap at putting on accents. "Yes it is. Who's this?".
"It's DCI Davidson from MIT. I'm afraid there's been a bit of a situation with Kate,".
"What sort of situation? Is she ok?" He asked terrified she had been badly injured.
"She's ok, but she's started bleeding…," was all Jo managed to say.
"I'm on my way," Steve jumped in before hanging up. Jumping out of his chair, he grabbed his jacket and headed to Hasting's office. "I've gotta go to the hospital," he informed Ted once he'd been beckoned inside. "Somethings happened to Kate," was all he said before departing. He hadn't told anyone about Kate's pregnancy, and wasn't going to do so at this moment. He had to get to her side. Ted watched him go. It looked as though Steve and Kate were friends again as he had dropped everything to be by her side. He hoped whatever it was, that Kate wasn't too seriously hurt.
Back at the hospital, Jo found Kate in a cubicle, curled up on a trolley in a hospital gown under a thin blue blanket. She had stopped crying but was staring vacantly at the wall ahead. "Steve's on his way," Jo informed Kate as she placed Kates phone on the little table beside her trolley.
"Thanks," replied Kate sadly.
"So he's the father?" Jo asked.
"Yeah," Kate confirmed and she saw Jo relax. "Don't worry. It's not some anti-corruption under cover op," she teased. Jo tried to laugh at Kates joke. If Kate knew about her family history she was sure that she'd be of interest to her old work place. Luckily for Jo, Kate had other things on her mind and didn't notice her discomfort at the mention of AC-12. "We were partners when I worked at AC-12".
"I didn't realise you were in a relationship,".
"We aren't," Kate explained. "We're friends investigating the possibility of something more, I suppose. I hope this doesn't muck everything up,".
"Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant? I would never have sent you into that flat with Chris," Jo said.
"I was going to," Kate replied. "We had a scan booked for two days time. I just wanted to make sure everything was ok. Guess I was being stupid. It is totally my fault though Jo. You are not to blame,".
"Hey you don't know everything isn't going to be ok," Jo consoled.
"There was a lot of blood when I got changed into this gown," Kate revealed. "It's just really unfair. Me and Steve have been going through a bit of a bad patch and didn't know whether to keep the baby. We finally decide to keep it and now this happens. Is it fate's way of making us pay for our earlier indecision?".
The curtains to be cubicle swished back and Steve appeared. "I'm so sorry, Steve," Kate apologised as a fresh set of tears began to fall. Steve immediately went to Kate's side and wrapped her in a hug.
"It's ok. It's ok," he whispered to her as he kissed the top of her head through his own tears. He couldn't believe he might have lost his dream again, although this time because of miscarriage. Life really sucked sometimes. "As long as I haven't lost you," he said.
Jo quietly took her leave and left the two friends together. She had only been in both their company for a second for her to know they had a special rapport.
"What's happening?" Steve asked, once Kate had settled a bit. He was now on the trolley with her, holding her in his arms. The hospital rules could go fuck themselves as far as he was concerned at this present time.
"Waiting for a gynaecologist to come and assess me," Kate answered. They lay on the trolley together as they waited for the doctor. It wasn't too long before the curtain pulled back to reveal a young woman in hospital scrubs.
"Kate?" She asked the inhabitants of the cubicle. Kate removed her face from the crook of Steve's neck where she had been listening to him whisper sweet comforting words to her, and confirmed that she was who the doctor was looking for.
"I'm Eve. I'm the gynaecologist on duty today," she announced as she wheeled a scanning machine into the cubicle and closed the curtain behind her to give them some privacy. Steve unwrapped himself from Kate and got off the trolley, although he kept Kate's hand in his. "Are you dad?" she asked Steve, who nodded. Eve turned her attention back to Kate. "So tell me a bit about what's happened," she instructed.
Kate have her a potted history of the event. "He kicked me in the abdomen and that's when the pain and bleeding started," she finished off.
"How many weeks are you?" Eve asked as she wrote some notes.
"Nearly fourteen I think," Kate replied. "We we're going to have our first scan day after tomorrow,".
"And the pain and bleeding has stopped?".
"The pain has," Kate answered. "They've given me a pad to wear and I haven't looked,".
"Ok. I'm going to examine you now and I'm afraid that will include an internal exam which might be a little uncomfortable but I'll be as gentle as possible. I'm also going to do a quick scan and try and work out what's happened," Eve explained.
"I've lost the baby, haven't I?" Kate asked, second guessing the doctor.
"I can't tell you that until I've completed my exam," Eve answered, "but yes, that is one possibility. I'm really sorry for the pair of you. Ok I'm going to examine your abdomen first Kate, if you could lie on your back. I'm just going to expose your tummy by lifting your gown a bit higher," Eve commented as she lifted Kates gown, "and we'll pop the blanket just to here," she continued as the blanket was lowered to the level of where her knickers were so here abdomen was visible. Eve laid her hands on Kate's stomach and pressed in certain spots keeping an eye for any pain that Kate felt. "Any pain anywhere?".
"No,".
"Ok I'm afraid it's the internal part now," Eve said as she took a seat at the foot end of the trolley and placed some familiar looking equipment that Kate knew from her smear tests on a little table. "Can you remove your Knickers and If you could bend your knees, feet together and lower each knee to the bed," Eve instructed and Kate did as she was told, gripping Steve's hand and looking at him for support. Steve saw her grimace when the speculum was inserted. "Ok I can't see any more bleeding," Eve Informed her.
"Is that good?" Kate asked.
"Yes," Eve answered, " I'm going to scan you now to see if the baby is still there," Eve said as she stood and turned on the ultrasound machine. "Some cold jelly to your tummy," she warned as she squeezed some lubrication on to Kates stomach.
Kate started crying. She was going to find out very soon that she had lost the baby. She reached for Steve as the probe was put on her belly and prepared herself to get the worst news. Through her tears however, she gradually became aware of a fast whooshing sound filling the cubicle. "Is that the baby?" she asked.
Eve smiled. "Yes it is," she replied and this time Kate cried happy tears. Steve couldn't help shedding a few either. "It looks like you've had something called a partial abruption. Part of the placenta has come away from the uterine wall causing the pain and bleeding you've experienced. As long as it stays like this, baby should be ok but we are going to have to monitor you lots and it's strict bed rest for you for the foreseeable future," she warned Kate. "No exercise at all, including sex," she mentioned, looking at Steve.
"I'm still pregnant?" Kate asked, still not believing the news.
"Yes," replied Eve, turning the screen around so the parents-to-be could get the first look at their child. "You said you had your scan in two days time? How about we do it now?" She suggested and got two nods in reply. It didn't take her long to do all the measurements and conclude that their baby was progressing well and that hopefully would continue. Eve even printed off two copies of a photo of their child and gave one to both Kate and Steve.
"Can you tell if it's a girl or a boy?" Steve asked.
"It's a little early so it would be a guess. Your next scan at eighteen weeks will be more accurate,".
"Is it a girl? I think it is," Steve announced. Ever since that dream he quite liked the idea of a daughter and was convinced that that was what they were having. He hadn't mentioned anything about it to Kate though.
"Do you want to know?" Eve asked. Steve and Kate looked at each other and silently had a conversation between them.
"Ok," said Kate.
"Yes, I think it's a girl," Eve announced.
"Err where do you think you're going?" Steve asked Kate as they walked into his flat after being discharged from the hospital. Kate hadn't walked in the direction of the bedroom as he had expected. Before she was discharged they had decided that Kate would stay at Steve's for a while as she recuperated whilst Steve would wait on her, hand and foot.
"To get a cup of tea," Kate announced. Her morning sickness was much better now she was in her second trimester and she could now tolerate her favourite drink.
"Didn't you hear the doctor?" Steve asked. "Strict bed rest was what she said," he continued as he guided Kate, changing her direction of travel from the kitchen to his bedroom.
"Are you going to be this annoying for the rest of my stay?" Kate grumbled as she entered the bedroom.
"Absolutely," Steve informed her. "Here," he said, tossing one of his old large t-shirts in her direction. "You can change into this before settling in bed. I'll bring you your cup of tea to drink here. Anything else you would like?".
"How about a little bell Steve? I can use it to summon you when I need something if this is where I'm going to be resting for the foreseeable future," she teased.
"Very funny," Steve retorted as he left her to get changed. When he returned shortly, she was propped up in bed, against the headboard, staring at her ultrasound picture. "Here you go," said Steve as he placed her drink on the bedside table beside her. "And look what I found," he continued, producing a tiny gold bell. "I'm at your beck and call for the next six months," he said as he placed the ornament beside her drink. Kate smiled at his gesture. "Do you mind if I join you?" He asked as he moved to his side of the bed. He'd made himself a cup of tea as well and placed it on his bedside table.
"Of course not," Kate said as she flipped the bedcovers back on Steve's side of the bed. "It's your bed any way,". Steve undressed to his undershirt and underwear before climbing in bed next to Kate. He extended his arm out and Kate snuggled in to his side. "I can't believe I'm still pregnant," Kate said.
"We've got a feisty little girl in there," Steve said, rubbing Kate's belly. "Just like her mum,".
"How could you tell that we were having a girl?" She asked Steve as she continued looking at the ultrasound. She had been staring at it for ages and couldn't tell what sex it was.
"Oh it's not from looking at that picture," Steve admitted. "When I tell you, you'll think I'm being an idiot like usual," he said.
"I won't," Kate answered, intrigued as to what he was going to say.
"I had a dream the night you told me you were pregnant," Steve admitted. "It was really clear. We were raising a daughter together. Maybe it was a glimpse into the future? I don't know, but I hope so because our daughter was pretty amazing,".
Kate smiled as she rested her head on Steve's shoulder. "Really?".
"Yeah. And her name was Lily,".
"That's a nice name," Kate commented.
"Yeah. I like it as well," Steve concurred.
"And what was she like?" Kate asked as she looked up from Steve's shoulder into his face, keen to hear more about the dream.
"Well in looks, she was the perfect mix of us both," Steve informed her. "In temperament however, she was all you. Just as bossy," Kate smiled at that. "and she had me wrapped completely around her little finger, just like her mum,".
"She sounds perfect," Kate said.
"The gaffer was helping us with child care,".
"Really?" Kate interrupted. "Hope that means he'll take our news well. And we were happy?".
"Absolutely. You had just told me we were expecting another," Steve revealed.
"Wow," Kate exclaimed. It had been quite the dream.
"I took the news a lot better than this time," Steve informed her.
"Glad to hear it," Kate replied.
"And I'd made an honest woman out of you," he revealed.
"How did you manage to convince me to say yes?" Kate teased.
"Dunno," Steve admitted, "but it kind of gives me hope that you and I have a chance,".
"I realised something earlier today, when I was alone in the hospital waiting for you to arrive and I thought I'd lost the baby. I realised that I didn't want to lose you. I was scared that losing the baby would be the end of us and I really didn't want that," Kate admitted. "I still don't," she amended.
"That sounds promising," Steve mused.
"Yes I think it is," Kate agreed before gently reaching for Steve and bringing his lips to hers.