CHAPTER 103

(ANA)

We are standing beside the steps of the jet and saying goodbye to all Christian's family. It was a lovely weekend but all good things have to come to an end. After the talk, things just went from strength to strength and this weekend has been the making of Christian, it really has. I watch him as he chats happily with his birth family, he is just so relaxed now. I put the difference in him down to the fact that he has opened up to his family and they have accepted everything he told them and it has made no difference to the way they feel about him. I have to admit a small part of me was relieved they took everything he said so well, but on the whole I was fairly certain things would pan out as they have done. The change in Christian now is profound, it's almost as if through their acceptance of him – warts and all, he has found some kind of acceptance of himself as well. This can only help him moving forward and hopefully we can all build on this milestone that he has reached.

I look around and as I do so I spot Jason talking on his phone, he has a grim expression on his face and he rubs his forehead anxiously with his hand. He is whispering furiously into his phone and as he sees me looking at him, he gives me an almost apologetic look and then turns away, his actions make my heart sink as I wonder what has happened to warrant that reaction.

As I wonder to myself what all that is about my phone starts to ring. I unconsciously smile as I glance down and see it is Elliot calling me.

I quickly answer, "El!" I say brightly.

"Ana" he gasps and I can hear the unconcealed anguish in his voice.

"What's happened?" I ask immediately on full alert and dread streaking through me like lightning.

"Meg… she's in the hospital… I don't know if… I… fuck!" he rambles.

I go cold at his words, "Ok El, calm down and tell me slowly what has happened," I say.

I hear a deep breath, "I'm at the hospital… I've just arrived and am waiting to be seen. Meg is here she went out… she wanted to go to the market. She wasn't alone she took her security guy - Adam with her. I stayed at home, with Ava. The next thing I know is Adam is calling me telling me they are at the hospital and that there has been an accident and to get myself here. I figured that he would call Jason so he would then tell Christian… but I needed… I can't lose her Ana, I fucking can't lose her".

"El, listen to me we are about to leave Boulder so we will be home really soon and we will come straight to you at the hospital, ok?" I say, trying to sound calm and collected when I feel anything but.

"Ok" he replies.

"Just sit tight and we will be there as soon as we possibly can" I say.

I hang up and turn towards Christian who is now watching me carefully, "Who was that baby?" he asks.

"El, Christian we need to go… now. There has been some kind of accident, El is at the hospital… he said something has happened to Meg" I blurt out.

"Shit" Christian replies and he looks at Jason who is still whispering into his own phone.

I realise that he is also probably discussing what has happened and so we will know more about what happened as soon as he finishes. A moment later Jason hangs up and looks at us before holding up his hand.

"Give me one second I need to make another call and then I will brief you" he says calmly.

Christian nods and I slip my hand into his.

"We will let you get off then" Alex says as everyone quietly watches the events unfolding.

Christian nods, "Yes… thank you" he replies absently, before tugging my hand, "Come on baby let's get on board" he says. Jason follows us whilst texting rapidly.

I quickly hug everyone and say my goodbyes before following Christian up the steps.

As we sit down, Jason joins us and we quickly fasten our seatbelts. Thankfully the plane soon starts to move and I realise that Jason was organising for us to be bumped up the flight time queue.

"Well, right then" Jason says as the plane is hurtling down the runway. I am gripping Christian's hand tightly, partly due to the fact we are taking off and partly due to trepidation of what Jason is going to tell us. I glance at Christian and gone is the happy relaxed man of a few moments ago.

"What's going on?" Christian demands, looking at me and then at Jason.

Jason looks at me, "How much did Elliot tell you?" he asks.

I shake my head, "Not much, he was in bits and not making a lot of sense. He said that Meg had gone to the market with her security while he stayed at home. The next thing he heard was when Adam called him and said there had been an accident and Meg was in the hospital and that he had just arrived there and was waiting to be seen… that's all. I got the impression he wasn't totally sure about what was going on," I say.

Jason nods his head and then takes a deep breath. "Mrs Grey went to the Pike Market accompanied by Adam Pierce, her personal security. From what Pierce told me… It appears that Mrs Grey was deliberately targeted when she got out of the car. They stopped and Pierce was finding it difficult to find somewhere to park so Mrs Grey told him to let her out and go and find somewhere and meet her. He agreed as it is something they have done on previous occasions. As he was pulling away, he saw a car accelerate and deliberately run Mrs Grey over before driving away. He got the make and number of the car and Welch is trying to establish who this person is. My hunch is that it is the abusive ex-boyfriend who she left when she was living in New York. Mrs Grey has been very prominently visible recently with all the publicity surrounding the family so it's not a stretch to think that he could be looking to cause trouble. We will know more when Welch has found out who that car is registered to".

"Oh my god? Is she alright? What about the twins?" I gasp.

Christian wraps his arm around me, "Come on baby" he whispers.

oooOOOooo

When we land we head straight to the hospital, as I see Elliot sitting by himself with his head in his hands I let go of Christian and run to him.

"El" I say as I approach and he lifts his head. His eyes are red and puffy and his face is tear streaked. I immediately fear the worst and as he stands up, I throw myself into his arms.

"Ana" he gasps and holds me tightly.

Christian looms up beside us, "What's happening, what's the latest?" he demands in his cold and clipped CEO tone and Elliot shakes his head.

"I don't know, Adam said she was bleeding when the ambulance came… so I'm guessing she has miscarried the twins. He said she was conscious and asking for me… she was asking for me and I wasn't fucking there!"

"El stop it!" I say firmly, "Does she know that you are here now?" I ask.

Elliot nods, "Yes, they won't let me in though and nobody is telling me anything" he says.

Just as he says this Jason's phone starts to ring. He looks apologetically at us and quickly answers it.

"Seriously?" he exclaims a moment later, "Ok, thanks Welch" he replies and ends the call.

"We have the name of our driver" he says bleakly.

"Who?" Elliot asks.

Jason hesitates, "It appears the car is registered to Ethan Kavanagh… and Welch has spoken to him and discovered that he lent the car to his sister while hers is out of action".

"Kate! Kate did this?!" Elliot gasps.

Jason nods, "It would appear so" he replies. "Welch has passed on the information to the authorities and hopefully she is being picked up as we speak, he has also spoken to Barney and he is trying to gain access to the street CCTV cameras to get some evidence, but thankfully we also have the dashcam footage from our vehicle and a member of the public has also come forward, they witnessed what Miss Kavanagh did and they also had dashcam footage which they have supplied. Ethan is devastated by her actions and asked that Welch passed on his sincere apologies to us all".

"I don't believe it, she's lost her fucking mind" El says as he sits down with a thud.

Christian pulls out his phone and hits a speed dial. "Dad it's me… yes… have you heard? We are at the hospital with El now… It was Kate fucking Kavanagh… no I am not fucking joking… dad I want the fucking book thrown at her… yes… ok dad, I'll leave that with you… thanks dad… yes I will… bye".

He pushes his phone back into his pocket. "Welch has been keeping dad briefed but he hadn't got around to calling him with this latest development".

"Elliot! Christian!" we all turn to see Grace running down the corridor looking worried.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Elliot says as he stands up.

"I'm so sorry, I've only just heard about what happened. I've been dealing with an emergency and one of Dr Green's nurses came and told me what happened, I came as soon as I could. What's going on?" she asks.

"You'd better sit down mom" Elliot says.

We quickly bring Grace up to speed with everything that has happened and all that we have learnt so far. A steely expression fills her eyes, "Let me see if I can find anything out for you" she says and stands heading towards the desk where some nurses are standing talking.

As she does this we see Dr Green appear and speak to Grace and another doctor joins her. They all nod and then they all walk towards us.

"Hello, Mr Grey?" the doctor we don't recognise says.

"Yes" Elliot says hopefully.

"We have some good news and some bad news. We apologise for the delay in making you aware of the situation and for keeping you waiting for so long, but we have been working hard to try and save the life of one of your babies. Mrs Grey is stable and remarkably only superficially hurt considering what happened, it could've been a lot worse. She has a broken collar bone, four broken ribs and extensive bruising and cuts". He pauses as we all take that in.

"The babies?" Elliot asks his voice quivering slightly.

Both the doctor and Dr Green sigh so we brace ourselves for the bad news.

"Unfortunately, one of the twins didn't make it" Dr Green begins, "It was a little boy and sadly she miscarried him on route to the hospital. We have been tirelessly working to stop the labour which Mrs Grey spontaneously started as a result and fingers crossed, we appear to have succeeded and saved the life of the other baby".

"What does that mean? Does that mean she is still pregnant?" Elliot asks.

Grace smiles at him, "Yes darling it does, but Meg will have to be closely monitored for a while".

Elliot lets out a long breath and a sort of humourless laugh before he sits down again.

"Not that I'm not elated and relieved but how is that possible?" he asks.

Dr Green smiles at him, "Very easily, the twins were fraternal so they each had their own placenta and sack of fluid. The impact ruptured one sack and caused the placenta to detach resulting in the loss of one of the babies the other remained as far as we can see, unharmed. We are monitoring the situation closely".

Elliot nods, "Meg… Can I see her?" he asks and the doctor nods.

"Now she has stabilised and the labour has stopped you can go in and see her. We need to keep Mrs Grey calm and relaxed so please bear that in mind when you go in" he says.

"Go on then what are you waiting for" I say as Elliot just stands there.

"Yeah" he says and we watch him jog down the corridor and disappear into a room.

"What are we going to do?" I ask turning towards Christian.

He thinks for a moment, "I say we wait until El comes out and take it from there" he says. So with that we sit down on the plastic chairs and wait.

oooOOOooo

(ELLIOT)

I take a deep breath and open the door, not entirely sure of what I am going to find. I'm not exactly sure how I am feeling at the moment as this is all fucking surreal. I've been sitting out there for over two hours alone wondering what the fuck is going on, my mind working overtime and coming up with nothing good. I get that they were concentrating on Meg so she was their priority. I think about my phone call to Ana, I'd called her as soon as I'd arrived here, I was totally beside myself not knowing anything and as time went on I had resigned myself to the worst.

I stop and stare at the beautiful woman in the bed, she has her eyes closed and I can see she has been crying. I quietly move towards her and sit down at her side and as I do so her head moves towards me and she opens her eyes.

"Elliot" she gasps and tries to sit up. I immediately stand and stop her.

"Stay still sweetheart" I whisper, and then I lean in for a kiss. As I press my lips to hers, I hear a sob.

"I'm so sorry" Meg whispers and I press my finger to her lips.

"Stop, it was not your fault, none of it was your fault" I say.

She nods and touches her stomach, "Have the doctors told you?" she asks and I nod.

I sit down again beside her on the bed and press my hand to her stomach. "We lost one, it is a tragedy but we have to look at the positives here… this little guy survived" I say.

Meg gives me a weak smile. "How do you know it's a boy?" she asks.

I frown, "The baby who died was a boy" I say as if it is obvious.

Meg shrugs, "They are… were fraternal twins so it could quite easily be a little girl" she says.

I hadn't considered that, but at this moment I don't care, I'm just happy with still alive and healthy.

"Do you remember anything?" I ask Meg carefully and her face clouds, she hesitates a moment and then nods but doesn't say anything.

"Meg?" I ask.

"Please don't ask me El" she whispers. I wrap my arm around her to calm her down as the last thing I want is for her to start getting upset.

"It's ok baby, you don't have to say anything right now" I say soothingly.

"I saw the driver of the car" Meg whispers and I close my eyes.

"Yeah, we know who it was" I say and I feel Meg relax at my words.

"How could she do something like that?" she whispers.

I shrug and shake my head sadly, "She appears to have lost her fucking mind. She was driving Ethan's car and we have footage of the incident as it happened, Adam managed to get it on his dashcam. Someone came forward as well as a witness and gave us their dashcam footage along with their eyewitness statement. Christian has dad on the case and I believe she has been picked up now or if not, she will be picked up imminently. She isn't getting away with this, after everything else she has done she's really done it this time".

Meg nods and leans against me. "I'm sorry I asked Adam to go and park, it's something we have always done… I didn't think… I was in the Pike Market for god's sake, I thought I was safe" she says.

"I know sweetheart, and I get it… I really do, I think Christian goes a bit over the top with security at times but then things happen which always seem to prove him right. This is one of those occasions. Adam told me what happened, he called me when you arrived here… I'm sorry I wasn't with you" I say.

Meg shakes her head, "No I knew they wouldn't let you in. They told me that you were aware and that you were here, I asked for you but they said their priority was getting me stabilised and stopping the labour pains, it was all a bit touch and go as to whether or not I'd lose both babies. They also examined me – it appears I have a number of broken bones but nothing too major. They also told me I will need to be on bed rest for the foreseeable future" she looks at me anxiously as she says this.

"That's fine sweetheart, if that is what you have to do then that is what you have to do" I say. "We have Rachel on hand to help with Ava and I can take some time off while you recover" I say with a shrug.

"What about my job?" she asks nervously.

I smile at her, "Meg, stop worrying Christian will understand. You're not about to get fired because you need to take some medical leave".

"I didn't think I would, it's just that I don't want to let him or Andrea down" she whispers.

"You're not letting anyone down; look I'll go and fetch Christian now if it makes you feel better. He and Ana are both here".

I stand and go back to where I left Christian and Ana. They both see me approach and quickly stand up.

"How is she?" Christian asks.

I smile ruefully, "Panicking about letting you and Andrea down, the doc has told her she has to be on bedrest for a while and she's worried about her job" I say.

Christian stares at me incredulously, "Seriously?" he says.

I nod, "So, to stop her worrying I said I'd come and fetch you and you can tell her yourself that she has nothing to worry about".

Christian nods and strides towards Meg's room.

"Megumi how are you?" he asks as he steps inside.

"Hi Christian, I'm ok… listen I…" Meg begins but Christian holds up his hand to stop her.

"Megumi, stop. You are not to concern yourself about GEH. You just need to think about my nephew or niece and your own recovery - that is your number one concern right now. You need to recover and you come back to work when you are completely ready and not a moment before, is that understood?" he says.

I watch Meg relax and she nods at Christian, "Thank you" she says.

Christian nods, "Good" he replies with a smile, and then he turns to me his smile fading. "Dad has organised a restraining order for Kate, just in case, but I don't think she will be going anywhere".

I am relieved to hear that, although I don't think she will be able to count on Eamon's help.

"Where's Ava?" Christian asks.

"With Sadie" I reply, I had driven over to Sadie and practically dumped my daughter on her in my panic this afternoon.

Christian nods, "Do you want us to go and fetch her and keep her for you or do you want to leave her where she is?" he asks.

I call Sadie and quickly bring her up to date with everything that has happened. I have checked in a couple of times while I was waiting for news on Meg so I'm glad I have some reasonably good news to give her.

"Christian has offered to fetch Ava, do you want that or are you ok keeping her?" I ask.

"I don't mind keeping her, but if Christian wants to come and collect her that's fine too, whatever you want to do" she replies.

I think for a moment, "What is she doing?" I ask. She had willingly gone to Sadie, I had tried to hold it together but I think she sensed something was very wrong when I had dropped her off so I don't want her to worry at all. Every time I'd called Sadie she had assured me that Ava was fine, relaxed and happy which was a weight off my mind and one less thing for me to worry about.

"She's having a nap at the moment" Sadie replies.

"Ok, well then leave her where she is for the time being. I'm staying with Meg for now, so when she wakes up can you call Christian and he will come and collect her?" I ask and I look at Christian who nods in agreement with that plan.

"Yes of course I can… oh hang on, she's just waking up now" she says.

"Oh right, ok, in that case then I'll send Christian now" I say, glancing at Christian again. He nods and after saying goodbye to Meg and assuring me that he and Ana will take care of Ava he simply turns and leaves the room.

"He's on his way now" I tell Sadie and she assures me that is fine. I thank her and bring the call to an end before sitting down with Meg once more.