Eddie sat in the waiting room, shaking with nerves.

Rachel had been rushed away by doctors and nurses as soon as they had arrived at the hospital. He'd watched helplessly as she was wheeled away on a hospital trolley, unconscious and dangerously pale.

Eddie had been left behind in the waiting room to answer questions from one of the Nurses.

An hour had gone by and he had heard nothing. He couldn't believe he was sat here again, in the same place he had been six weeks ago.

How could this have happened again?

He couldn't get the image of the blood on the sofa out of his head. It stained his mind, just as it had stained his hand and clothes.

He'd really thought that was the end of it. Stuart had been arrested, he couldn't hurt Rachel anymore. Of course Rachel had been shaken up by the encounter with him, but physically, she had seemed unharmed, to Eddie's relief.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

Stuart had hurt her, again, possibly detrimentally this time.

As if he hadn't taken enough from her already.

Just when he'd thought things were going to be alright. They had sorted things out between them and made amends. Rachel had decided she wanted to come back to work, and she had asked Eddie to move in with her. They had been on the brink of calm. And now he was about to lose her, maybe for real this time. He couldn't bear it.

Of course he wanted to believe she would be ok. But with the amount of blood she'd lost, he couldn't help but have doubts.

"Mr Lawson?"

Eddie turned to see the same nurse who had taken Rachel's details from him stood in front of him. The kind smile she gave him gave Eddie no comfort whatsoever.

"What's going on? Is Rachel ok?" He asked

"She's fine. We've stabilised her and she's resting" the nurse nodded

Eddie breathed a sigh of relief

"What about the bleeding?" He questioned

"We managed to stop it, but unfortunately she lost the baby"

Eddie's jaw practically dropped to the floor.

Had he heard her properly?

"I'm sorry, a baby?" He frowned

"Yes. Rachel was around 6 weeks pregnant. The bleeding was the result of a miscarriage" the Nurse explained

Eddie closed his eyes, sighing painfully.

"Has someone told her? I don't think she knew she was pregnant" he asked

"The doctors are in with her now, explaining everything. I can take you to her if you like? She's been asking for you"

Eddie nodded quietly; desperately trying to process everything he'd just been told.

Eddie's mind swam with thoughts and questions as he followed the Nurse down the hospital corridors. He knew who the father of the baby was, or would have been, and it made him feel sick. As if Rachel didn't have enough to deal with.

He was desperate to get to her, to be by her side. This wasn't going to be easy for her. He couldn't imagine what was going through her mind right now. To be brutally attacked and raped by a man and then to find out you were pregnant with his child, an innocent baby conceived as the result of a traumatic and horrific situation. Eddie couldn't fathom it.

And to make things more complex, she had lost the baby, without even knowing she was pregnant in the first place.

How do you react to something like that?

They finally reached the ward. The Nurse took Eddie over to a female Doctor, who led him into a private room. They sat down together, silence filling the room.

"Mr Lawson, I'm Dr Baylis, I've been taking care of Rachel" the female doctor spoke, offering her hand for Eddie to shake

Eddie smiled at her weakly, shaking her hand.

"I just wanted to have a conversation with you before you see Rachel" she explained

Eddie nodded

"I don't know how much my colleague has told you, but Rachel's bleeding was caused by a miscarriage. She was six weeks pregnant"

"The Nurse told me" Eddie confirmed

Doctor Baylis nodded

"I know this must have come as a shock to both you and Rachel. We're here to give you the support you need"

"I didn't even know she was pregnant. I don't think she did either" Eddie sighed

"She didn't, she confirmed that when I spoke to her just now" Doctor Baylis answered

"Is she ok?" Eddie asked

"She's as well as can be expected in a situation like this. She's been asking for you. I thought it best to send someone down to fetch you. I won't keep you much longer; I just wanted to talk to you before you went to sit with her"

Eddie put his head in his hands. He couldn't believe this was happening.

Hadn't Rachel suffered enough?

"I've been reading Rachel's notes, Mr Lawson. I understand she was attacked and sexually assaulted in July, is that correct?" Doctor Baylis questioned

"Yes, it was his baby" he nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat

"Are you sure?" Doctor Baylis asked

"Of course I am!" He snapped, immediately feeling guilty

"I'm sorry, it's just- I know it was his. Rachel and I aren't... involved in that way at the moment, we never have been. She wasn't seeing anyone when she was attacked, so it had to have been his" he continued

"I understand. I was wrong to assume anything about the two of you. I'm sorry Mr Lawson"

"Don't apologise, its fine" he reassured

"She spoke really fondly of you just now when I was with her. It sounds like you really care about each other" Doctor Baylis observed with a gentle smile

Eddie sighed. He did care about her; he cared about her so much.

"That's what makes all of this so complicated. The thought of someone touching her like that is bad enough. How do you come to terms with the fact that an innocent baby could have come from this?"

"It'll take time for you both to get through this, especially Rachel. But you have each other. Just be there for her as much as you can"

Eddie nodded

"We can arrange counselling sessions for Rachel if she needs to talk to someone about what happened. Would you be able to talk to her about that?"

"Of course" Eddie answered

"Alright, I'll take you to her and let you have some time to talk, and then we can discharge her"

She led him out of the room and back down the corridor, pointing him to a little room. Eddie thanked her before opening the door quietly and stepping inside.

Rachel was sat cross legged on the bed, staring at the wall blankly. Her face was still pale, highlighting the dark circles under her eyes that Eddie hadn't noticed before.

She looked up at him, her posture instantly relaxing when she saw him.

He walked over to her, and, with her permission, sat on the bed beside her. In an instant she dropped her composure, collapsing into him as she sobbed. Eddie instinctively wrapped his arms around her tightly, rubbing her arm gently with his thumb.

"It's ok, I've got you. You're ok" he soothed

"I didn't know Eddie" she sobbed

"I know, I know" he replied, holding her tighter

"Tell me how you're feeling, Rach" he asked once her breathing had calmed a little

She sighed

"Scared, conflicted, relieved... and guilty"

"Guilty?" Eddie frowned, shifting so he was looking at her

"When they told me I was pregnant, I knew straight away I didn't want to keep it. How could I bring a baby into the world, whose father was a rapist and a monster? I couldn't have a baby born from what happened to me. So when they told me I'd miscarried, I felt relieved, and then I felt guilty for feeling relieved because I knew I wouldn't have to go through with an abortion"

Eddie sighed painfully. He understood how she felt. To conceive a child in the circumstances of rape was traumatic enough. But then to have to go through an abortion, another physical and emotional trauma, it was soul destroying. Eddie didn't blame her for feeling relieved that she didn't have to go through it. But he didn't blame her for feeling sad either.

"There's no right or wrong way of thinking in this, Rach. You're going through something you never should have had to go through in the first place"

"I know, but..." she hesitated, wanting to lay her emotions and feelings out on the table, but feeling unsure about doing so

"But what, Rach?" He asked, urging her to continue

She averted her gaze, staring at the floor, tears running down her face.

"Hey, come on Rach, talk to me" he pleaded, wiping the tears from her face with his hand

Rachel took a deep, shaky breath. She couldn't keep it in any longer. She had to tell him how she was feeling.

"I want a baby. I'm not saying I would have gone through with this pregnancy if I'd known about it or hadn't miscarried, I don't think I could have done that"

She paused, taking another deep breath before continuing.

"But Eddie, I'm not getting any younger. And the more time that goes by, the more I realise that my chances of having a baby are getting smaller"

She hesitated again, letting out a small sob. Eddie rubbed her arm comfortingly, urging her to continue.

"I just... can't help but feel like I've wasted time. For a long time, I didn't think I wanted a baby, and I was happy with that decision... but then,"

Eddie frowned as she stopped again. He noticed how nervous she suddenly looked.

"But then...what?" He questioned

Rachel didn't answer him. He could tell she was gathering her courage to say whatever it was she needed to say. She was scaring him. He needed to know what she was thinking.

"Rach?" He prompted gently, tucking her hair back behind her ear

She sighed softly. What she was about to say would change her relationship with Eddie forever, in either a negative or positive way.

"Then I met you"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt relief, followed by an overwhelming sense of dread.

What was he going to say?

What if he didn't feel the same way?

What if she'd pushed him away one time too many and he didn't want to be with her?

So many what ifs.

Rachel words had, had only a positive effect on Eddie. His heart had started to flutter in his chest as soon as the words reached his ears.

Rachel figured the secret was out, so she may as well continue saying what she wanted and needed to say. It didn't matter if he didn't feel the same way. She just had to get it out.

"I love you, Eddie. I think I have for a while. And I understand if you don't feel the same,"

"I love you too Rachel" he blurted, cutting her off mid-sentence

Rachel stared at him, taken aback.

"You do?" She checked, her breathing suddenly increasing

He nodded, taking her hand into his own.

"Of course I do, Rach! I'm crazy about you! I loved you from the minute I met you. I just didn't want to push you in case you didn't feel the same way"

Rachel had never felt so relieved. Her eyes welled up with tears at his words. She leaned in, catching his lips with her own. They shared a passionate kiss, both of them feeling an electric spark as they did. It felt natural, like they had done this thousands of times over.

It felt right.

They pulled apart for breath. Rachel couldn't stop the smile forming on her face, or the giggles that escaped her lips. She felt giddy with happiness and excitement.

Eddie was mesmerised by the sparkle in her deep brown eyes that became even more noticeable when she smiled. He couldn't believe what had just happened, neither of them could. And yet, it had been a long time coming.

"How about we get you home? The doctor has given you the all clear" Eddie suggested

Rachel nodded, breathing a sigh of contentment as he walked away to get the discharge papers. She had fallen head over heels for Eddie, and she couldn't have wished for anyone better.