With My Body

by Jo Briggs

  He nodded. "We had a slight disagreement over my overzealous questioning of the doctor."

  Richard patted William on the back. "I am sure she will calm down and realise you were just trying to be supportive. How long ago did you leave her?"

  He checked the time on his phone and was amazed to find that nearly two hours had passed.

  "Nearly two hours, much longer than I thought I had been." He replied distractedly, as he noticed a text message awaiting his attention. He opened it, and saw it was from Elle.

  Are you coming back today?

  He sighed loudly.

  "From Elle?"

  "Yes, she thinks I have abandoned her for the day now it seems."

  "Well, you can prove you haven't when we arrive back there in a moment."

  "Anyway, have there been any changes with Charlotte?"

  "Yes, the drugs they gave her yesterday to counteract it seem to have started to reverse the effects slowly. She is still out of it, but her vitals are becoming stronger. They think she should be conscious enough to speak by this evening, or morning. Mrs. Woodhouse, the lady who found her was visiting her, and I have been getting some more details about events. She thinks Charlotte maintained breathing throughout the time until the paramedics arrived, and mentioned that when she first discovered Charlotte was unconscious, she was sure she could hear someone else in the apartment. She noticed Wickham’s leather jacket near by the abandoned needle, when she had only seen him go out the front door ten minutes earlier. It was almost as if he staged leaving, to give himself an alibi, and then double backed and entered through the back door."

  "I just hope the Police might be able to do something about that bastard this time. He surely must have earned enough bad karma by now for something to come back and bite him on the arse."

  “Well, if Charlotte can make a statement about him being there, along with this woman’s additional statement, that has to be enough to get them to bring Wickham in for questioning at least.”

  “It cannot come soon enough for me. By the way, the results are through; I have arranged for them couriered down to me. In fact, hopefully Lydia or Jenny should be dropping them off soon."

  "Do you have a preferential outcome?" Richard asked rather bluntly.

  William stopped in his tracks.

  "Oh, come on I can't believe you haven't got one." Richard continued.

  "Life would be easier if she were not mine, but she is an adorable kid whom I would be proud to call mine."

  "That is rather sitting on the fence answer, Will."

  "Ok, I would prefer she wasn't." He admitted as they finally arrived back on Elle's ward.

  ~~~

  Elle was not in her bed when they arrived. A passing nurse explained she had been taken down for an ultrasound, and would return soon. The men passed the next forty minutes continuing their chat about Charlotte, and the new changes being implemented at the Pemberley estate.

  When she finally did arrive back, she looked surprised to see them waiting for her.

  "I thought you had left," She said with a slight accusatory tone, as she caught William's eye. She felt hurt that he had just walked away from her.

  "No, I just went out for some air and lost track of time." William responded patiently, not rising to the bite in her words. "Have they said what the ultrasound showed?"

  She nodded, but not explaining.

  "You don't want to tell me?"

  "It was as the doctor said." She replied vaguely.

  "So you will have one of the procedures he described?"

  "Yes."

  William was finding the conversation exasperating, especially after the earlier conversation with Gina, but he remained calm on the outside. Stroppy women honestly do my head in at times! He thought to himself.

  William decided to be silent for a while, and Richard seeing his predicament, tried to break the ice and talk to Elle himself; before long Richard made her laugh and the chill between the couple dispersed as the afternoon ticked by.

  Finally, Richard had a call from Lydia saying that she had William’s urgent letter, and that she was outside.

  William was too anxious to retrieve the envelope to question why Lydia had called Richard’s phone number, rather than his.

  William almost sprinted from the ward when Richard told him, leaving him to explain to Elle where he had gone so abruptly for the second time.

  "Thanks Lydia." He said, as he handed her some money for waiting cab so that she could return to the house straightaway.

  Eagerly, he tore at the envelope open, hesitating before he pulled the folded white papers from within it. Taking a deep breath, he unfolded the papers.

  William Dexter is not excluded from being the father of Lily Lucas. He was not sure what that even meant. He continued to read further down where there was a table of what looked like percentages. The final row of the table entitled "Possibility of Paternity" showed 99.2%

  He gulped.

  Retribution

  10th May 2010

  The next week became rather a whirl for William. Elle had begun to feel better since the blood transfusion, and subsequent laparoscopic myomectomy to remove the fibroids that the doctor had correctly predicted would show on the ultrasound and ensuing MRI. She had only been allowed home to Winster House that morning, with orders to rest for four weeks, before going back to work.

  They had talked at length about the paternity results, and what it meant for their future. She had finally confessed her fear over another pregnancy, and all the ifs and buts that could go wrong. Once she was recovered from her operation, they would make an appointment with a private obstetrician to discuss her fears, and find out more information about the dangers, to help her overcome them.

  Despite her recovering status, Elle had been firm that they were doing the right thing by taking on the full custody of Lily, and establishing her as a long-term member of their family unit. To her it did not matter that she was not her mother, she wanted to take over the responsibility of her care all the same.

  “I know neither of us planned it this way, but at the end of the day, you are her father, no matter how much as you may regret your relationship with her mother. Since she is part of you; I am prepared to accept that she is part of our family, as well. Charlotte is not going to be in a fit state to bring her up for many months, if ever, and I will not let it be on my conscience that she is given up into a social care system, where she might never be adopted in a loving family such as ours.”

  Elle’s words still echoed in William’s mind, when he thought back to the conversation, they had been having earlier that morning when he had collected her from the hospital.

  He had always thought he would want Lily as his daughter, but now the truth was out; he felt torn that a little pierce of him wished the result had been different, so he could hand her to a caring relative within Charlotte's family instead. He would have continued to pay for her upbringing, but the lack of a connection to Charlotte was a worthwhile dream. However, he knew deep down, Elle was right; he could not shirk his responsibilities to her daughter, simply because he was remorseful about his long-ago decision to become involved with her mother. He was an adult, and he had to deal with the consequences of that action.

  They were heading back in Winster House accompanied by Christian, Lily and Lydia, for the time being, but William had planned a surprise trip for all of them with Cate, Evan, Jess and Charlie to celebrate the impending marriages and births, while Jess and Elle also had some rehabilitation from their surgeries.

  Richard had stayed behind in London, as Charlotte had come out of her unconscious state long enough the day before to be interviewed by the Police briefly, about her recollection of events on that day. She was still having her breathing assisted by a ventilator, as well as hooked up to other machines for constant motioning of pulse, temperature, and heart rate as the toxicity had led to low oxygen in the blood, and a pulmonary oedema. Because she kept slipping in and out of consciousness,
she would stay in intensive care for some days, in case she took a turn for the worst.

  Nervous about just turning up uninvited at Winster House, she decided to ring him first and gauge how receptive he was to her coming so soon after Elle being discharged out of hospital.

  William has just stepped into the kitchen, to see if Mrs. Reynolds could prepare some tea for them all. He had left his mobile in his suit jacket pocket, which had been thrown over one of the sofas, opposite the one Elle had been lying down on. The melody getting louder had awoken her, and she had asked Christian to retrieve it, and show it to his father before the caller rang off.

  Seeing whom the caller id showed on the screen, he was cautious in his greeting, offering a neutral Hello.

  “Will, I have a list of the suggested items we need to purchase to complement the furniture already in place at Pemberley. I understand you have only just arrived back with Elle, but I thought I could come over, and we could attempt to talk things through. I realise we need to move past our disagreement.”

  William felt a slight relief that the conversation was not going to be another battering of his future living arrangement.

  “That would be acceptable with me. How about tomorrow at one, and I will organise for Mrs. Reynolds to set up a lunch for us all.”

  “Ok, that sounds nice. See you then Will.”

  “Bye, Gina.”

  Moving from kitchen, and back in the sitting room, he was closely followed by Mrs. Reynolds with a tray of tea. Lily was chatting to herself, playing with her small toy people in the middle of the open planned room, watched by her nanny Lydia, who was occasionally conversing with Christian. Elle was snoozing lightly, still on the sofa.

  “Daddy, can I go and play a game on my Xbox?” Christian requested, hovering nearby to William as he sat down opposite Elle.

  “Ok, but only for an hour or so. Mrs. Reynolds will call us in to dinner then.”

  “Can you come play as well?” The boy looked pleadingly at him.

  “Not right now, I want to spend some time with Mama, as she is still not feeling 100%. But I promise I will play a game with you in the morning,” William smiled.

  “Ok, I understand,” Christian hesitated slightly, before attempting to leave the room.

  “Can I have a hug before you go?” William wondered if Christian needed some reassurance with all the upheaval he had experienced, in just a few days, with Elle’s hospitalisation, and Lily’s appearance.

  Christian nodded, and ran over to William’s seat and gave him a quick hug. Before he had a chance to move away, William ruffled at his hair playfully. “Papa, you know mama is going to moan at you if she sees all my hair messed up.”

  William laughed. “I am sure mama will forgive me.”

  “Are you corrupting our son again?” Elle’s voice came alive, as she opened her eyes and stretched her leg muscles out fully over the end of the sofa. Christian disappeared from the room, Lydia following him, with Lily in tow.

  “It would seem I am. How are you feeling? ”

  “Not too terrible - Only a dull ache. Who was on the phone before?”

  “Gina, she seems to have come over all conciliatory, and wants to come over tomorrow to talk.”

  “Hmm, do you think she is being sincere?” Elle raised herself to a seating position.

  “Despite her attitude last time, she has never given me reason to suspect her of anything like that in the past. She is just misplaced in her overprotection.” William moved over to the sofa beside her, and ran a hand through her flattened curls from where she had been sleeping on them, before bring the hand down to her cheek to cup it.

  “Well, you know her better than me, but I will be reserving judgement, until I receive an apology from her for what she said about my intentions to you.” Elle turned her face, so her lips could be placed on the palm of his hand.

  “Don’t worry; I will be making sure she apologies.” He leaned in, and kissed her gently on the lips. “You are the most important person in my life, so I will not allow anyone in my family to hurt you.”

  “I know darling, you are equally indispensable to me.”

  “I was thinking, since the film shoot is now going to be in location at Pemberley, that we should take a long holiday to aid with your recovering before it starts.” His lips nuzzled against her neck and ear. “Maybe invite Cate, Evan, Jess and Charlie, and have a celebration for our impending marriages, and new babies in Jess’ case. Would you like to do that?”

  “That sounds lovely. When do you have in mind?”

  “Well, in perhaps four weeks, once you have had your post-op check-up.”

  “We will have to organise a tutor to take with us, I do not want Christian falling behind with his studies and I do not want to leave him behind.”

  “No, he goes wherever we go. We can sort the tutor before then.”

  “I also want to make sure Wickham is charged, and not given bail, first. The Police seem confident, with the Mrs. Woodhouse’s and Charlotte's statements, that they will be able to charge him with Attempted Murder by the end of tomorrow, if not sooner.”

  “How long have they had him in custody now?”

  “Since yesterday. They finally found him trying to leave the country via Belfast.”

  “I cannot imagine them wanting to grant him bail, with his prior history of absconding from bail before when he was done for supplying drugs to Gina and other minors.”

  “I just pray that he gets a longer sentence this time.”

  “He surely will, now that this is classed as attempted murder, rather than simply a drug supplying offence. Charlotte has stated that he put that needle into her arm with definite intent to do harm.”

  Any further discussion on the matter was silenced by Mrs. Reynolds by signalling that dinner was ready.

  Dinner was a straightforward affair; they sat in the large kitchen chatting with Mrs. Reynolds and Lydia. Lily had finally started to settle down after all the toing and froing between London and Derbyshire in the past week or so. Elle tried to soothe her by allowing her to sit on her lap gently through the meal, allowing her to take small bites of her meal, rather than eating off her own plate. Christian meanwhile was occupied by William, who was chatting to him about his favourite sports team. They made plans to see a football match in Manchester the next week, if he could get tickets. William disliked football himself, but he would endure it occasionally if it made his son happy.

  After dinner, Elle and William took both children upstairs, to settle them into their respective rooms next to their own. Christian’s room would need to be redecorated more appropriately to a boy of his age, but they had already equipped it with things like a small television and laptop for his homework. It had made sure that it was appropriately safeguarded with nanny software, and was only granted internet access during certain hours, so he wouldn’t be able to go online, to chat with his friends, without supervision.

  Lily was settled off to sleep first after William reading a storybook. Elle also gave her a new doll to distract her. Lydia had a spare bed made in the same room, so she could attend to her in the night if she became too upset.

  They allowed Christian to stay up a little longer than usual, as they wanted to discuss how Lily would be staying with them while Charlotte recovered from her illness.

  He was maturing into laid back, intelligent little boy, so took all the changes in routine and environment in his stride. Content that he was OK for the time being, they went downstairs to relax in the Library.

  William poured himself a beer, as Elle contented herself with just juice, as she was still on powerful painkillers, and needed to abstain from alcohol while taking them.

  Snuggled up together on the sofa, both reading a book their comfortable silence was disturbed by the telephone extension shrilling itself into a vibrating ring. William did not wait for Mrs. Reynolds, or her husband, to answer it in another room, as he was in easy reach of it.

  “Dexter speaking,” He spoke c
learly, pulling Elle back against him, as she had earlier moved slightly away when he turned to answer the call.

  “Will, Richard.”

  William was taken aback at Richard’s tone. It did not sound like him. “Is everything all right, you sound funny?”

  Elle looked at William expectantly, as she heard the worry in William’s tone.

  “Charlotte has gone.” As frustrated as Richard had been with Charlotte's attitude towards William, he was truly aggrieved as to the tragedy that had befallen her at the hands of Wickham.

  “Gone? Gone where?” William was confused with what Richard was trying to say at first, until suddenly Elle grabbed the handset from him abruptly, and the realisation hit him at the true meaning to the words.

  “Richard, its Elle. W-hat happened?”

  “Her heart simply gave up. The toxicity had done too much damage.”

  “Oh god. Were the doctors caught by surprise, or did they manage to get Maria there in time?”

  “Yes, Maria had a few moments with her.”

  “Ok, well, that is something I guess. Look, I know there is no love lost between her, Will and I anymore, but this truly is shocking even so. If you need to get away, come and stay with us for a few days, as you have been there night and day, and need to take a break now.”

  “Yes, I just might do that. There is going to be a post mortem, so there will not be a funeral anytime soon.”

  “Well, feel free to come up and see us for lunch tomorrow. Gina will be joining us as well.”

  “Ok, I will see you then.” Elle replaced the handset and hugged William.

  Reconciliation

  11 May 2010

  Neither of them did much beyond quietly holding each other, as they talked things through in-between broken snippets of sleep.

  The first intent of the day was to sit down with Lily, and try to explain the best they could, that her mother had gone away, and would not be coming back. How do you explain you can no longer see your mother to a toddler?

  “Lily, come and sit on my lap for a while, bring Mary with you.” Mary was a well-loved tiny tears doll that had belonged to Charlotte when she had been a young child.