Missing Me (21 page)

‘It’s a bathroom,’ he said, disappearing inside.

‘It’s tiny,’ Lauren grimaced. ‘Just a sink and a toilet.’ As Wolf shut the door, she turned to me, lowering her voice. ‘Who is
he
, Mo?’

‘I met him through—’ I stopped, not wanting to mention Allan Faraday. Until this moment I’d forgotten all about my argument with Lauren over him. She had been right, of
course, Allan
was
a loser. And in trying to impress him by following his lead on Miriam 21, I had got involved with Declan Baxter, rescued Natalia, and brought down Baxter’s revenge on
Lauren’s own head.

‘I guess you were right about Allan Faraday,’ I said softly.

Lauren shook her head. ‘I was too harsh,’ she said. ‘I’ve been thinking about it. When I was your age, I had Mum and Dad and they were basically great, but it still
wasn’t enough. You’ve just got Annie and a big hole where Sam used to be. I can totally understand why you went looking for your birth father.’

We looked at each other. A big wave of emotion swelled inside me. I flung my arms round her. ‘I’m so sorry, Lauren. I’m so sorry I got you into—’

‘Sssh.’ Lauren drew me away from her and peered into my face. ‘None of this is your fault, Mo.’

I swallowed hard, trying not to cry. Lauren was wrong. It
was
my fault. And now she was here in this incredibly vulnerable position and I couldn’t bear it. She was the
brave
sister. I couldn’t be strong without her.

I looked across the room. Wolf was still in the bathroom, but he’d already laid the contents of several boxes on the floor. I could see a row of small food tins, a couple of dogeared
paperback books and three toilet rolls.

‘It’s not exactly five-star accommodation.’ Lauren made a face. ‘The man told me not to drink the water from the tap.’ She lowered her voice. ‘So . . . how
d’you feel about Wolf?’

I glanced at the bathroom door to make sure he couldn’t hear me. ‘I don’t know,’ I whispered. ‘I’m all mixed up about it. He’s nice, but . .
.’

Lauren nodded. ‘I remember when I realised how I felt about Jam,’ she said softly. ‘He’d been interested for ages and I just hadn’t seen it. Then one day it hit me
how much I felt . . .’ She paused. ‘We met when we were younger than you are. Sometimes it’s hard to know what you want. Jam and I split up for nearly a year once, while we were
at uni.’

My mouth gaped. ‘You and Jam broke up?’

Lauren nodded. ‘I thought we were too young to settle down, that we should go out and live a bit.’ She gave me a wry smile. ‘I went to a lot of parties. Jam did too. But after
a bit, I realised that it didn’t matter how young we were, or what we had or hadn’t done. All that counted was how much we loved each other.’

‘Wow.’ I couldn’t believe it. Ever since I could remember, it had been Jam and Lauren. Together. I realised, with a jolt, that I couldn’t conceive of a world in which
they weren’t a couple.

‘I’m just saying, don’t worry about feeling confused.’ Lauren lowered her voice further. ‘You’ll work out how you feel about Wolf in time. But he obviously
adores
you.
’

Did she really think so?

At that moment Wolf emerged from the bathroom, a hammer in his hand. He turned to face us, beaming with pride. ‘Found this under the sink,’ he said. ‘It could
really
be
useful.’

I nodded. ‘That’s great.’

‘When do you think Jam should be here?’ Lauren asked.

‘A couple of hours, max,’ I said. ‘Hey, Wolf, are you hungry? There are sandwiches.’

‘I’m starving.’ Wolf came over, still clutching the hammer. We hid it under the mattress. Wolf seemed much more positive than before. He was confident that between us, the
hammer and the plank of wood Lauren had ripped off one of the other boxes earlier, we’d stand a good chance against whoever next came into the bunker.

We sat in a row on the mattress and ate. Lauren said the pains she’d had earlier had passed. Her face did look less drawn.

‘We’re armed and we’re fed,’ Wolf said. ‘We’re going to get out of here.’

‘We should wait upstairs for Jam to get here,’ I said. ‘He won’t know that code you used. We’ll have to tell him so he can open the padlock again.’

‘We just have to hope there’s no-one outside when he gets here,’ Lauren said.

‘Maybe we can escape before Jam arrives,’ I suggested.

But there was no way out. The basement room and the hut above were completely sealed.

‘All the air in here must be controlled via that panel on the wall outside the hut door,’ Wolf said. He sounded calm and confident. I could see Lauren liked him.

I was starting to realise just how much I liked him myself.

Wolf and I agreed to take it in turns to wait upstairs for Jam to arrive. Wolf insisted on taking the first shift. I went up to relieve him later.

‘Hi,’ Wolf said as I reached the top of the stairs. I could barely make him out in the shadows by the door. ‘How’s Lauren?’

‘She’s fine, no more pains,’ I said. ‘And Jam should be here soon.’ I let my eyes adjust to the gloom, then walked over to where Wolf was standing. ‘Lauren
likes you.’

‘Well, she’s pretty cool herself.’ I couldn’t see his face clearly, but I could hear in his voice that Wolf was smiling.

My heart skipped a beat. I stopped thinking about the danger we were in, and Lauren downstairs. I walked right over to Wolf. I touched his arm.

‘Thanks for being here,’ I said softly.

Wolf lowered his head. His eyes glistened in the dim light. ‘I’d do anything for you, Madison.’

I lifted my face and he leaned closer until our lips touched in a soft, sweet kiss. Slowly, we drew apart. Neither of us spoke for a moment.

‘You better get downstairs,’ I said. ‘Check on Lauren for me.’

‘Of course.’ But Wolf didn’t move. Instead, he leaned closer again.

I closed my eyes, ready to give myself up to another kiss.

Bang.
With a loud thud, something heavy landed against the door.

Wolf and I sprang apart, both turning instinctively towards the noise.

‘Jam?’ I hissed.

Silence. The door creaked. A crack of light appeared.

Wolf drew the hammer from his pocket. He held it high over his head. I braced myself as the door opened more fully.

A body was pushed through. With a moan it, landed on the concrete floor. The door slammed shut.

Darkness filled the room again. Wolf and I looked down at the figure on the ground. It was Jam. His wrists and ankles were bound with rope and a large scarf had been wound round his face. I
dropped to my knees and pulled the scarf away.

‘Who’s there?’ Jam’s voice was a low groan. ‘Is that you, Mo? Where’s Lauren?’

‘
No
,’ I said, my whole body filling with despair.

‘Oh, God,’ Wolf said behind me.

I shook Jam’s shoulder, but his eyes flickered shut.

‘It’s Mo, I’m here,’ I said.

But it was no good. Jam was unconscious.

‘Jam?’ I bent closer, shaking his shoulder. But Jam didn’t respond. He was out cold.

‘Has he been hit or shot?’ Wolf said anxiously.

‘I can’t see any marks, but it’s too dark to really tell.’ I peered at Jam’s face.

‘Come on.’ Wolf grabbed Jam’s legs. ‘Hold his head so it doesn’t bump on the concrete.’

Together we moved Jam’s limp body across the floor to the top of the stairs. There was more light here. Wolf laid Jam’s legs gently on the ground and I examined his head properly. No
bruises. No blood.

‘I don’t get it.’ I looked up at Wolf. ‘There isn’t a scratch on him.’

‘Maybe he was drugged.’

I nodded. That made sense. The same guy who’d seen us come in here must have been ordered to watch the entrance. When he saw Jam getting closer, it would have been easy enough to creep up
behind him and slap a cloth containing something to knock him out over his face.

I shivered, remembering how I’d watched, years ago, as a man called Cooper Trent had done exactly that to Annie, then gone on to set alight the building that Lauren and my other sister,
Shelby, were trapped inside.

‘D’you think we should try getting him downstairs?’ Wolf asked.

I nodded. Lauren was going to be desperately worried when she saw Jam like this, but I was sure she’d want to try and make him as comfortable as possible while we worked out what on earth
to do next. ‘Lauren!’ I called out.

There was no reply. I stood up. Why wasn’t she calling back? In fact, how come she hadn’t heard us already and come up to see what was happening?

‘Wait here a sec,’ I said to Wolf.

Filling with dread, I sped down the steps to the bunker basement. Lauren was sitting on the edge of the mattress. She was bent over, rocking backwards and forwards.

‘Lauren?’ I said.

She didn’t look up, just carried on rocking. I scurried over. ‘Jam’s here and he’s fine,’ I said, though I really had no idea if he was going to be OK or not.
‘He’s unconscious, but he spoke a bit first and I’m sure he’ll come round soon.’ I squatted down beside her.

Lauren looked up – an unfocused gaze. ‘Mo?’ she said hoarsely.

I frowned. She didn’t look like she’d even heard me speak, let alone clocked what I was saying.

‘What’s wrong?’ I said.

Lauren put her hand over her belly. ‘It hurts,’ she said. ‘More than before. Has done since you went upstairs.’

My throat tightened. ‘Maybe you should lie down,’ I suggested.

‘No.’ Lauren’s voice was still hoarse with pain. She started rocking to and fro again. ‘I need to move . . . keep moving.’

I stared at her, feeling helpless. ‘Wolf!’ I yelled up the stairs.

A moment later, he was by my side. We stared at Lauren together. It was almost as if she wasn’t properly aware of our presence.

‘Lauren?’ I said. ‘What can I do?’

She turned to me with wide, fearful eyes, focusing on me properly at last. ‘It’s the baby,’ she gasped. ‘It’s coming. I can feel it.’

My stomach seemed to fall away inside me. ‘No,’ I said. ‘It can’t be coming. It’s too soon.’

‘I’m having contractions,’ Lauren said. ‘I think I might have been having them all day. But they’re much worse now. Mo, I’m scared.’

I glanced at Wolf. He was white-faced. ‘What should we do?’ he said. ‘In movies they always boil water, but we can’t here and anyway, I don’t . . .’ He tailed
off, looking as though he might be sick.

My heart thudded against my chest. I couldn’t handle this. Not a baby. Not my big, brave sister in terrible pain. I needed someone to take charge – an adult . . . someone who knew
what they were doing. I gulped, running through the options. Jam was unconscious. Wolf probably knew less than I did about people giving birth.

There was no-one else. It was down to me. I had to get Lauren through this. Nothing else mattered. I took a deep breath. ‘May I have a look?’ I said.

Lauren nodded. She turned around on the mattress. Wolf backed away, towards the little bathroom. He needed something to do.

‘See if you can find any blankets,’ I said. ‘Anything to wrap the baby in. And one for Jam as well, while you’re at it.’

‘OK.’ Wolf strode over to the shelving area.

‘Jam?’ Lauren glanced up at me. ‘Is Jam here?’

I’d just told her he was, but she’d obviously been in so much pain she hadn’t even heard me. I hesitated. Now I could see the state she was in there was no point making things
worse. Lauren needed hope. Hope and faith. ‘Jam will be with you soon. I meant
you.
A blanket for
you.
’

Lauren nodded as she peeled off her leggings. I peered down.

Jeez, was that the baby’s head? Panic whirled through my body. What was I supposed to do now?

‘Mo?’

‘You’re right, I think the baby is coming,’ I said. ‘What did they tell you at . . . at the classes you went to?’

‘Breathing.’ Lauren clutched at the word like a lifeline. ‘We had to do special breathing.’

‘Do that, then,’ I said, though inside I was screaming. How on earth was breathing going to help?

‘I’ve found a dusty old rug and a clean towel,’ Wolf said from across the room.

‘Take the rug upstairs,’ I said, indicating with my expression he was to use it to keep Jam warm. ‘I’ll have the towel.’

Wolf handed me the towel then went upstairs. Lauren was squatting on the mattress now, taking deep breaths, then letting them out in long, low moans. She sounded like an animal. I peered down
again. The top of the baby’s head was clearly visible, a purplish dome between Lauren’s legs. I put my hand on the very tip. The skin was warm. It thrilled through me that this was a
life . . . literally, a life in my hands . . .

I felt a new strength. ‘We’re going to get through this,’ I said.

‘OK.’ Lauren’s eyes fixed on mine. The look of fear faded slightly from her face. ‘OK, but it still really, really hurts.’

I felt the baby’s head again. ‘Come on, sweetheart,’ I murmured. ‘You can do it.’ I looked up at Lauren, vaguely remembering a film we’d been shown at school
years ago. ‘Don’t you have to push or something?’

Lauren nodded. ‘It comes and goes,’ she panted. ‘The urge . . . to . . . push . . .’

‘Well, next time it comes, just take a big breath and push, all right?’ I said, hoping that was good advice.

‘OK.’ Lauren nodded, then let out another low groan.

I positioned myself, both hands now cradling the baby’s head. ‘Almost out.’

‘OK, I’m . . . it’s time . . .’ Lauren’s voice shook with pain. She gave a huge, agonised moan.

More of the baby’s head appeared. I could see the eyes now. Tight shut. The skin was all purplish and covered in some sort of white wax. I had no idea if any of that was normal.

‘Again,’ I said. ‘You’re doing so great, Lauren, breathe.’

‘I am breathing,’ she panted. ‘Oh, God, it hurts.’

‘You’re doing great,’ I repeated. ‘Come on, push again.’

‘
Aaagh . . .
’ Lauren took another breath. Another moan. Another push. Again.

Again.

With a burst of water and blood, the baby slithered out, into my hands. I held it, too shocked for a moment to speak.