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‘Sure.’ Sharon’s eyes closed again. ‘I need to sleep now. Come back tomorrow.’

* * *

Hand in hand, Jason and Laura walked through the quiet hospital corridors on their way back to the paediatric ward to see Megan again.

‘She’s going to be mine,’ Jason said in wonder. ‘Really mine.’

‘I’m so happy for you, Jase.’ It was hard to sound really happy, though, when part of her heart was breaking.

Jason must have caught something in her tone. ‘But it means that everything is going to be okay.’ He pulled Laura to a halt and turned her to face him. ‘For all of us.’

His face lit up as he caught hold of her other hand in his. ‘Will you marry me, Laura?’ His smile widened. ‘And be Megan’s real mother?’

For a long moment, Laura looked up at Jason, taking in every beloved feature. Then she let her breath out in a soft sigh.

‘No,’ she said softly. ‘I’m not going to marry you, Jason.’ Another piece of her heart cracked and she tried to pull her hands free, but Jason’s grip was far too strong.

The joy, along with some of the colour, faded from Jason’s face. ‘But… but why not? I love you, Laura. Megan loves you. I… I thought you loved us.’

‘I do. And what we have together is wonderful. It’s just not enough to base marriage on.’

‘But why not?’ Jason looked genuinely and totally bewildered. He was still holding Laura’s hands as he pulled her gently out of the way of a patient’s bed being wheeled along the corridor with attending medical staff. He leaned back against the wall and finally let go of Laura’s hands when the procession had passed.

‘I don’t understand,’ he said.

‘I can’t spend the rest of my life trying to earn your love,’ Laura told him gently. ‘I’ve been there and done that and I’m never going to do it again.’

‘But I do love you.’ Jason’s voice was loud enough to make one of the nurses following the bed down the corridor to turn and stare. Then she grinned and gave him a thumbs-up signal.

‘Not the same way I love you,’ Laura tried to explain. ‘And that’s what I need if I’m ever going to marry someone and spend the rest of my life with them.’

‘But… but I couldn’t love you any more than I do.’ Jason was trying to keep his voice down but the intensity of his words made it difficult. ‘I’ve finally found out what love really is,’ he said. ‘I’m in love with you, Laura. But I love you as well.’ He shook his head, frustrated that he couldn’t express himself clearly enough. ‘I can’t lose you,’ he added desperately. ‘I’ll never love anybody the way I love you. You’re… you’re my life now.’

‘Not really.’

Laura could feel tears gathering as she let Jason’s intensity and sincerity wash over her. It was so obviously genuine. She had known that when she’d seen his face in the ambulance that morning. But was that love really for her? The way hers was for him?

‘I know you love me, Jase, but how much of that is because I’m part of a package for you?’

‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’

‘Megan,’ Laura responded simply. ‘You want a mother for Megan.’

‘No!’ Jason shook his head sharply. ‘Well… yes, but I would want to marry you anyway.’

‘Would you?’ Laura queried softly. ‘Are you sure about that, Jason?’

‘Of course I am.’

‘When you thought that Shelley – I mean Sharon – was going to take her away, you said yourself that Megan was the most important thing in your life. That she was what really mattered.’

‘But…’ Jason frowned ferociously as he seemed to be trying to recall the conversation. Then his face cleared. ‘Of course I had to do what’s best for Megan, but part of why it was so important was all about you. I knew if I lost her I might lose you, and that was a risk I couldn’t let myself take.’

A group of staff heading for supper in the canteen stopped the very private conversation, which was happening in rather a public place, long enough for Jason’s words to sink in. Long enough for a bubble of joy to form deep within Laura.

‘Why on earth did you think that, Jase?’

‘Because she was what brought you into my life. You loved her.’