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Kat's forehead slowly wrinkled into a frown. She wasn't sure she'd heard him right.
"I'm sorry you had to find out like this," the doctor said. "You're still very young and I'm not at all sure if you'll be able to cope."
"W-what?" Kat asked. He couldn't possibly have said what she thought he had said.
He sighed sadly. "You're pregnant. You said it'd been six months. You're most likely around five months or more gone."
Kat shook her head. "I'm not."
"I'm sorry, I really am-"
"I'm not!" Kat cried. "I'm not! How can I be? He only did it once-"
She gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth, tears trickling down her face.
"It's alright," the doctor said quietly.
"I can't be I can't be I can't be-" she repeated. The doctor tried to say something and she cried "I'm not listening! I don't care!"
She saw the expression on his face and cried harder, until she could barely breathe. Little black and red lights were winking on and off in front off her eyes. The entire world seemed to be sliding sideways. Dimly, from far away, she heard the doctor saying "Kat? Kat?" Then it all went grey and she slid off the chair.
When she woke up a while later, she was in a different room. Her eyes were closed but she could tell - it smelled and sounded different. She could hear her mum's voice and the doctor's. He was talking quietly in a low voice, but her mum was repeating something over and over. She sounded like she was crying. Kat wondered if the doctor had told her about the - her mind pushed away from the forbidden word. She wanted to keep her eyes closed forever. Never wake up.
"I think she's come round," Kat heard the doctor say. She heard movement and opened her eyes quickly.
Her mum was sitting in a chair next to her, her face pale and wet with tears. She looked like she was in shock. Kat realised that she was lying on some kind of bed or couch. It was quite comfy. There was a thing that looked like a TV screen, with wires attached to it.
"Mum?" Kat said weakly.
Her mum sniffled and looked at her. The look seemed full of horror mingled with disgust. Kat's blood turned cold. Did she know-?
The doctor moved towards Kat. "Will you roll your top up a bit please?"
"No!" Mum interrupted furiously, tears shining in her eyes. "No, this is ridiculous - I won't-"
"Mrs Slater," the doctor said patiently, "I'm a doctor. I want to help your daughter. Will you let me, please?" His voice held an edge of disgust, Kat thought - or was she imagining it?
Mum fell into sullen silence. Kat rolled her top up slowly. It was true, her tummy was a bit bigger than it had been - but so what? She had been eating a lot. Kind of. But if you eat lots don't you get bigger everywhere, not just your stomach?
He put some cold stuff on her stomach and she gasped. It was freezing. He smoothed it out a bit and got some strange implement out. Kat frowned at it.
"Just relax, okay?" the doctor said quietly to Kat.
"Will it hurt?" Kat asked nervously.
"No. Not a bit, I swear," he replied. He looked sincere. Kat breathed out.
He started moving the thing about and a moment later, a picture appeared on the screen. Loads of grey stuff. Then there was a shape. Kat watched it in confusion. What on earth...
"Is that my insides?" she asked curiously.
"Yes," he said, watching the screen. When the mysterious shape appeared more fully, he pointed at it, looking at Kat's mum meaningfully.
"No," Mum said. "No. No. It can't be-"
She started to cry. Kat stared at her. She had never seen her mum cry before.
The doctor looked at Kat. "This is your baby."
For a moment Kat was confused, but she remembered what he'd said earlier. Then shock took over. "What..."
She could do nothing but stare at the screen. She could see it clearly now - the head, the body... her mouth was gaping open but she didn't even notice. She let out a choking sob. "No...."
It wasn't a baby. It was a horrible creature that he had put there. She felt nothing for it. It was like an alien. How could that be inside her, be living off of her air and things? She hated it, loathed it, detested it.
"Get it out," she whispered hoarsely. "Get it out. I don't want it. Get it out of me."
The doctor was looking at her with that same dopey expression. Why'd he have to tell her this? She hated him too.
"I said get it out!" she screamed at him. "Get that thing out of me!"
He turned the screen off, and Kat felt a rush of relief. "I'm sorry. We can't get rid of it."
The words were like a death knell. "Yes. You can. i know you can," Kat babbled. "I've heard about it. you just give me a tablet and then it's gone, then it's-"
"No." he interrupted. "We can't. It's illegal. You're too far gone."
"I don't care if it's illegal!" Kat shouted. "Just do it! Please!"
He shook his head. "No."
Kat stared at him, disbelieving, and then collapsed into helpless sobs.
-
Back in 2005...
Kat was getting ready to open up the stall when she glanced across and saw that Alfie's stall was minus its owner.
"Mickey?" she called across. "Have you seen Alfie today?"
Mickey glanced at Kat and then at Alfie's stall. "No... I didn't realise he wasn't there."
Kat frowned and looked in the direction of Alfie's house. She couldn't help it, but she was worried. Was he ill? Was Nana - she suddenly remembered everything and got even more worried. What if Nana was - was - she dropped the skirt she had been holding and hurried towards his house.
"Alfie!" she called, knocking on the door. "Are you okay?"
The door opened a few minutes later - by then Kat had worked herself up into panic - and Alfie was standing there in his pyjamas, yawning.
"What on earth...?" he frowned at her. "What are you doing?"
"You weren't on the stall - I thought Nana might be-" she trailed off, realising how stupid she must look. She wasn't supposed to care about what was going on his life anymore. She turned pink in embarrassment.
"Oh - what time is it?" Alfie said, looking surprised. he checked the clock in the hallway. "Oh, damn - I'm late again..."
Kat looked at the floor, feeling like a fool. "Sorry... I was just worried..."
He looked at her. "It's alright. You woke me up, anyway. I've been having too many lie-ins lately - must be my old age, eh?"
Kat grinned and they shared an unexpected moment, but then it evaporated.
"I'd best get dressed then," he muttered, and turned away.
"Bye," Kat said uncertainly, and Alfie shut the door. She gazed at it like an idiot for a few seconds, and then walked off, unaware that Alfie was doing the exact same on the other side of the door.
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please reply
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Fab, please do more :) :o
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Two weeks later, Kat was coming back from a shopping trip in the centre of London when she noticed that once again, Alfie wasn't on his stall. She felt another stab of fear, but ignored it this time. She wasn't going to go charging round to his house again like a fool. She went home.
"I found a really nice top Stace," Kat said to Stacey as she went into the kitchen. "There was only one though, and it was in your size, so I got it for you." She smiled, feeling generous and happy. "Like it?"
Stacey looked at the top and her face lit up. "Yeah, it's great! Thanks," she said, with real pleasure. Kat grinned and sat down at the table.
Charlie turned around and looked at her, a funny expression on his face. "What's up?" Kat asked.
"Um... Nana Moon got taken to hospital while you were out." he said. "Alfie went with her. I don't know what was wrong, but I thought I'd better tell you..."
Kat jumped up, turning pale. "Which hospital?"
Charlie frowned. "I don't know."
Kat grabbed her bag and rushed out. Her dad called after her "Kat! They might not want you to-" but she ignored him.
She found Jake sitting on the bench in the park, looking glum. He looked up and saw her. "Suppose you've heard then," he said.
"How is she?" Kat asked quickly.
Jake sighed. "Not very well. I haven't been to see her yet, it was only a while ago they went..." he trailed off.
"And... is Alfie okay?" Kat asked nervously.
Jake glanced at her before returning his gaze to the ground. "He's emotional. Worried."
"Do you know what hospital they're in?"
Jake paused for a moment, and then told her. She nodded, eyes bright. There was nothing else in her mind except going to see them, to make sure Nana was alright. And Alfie.
"Kat," Jake called as she turned to leave. "Don't... don't upset him, will you?"
Kat shook her head, and hurried towards the bus stop.
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Yay I love this script and i'm not really a kalfie fan but you are converting me do more asap
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:D Kalfie is one of the only reasons I watch EastEnders (...and that's kind of sad...:o )
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Kat went up to the reception desk in the hospital. The receptionist looked bored.
"Um, 'scuse me..." Kat said. She hated hospitals. Nothing good ever happened to her in them.
"Yes?"
"I'm looking for Nana Moon -" Kat paused as she realised that no way was 'Nana' her real name, and at the same time thought 'What is her real name? Did I ever think to ask?'
"Is that her first name?" the receptionist said, raising her eyebrow slightly.
"Er, no, no it isn't..." Kat said, embarrassed. "Um... it's.... uh...."
"There are other people waiting," the receptionist said pointedly.
"Sorry," Kat said. And then she remembered. "Victoria! Her name is Victoria Moon," she said proudly.
The receptionist tapped something up on her computer. "Are you a relative?"
"Yes, I'm her grandaughter," Kat said quickly. Well, it was nearly true.
"Room 506. Fourth floor."
"Thank you," Kat said breathlessly, and hurried towards the lifts.
-
Kat knocked quietly on the door of room 506. She could see Alfie sitting next to the hospital bed. Alfie turned round and looked surprised to see her.
"What are you doing here?" he asked as she entered the room.
"I was worried," Kat replied. She looked at Nana, who seemed to be asleep on the bed. She looked old and frail.
"She's unconscious," Alfie said. There was an IV drip attached to the back of Nana's hand. Kat remembered those from when she had been in hospital, after... after.
He looked at Kat more fully. "Why are you here?"
"I just said, I was wor-"
"About who?"
"Both of you," Kat said. He seemed angry and she didn't know why.
"Jake hasn't even got here yet," Alfie said. "We only arrived fifteen minutes ago. And yet you swan in because you were worried?"
"I was," Kat said uncertainly. "I thought she might be ill-"
"She is!" Alfie exclaimed. "I found her unconscious in the kitchen! I thought-" He buried his head in his hands.
"It's alright," she said, trying to reassure him.
"I don't want to lose her," he said. "I can't."
"It'll be alright." She put her hand on his back tentatively. "I'm-"
"Get off!" He shook her hand away. "Do you have any idea how hard you're making this?"
"What?" she said, confused.
"You! You're... I don't understand you! One minute you're telling me to buzz off and the next you're hugging me, and - and-"
"I'm sorry," she said. She didn't know what else to say. "I didn't mean to."
"I was trying to get over you," he said, with a bitter laugh. "To forget about you. And I was really trying, Kat, I thought I might be getting somewhere. But no. The second I try to get on with things at all, you pop up again, doing this!"
Kat stood up. "I only came to see how Nana was. I didn't want an argument."
"Well, tough. The world doesn't revolve around what you want, Kat."
Kat recoiled. She didn't understand why he was being like this.
"Go on!" he exclaimed. "Get out! I don't want you here."
Kat backed away, her eyes stinging with tears. She felt the doorhandle behind her, opened it and rushed out. She managed to hold in the tears until she got around the corner, when she slid down onto a bench and cried.
-
-
After a while Kat looked up, tears drying on her cheeks. She stared at a poster on the opposite wall. How could he send her away like that? She had gone to see Nana, and he had shouted at her. Why? She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and stood up. She wasn't going to let him send her away like that. No-one else would get away with it, why should he?
She entered the room again with a determined expression. He looked up and sighed. "Not-"
"Shut up," she interrupted. "I'm not here to see you, I'm here to see Nana, and I'll be damned if you're going to stop me."
He stared at her, mouth open. She pulled a chair up to the opposite side of Nana's bed from where he was sitting and sat on it.
There was silence for a few minutes as Alfie tried to get his head around what had just happened. He glanced at kat and their eyes met by accident.
"Are you going to say sorry for shouting at me, or what?" Kat asked.
Alfie blinked. "Sorry," he said quietly.
"Alright," Kat replied primly.
"I was upset... I thought I was gonna lose her..."
Kat glanced at him. "I know."
"This is the same hospital that..." he fell silent.
"What?"
"It doesn't matter," Alfie said, looking at his hands.
"You can tell me," Kat said softly.
He sighed, looking pained. "This is the same one that my mum died in."
"I'm sorry," Kat said. She felt foolish.
Alfie didn't seem to hear her. "Dad died straight away.... instantly, they said... but Mum..." he breathed in, "...she went into a coma."
He fiddled with the bedcovers, not seeing them. He was seeing something else. Kat stayed silent, watching him. She wanted to hug him and comfort him, but she wasn't allowed to... She sensed part of him needed to say this.
"She was really badly injured... paralysed... she wasn't going to wake up." He looked at Kat for the first time, eyes shining with tears. "She wasn't going to... they kept telling me, but I wouldn't believe them... After five days they turned her life support off."
Kat wanted to cry too. He'd never told her anything like this before. She had the feeling he hadn't told anyone else, either.
"I begged them not to. I kept telling them they'd be murderers if they did, and they kept telling me she'd never wake up... and all the while Nana was sat at home, having to look after Spencer and keep him happy... we couldn't tell him, you see, he was too young... when her only son had just died. But visitors to the house, they couldn't even tell. she just... she coped. She never broke down. She looked after Spencer - he was five - even when he was having tantrums in shops, and at the same time she was making arrangements for Dad's funeral."
He wiped his eyes, staring at his grandma as she lay in the bed unconscious. "When they turned Mum's life support off, I was holding her hand... I remember she had this cut on the back of it where a bit of glass had gone in. She looked beautiful... her eyes were closed and this huge gash across her forehead... but she was my mum and she was beautiful..."
Kat realised she had tears running down her cheeks too and wiped them off hastily. She reached across the bed and took Alfie's hands in hers gently. His hands tightened around hers and she noticed he was still wearing his wedding ring. So was she.
-
