She was moved from the limo into the small hospital in a wheelchair and taken to a small side ward. Somewhere in the background, she could hear Edward talking in low-pitched urgent Italian and thought numbly of how useful his gift with languages could be. A few minutes later she moved yet again and this time she was transferred to a room where there were no other patients. Edward helped her to bed and the fraught silence between them worked on Bella's nerves until a radiographer entered with a portable scanner. Bella lay still while the gelled probe moved back and forth over her tummy, her attention locked to the small screen, her hopes and dreams slowly dying as what she prayed for failure to appear. The operator excused herself and reappeared some minutes later with a doctor, who spoke English. He broke the news that the machine had failed to detect the baby's heartbeat but that the procedure would be repeated the following day to ensure that there was no mistake.

'I don't see why we should wait twenty-four hours to get a confirmation.' Edward breathed harshly, his bone structure rigid below his bronzed skin.