"What's going on?"

Niamh's voice broke through as Martha and Clive sat on the steps outside the court. Her expression had changed from jealousy to concern as she saw Martha's head buried in Clive's shoulder, his arms rocking her gently as she made little whimpers of pain against his robes.

Clive turned to see his pupil standing motionless behind them. "Niamh, can you call an ambulance?" he said desperately. "Martha's hurt."

Niamh pulled out her phone and pressed 999 quickly. "Ambulance, please. There's a pregnant woman, she's collapsed..."

The ambulance arrived within minutes. As Martha was loaded onto the stretcher, Clive made to get in the ambulance with her. "I'm the father, I'm coming with her," he told the paramedics.

"No... Clive..." Martha's voice came out small. Clive leaned in to hear her. "You need to talk to the judge, explain we need an adjournment till tomorrow."

"Niamh can do that."

"No... you know the case. You need to tell Mark where I've gone. Please, Clive. Niamh can come with me."

Clive reluctantly stepped out of the ambulance and Niamh climbed in in his place. He watched as the ambulance drove away.

14 weeks earlier

It was an armed robbery they were defending in Nottingham. The two defendants were both guilty as sin of course, but that wasn't the point. The police had a grudge against the first defendant and had used very questionable methods to extract a confession from the second. By the time they had finished cross-examining everyone involved in the investigation and discrediting the forensic evidence, the jury were about ready to give the pair on trial knighthoods. They had taken less than half an hour to acquit them both. Not bad for an open-and-shut case.

Back at the hotel they had celebrated in the bar before moving to Clive's room. They downed bottles from the mini-bar, clinking their drinks together and throwing them back. Then suddenly his lips were on hers, her hands were fumbling with the buttons on his shirt and he was pushing her back on the bed and exploring her. The first time had been fast and frenzied, 15 years or repressed desire coming to fruition. The second time had been slow and tender, his eyes fixed on hers as he moved above her.

In the morning she woke to find his arm draped slightly across her shoulders, his breathing slow and even. She disentangled herself without waking him and crept back to her room, managing to avoid seeing him again until the time came to drive home.

Clive walked back into the court, heading for the judge's chamber. As he went down the corridor, he saw Gary Rush still being restrained, now by police. Anger came over Clive in waves and without thinking about it he ran up and grabbed Rush by the collar, fear for Martha giving him strength he didn't know he had. "Do you know what you've done to her?" he snarled.

Rush shoved him back, but his anger was muted now. "The bitch lied to me."

"She was trying to help you!" Clive had to be pulled back by the security guards as Rush was escorted away by the police. Clive gestured to the guards to let him go and then strode off. His anger was being replaced quickly by a sense of guilt. Why hadn't he pulled Rush off Martha sooner? Once he had seen she was in trouble he had ran to help her, but he hadn't been quick enough. Was it because he was scared of Rush? His insides squirmed miserably at the thought. He was such a coward, he couldn't even protect the mother of his child.

"Clive? What's happened?" Nick stood in front of him, his face a mask of concern.

"Martha's gone to hospital." Clive could barely get the words out. "Gary Rush punched her in the stomach."

"My God! Is she okay?"

"I don't know yet." Clive shook his head to clear it. "I need to see the judge, get an adjournment."

"I'll tell Mark." Nick offered.

"No. Martha wanted me to do that." It was the least he could do for her. "Can you go back to Chambers, tell Billy what's happened? Start preparing for trial tomorrow. We might not be able to get a longer adjournment."

"OK." Nick nodded and let Clive pass.

"So what happened to you this morning?" Clive questioned Martha as he slid into the passenger side of her car.

"Let's not do this Clive." Martha started the engine.

"OK." Clive buckled his seat belt and sat back. Martha drove until the silence became unbearable.

"Last night was a mistake, alright? We got carried away."

"If you say so." Clive shrugged, keeping his eyes ahead. Martha could see he was hurt and trying to hide it.

"It was nice," she said, as she took the motorway. "But probably shouldn't be repeated. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about it."

"What do you think I'm going to do, tell all of Chambers? Are you that ashamed?"

"Don't act so hurt Clive. It's not like you haven't got plenty of other offers."

They sat in silence for the rest of the journey.

Niamh stood in the hospital corridor staring at the vending machine. Martha had been whisked quickly into the maternity department as soon as they had arrived. The nurse had suggested she get a cup of tea while Martha was being examined.

This was all her fault. Why had she told Gary Rush about Martha's pregnancy? She'd been shocked when she had heard who the father was, had wondered about Martha's motives for warning her off Clive, had felt betrayed and angry with both of them. But she hadn't wanted... this. She couldn't get Martha's face in the ambulance out of her mind. Martha had gripped her hand hard as the waves of pain rode over her.

She went back to the ward and waited.

To be continued...