The waiting room smelled heavily of antiseptic and air freshener—as if someone had tried, and very obviously failed, to disguise what the place really was. Avery sat back in the padded chair, doing everything she could to appear calm, even though a look thrown at her would show her fingers were laced tightly in her lap and she was so tensed every part of her wanted to bounce her knee clean off. Beside her, Cassie was unusually quiet for someone who couldn’t go five minutes without launching into some utter rubbish about her latest nocturnal misadventure. Maybe sitting in a room full of would-be mums had given her pause, a moment of reflection, as the reality of where her carefree lifestyle could land her fell heavily on her.
The television mounted in the corner was tuned to NESN, which a
