Free He's the One by Katie Price

had tea yet. Maybe it’s not a good idea.’
    ‘Don’t be such a killjoy! What difference can one ice cream make?’
    It would mean Brooke wouldn’t eat her tea, but Cory didn’t seem in the kind of mood where she could explain that to him and Liberty didn’t want to sound like a nag. By then Brooke had stopped crying and was chanting, ‘I scream, I scream,’ in the cute way she did, and Liberty knew from experience that if she put her foot down now and said no, her daughter would have a complete meltdown.
    ‘Okay,’ she sighed, not at all happy about it.
    But by the time Cory returned with the ice cream for Brooke, she was out of sorts again. She took onelick of it, then screwed up her face and dropped it on to the pebbles.
    ‘Hey! What did you do that for?’ he said sharply, causing Brooke to cry.
    ‘Don’t speak to her like that!’ Liberty shot back, picking up her daughter. She really didn’t seem well at all. Her cheeks were flushed, and her hair was sticky with sweat. Liberty started gathering up her things.
    ‘What are you doing now?’
    ‘Going home, I need to take her temperature.’
    ‘But I haven’t seen you all day! I thought we could hang out on the beach. She probably just needs some fresh air.’
    Liberty suddenly felt the distance between them. Brooke wasn’t Cory’s daughter and he would never understand how it felt to be her parent. Liberty tried not to reveal how hurt she was.
    ‘I really don’t think she’s well.’
    And finally Cory seemed to realise that she was genuinely worried. Getting up, he helped her carry the buggy over the pebbles.
    ‘Do you want me to come with you?’
    She shook her head. ‘That’s fine. It’s probably best if it’s just me.’
    And that’s what she thought until she arrived home, expecting to find her mum, only to discover an empty house. Brooke had cried all the way back in the buggy, but once at the house she seemed to go floppy and lethargic, which made Liberty even more anxious. She laid her on her bed and stripped off her t-shirt, bathing her face and tummy with a flannel, trying to get her temperature down. But nothing she did seemed to make any difference and Liberty’s anxiety levels rocketed. What was wrong with Brooke? Was it something serious? Something like meningitis? Shedesperately tried to remember the symptoms – high temperature, sensitivity to light, a rash.
    There was no rash, but suddenly Brooke seemed to suffer some kind of fit. Her whole body contorted and she shook uncontrollably, foaming at the mouth. Terrified, Liberty reached out to try and comfort her. ‘It’s okay, baby. Mummy’s here.’ After what seemed like ages but was probably only a few seconds the child seemed to come out of it, but thoroughly panicked now and feeling desperate, Liberty dialled 999.
    It was a nerve-wracking wait for the ambulance to arrive, during which time Liberty convinced herself that Brooke was going to die, as her daughter came out of the fit only to lose consciousness. She calmed down enough when the paramedics arrived to be able to answer their questions and comfort her daughter as they travelled to the hospital, but she wished she had her mum with her, so that she didn’t have to face this on her own. She held it together until they saw the doctor who said that Brooke had suffered a febrile convulsion because her temperature was so high. She would be okay once she’d cooled off. As soon as she heard that Liberty burst into tears of relief.
    ‘Is there someone you can call to come and get you?’ a nurse asked her kindly an hour later as she sat by her daughter’s bedside. Brooke was calm now and her temperature had come right down.
    ‘Yes, my mum.’ She didn’t even think of Cory.
    When she arrived home, Liberty found that he had left a message but she felt too exhausted and strung out to phone him. Besides, there was nothing he could do now. Brooke was asleep and all she wanted to do was crash out in bed.
    ‘You should